Orientation to the Additions to Daniel
(avg. read time: 4–8 mins.)
We have previously reviewed how the LXX version of Esther featured some interesting additions. But it was not the only OT book to receive substantial additions in the Greek versions. The Vulgate and the Theodotion version of the LXX, which was the traditional preference of Greek-speaking Christians in the case of the book of Daniel, also featured extra stories about Daniel and his friends. These additions appear in three locations. The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men (or Song of the Three Holy Children) have been added between Dan 3:23 and 3:24 to greatly expand the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The story of Susanna has been added either at the beginning of Daniel, as in some Greek manuscripts, or after Dan 12:13 in the Vulgate. Finally, the story of Bel and the Dragon has been added after Dan 12:13 in the Greek and after the story of Susanna in the Vulgate.
Overview of the Additions to Daniel
The first addition to Daniel is the one that seems to have been most significant to Christian liturgy over the centuries. Indeed, the Armenian Easter Vigil contained in a manuscript belonging to the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem climaxes its twelve OT readings with the Song of the Three Young Men. Some Greek texts even include the text of the Prayer and the Song as Odes 7 and 8 in an appendix for the Psalms,1 which further exemplifies their use in worship. They are used in this way because they seem rather designed for it with the focus on how Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Dan 1:7) worshiped in the midst of the flames. The extensive glorification of God in the face of death is a model of the perseverance of the suffering faithful, which was obviously a major theme in Second Temple Judaism as it was in the NT and beyond. It is also designed rhythmically with the refrain that can be translated “sing praise and highly exalt him forever,” as well as similar declarations (29–66).
The other two additions are two of the earliest predecessors of what would become detective stories. The story of Susanna is about the titular young Jewish woman. Two perverted elders spy on her as she bathes and attempt to push themselves on her. When she refuses their advances, they falsely accuse her of having an adulterous affair with another man under a tree. At her trial, where she would face the penalty of death if found guilty, Daniel comes to her defense. He questions the two elders separately, and they wildly contradict each other about what kind of tree they saw her supposedly committing adultery under. As such, Susanna is vindicated, and the elders are put to death instead.
The story of Bel and the Dragon rather well exemplifies a traditional Jewish view of idolatry. The god Bel was essentially presented as a living god because the Babylonians thought that he consumed the offerings left for him each day. When the king brought this up to Daniel after noting that he did not worship Bel, he insisted that Bel is but a statue made of clay on the inside and bronze on the outside. The priests of Bel likewise insisted that the god did consume the offerings left for him. With the stakes established that if Daniel is proven wrong he would be executed and if the priests are proven wrong they would be executed, the priests then suggest that the king leave the offerings seal the door of the temple until the next day. They claimed this would prove that Bel consumed the offerings, since no one could enter the temple without breaking the king’s seal on the door. But after the priests left, Daniel had ashes spread on the floor of the temple. The next day, the door was unsealed to reveal that the offerings were gone. But Daniel drew the king’s attention to the footprints in the ashes, which showed the priests and their families had entered through a hidden passage and had taken the offerings for themselves. The king then put the priests and their families to death and gave the statue of Bel to Daniel, which Daniel promptly destroyed along with the temple.
This is followed up with the story of a dragon that the Babylonians revered, which the king likewise insisted was a living god. Daniel then fed it some … rather odd cakes, which caused it to burst open. The Babylonians then insisted that the king hand over Daniel for his impiety against their gods and their priests; otherwise, they would kill the king and his household. Thus, they threw Daniel into a lion’s den, because of course they did. But on this occasion, Habakkuk provides Daniel with some food, of course, this was after the angel of the Lord carries him by the tuft of his hair to Babylon. As with the other story in Dan 6, the king returns to the den (though this time it is on the seventh day), finds Daniel alive, pulls him out, and throws in those who sought to kill him.
Resonances with the OT and NT
These stories are rather obviously connected with one book of the OT. One of them is an expansion of a key inspirational story for many faithful Jews and Christians who have been persecuted for their faithfulness. It also beautifully articulates some of the contents of faith in this context where it is the cause for their persecution. I have already noted how this connected with a larger theme of the NT.
It is also interesting that these additions took the form of expanding one story or adding additional stories that resemble the first half of Daniel rather than the second half. The additions concern stories of faithful ones delivered from facing death, as opposed to how the situation of the faithful is presented in the second half, wherein some must face death and be delivered afterwards. Daniel does not attempt to explain why some are delivered, sometimes miraculously, from facing execution for their faithfulness while others must endure such execution to wait for their vindication and deliverance on the other side of death. I have explored more about how these parts relate and how they build to the crescendo of the promise of resurrection to everlasting life in my dissertation and here.
There are many such links between the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men, as it well exemplifies traditional confessions of faith. These include references to mercy (12, 15, 19, 67–68), like we have seen many times in this series. They also include how God is referred to as Creator, Judge, Savior, and King, which have been interlinked in many places in the OT, NT, and Second Temple Jewish texts. There is a particular focus on glorifying God as Creator (35–59), but the other appellations are incorporated as well. The early lines of the Song are also particularly notable for how they invoke the notion of God’s kingdom and heavenly throne, which is also linked with his heavenly temple (29–33). This is like what we have seen many times across the NT (see especially here on Matthew, here on Acts, here on Hebrews, and here and here on Revelation). The description of God as delivering out of Hades and from the hand of death (65) is informed by texts on Sheol we have noted elsewhere and on one of the elements of the framework for resurrection belief in Scripture. And, of course, referring to God as the “God of our ancestors” (3, 29) rather obviously links to the tradition that has come before (cf. Gen 48:15; Exod 3:13–16; 4:5; Deut 1:11, 21; 4:1; 6:3; 12:1; 26:7; 27:3; 29:25; Josh 18:3; Judg 2:12; 2 Kgs 21:22; 1 Chr 5:25; 12:17; 29:18, 20; 2 Chr 7:22; 11:16; 13:12, 18; 14:4; 15:12; 19:4; 20:6, 33; 21:10; 24:18, 24; 28:6, 9, 25; 29:5; 30:7, 19, 22; 33:12; 34:32–33; 36:15; Ezra 7:27; 8:28; 10:11; Dan 2:23; Acts 3:13; 5:30; 7:32; 22:14; 24:14).
The story of Susanna resonates with other stories of false testimony in the OT (1 Kgs 21:8–14) and the NT (Matt 26:59–61 // Mark 14:55–58; Acts 6:13), and the penalty for false testimony is as in Deut 19:18–19. There is also a resonance with the story of the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53–8:11). Even though the latter text does not clearly say that the woman was falsely accused of being caught in the act of adultery (8:3–4), the proceeding here is not exactly kosher. As with the story of Susanna, she is accused without the man with whom she was supposed to commit adultery being part of the trial (Lev 20:10). The declaration that God saves those who hope in him is reminiscent of what I identified in my dissertation and my series on resurrection in the OT as one of the prominent foundations of hope the resurrection belief rests upon (also see here for other Second Temple texts).
The references to God as Creator and the living God in Bel and the Dragon fit with texts we have noted elsewhere in this series. The same applies to the basic critique of idolatry, especially in the story of Bel. The story of Daniel in the lion’s den is obviously linked with Dan 6, even if it is more dramatic in him being placed in there for seven days. But also has an interesting link with Habakkuk the prophet, as he is now incorporated into Daniel’s story.
James C. VanderKam, An Introduction to Early Judaism (Grand Rapids; Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2001), 133.