Bible Verse Lookup
Susanna (Chapter 13 of the Greek Version of Daniel) -
Introduction
Susanna appears as Dan 13 in the Greek Septuagint * and Latin Vulgate * versions and prior to Dan 1 in the Greek version of Theodotion. It is therefore part of the Roman Catholic book of Daniel, but it appears in the Apocrypha * of Protestant Bibles and does not appear in Jewish Bibles. Susanna is a typical example of Jewish novelistic * literature during the Second Temple * period (see Esther; Tobit; Judith). It is intended to promote adherence to Jewish tradition and observance by portraying the vindication of a righteous woman against attempted rape and false charges of adultery.
Susanna was composed independently of the book of Daniel during the second century BCE. Despite the Greek puns of vv. 54–55 and 58–59, there is evidence that Susanna was composed in Hebrew. The implicit critique of community officials is common in folk literature of the time, but it may have been directed against those Jewish leaders who cooperated with the Seleucid * dynasty, * which ruled Judea prior to the Maccabean revolt that restored Jewish rule.
