Overview: Daniel in Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek
Daniel survives in Hebrew-Aramaic and important ancient Greek forms. The Hebrew-Aramaic text contains the court tales of chapters 1–6 and the apocalyptic visions of chapters 7–12. The Greek versions preserve three substantial additions not found in the Masoretic Text: the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon. The USCCB describes the latter two as edifying short stories with a didactic purpose. [1]
The Old Greek and Theodotion Editions
Daniel is unusual because antiquity preserved two major Greek textual traditions. Scholars conventionally call them the Old Greek and Theodotion, or Proto-Theodotion. Olivier Munnich’s study in the Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint describes the replacement of the earlier Old Greek form by the later Theodotion form as one of the central problems in Daniel’s textual history. [7]
The two Greek forms differ in wording, arrangement, and detail. Theodotion eventually displaced the Old Greek in most Christian manuscripts, though the older form survived in witnesses such as Papyrus 967. Modern Catholic numbering follows the Vulgate: the Prayer and Song at Daniel 3:24–90, Susanna as chapter 13, and Bel and the Dragon as chapter 14.
The Prayer of Azariah
The first addition appears inside the account of the three Judean youths thrown into Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace for refusing to worship the king’s image. After Daniel 3:23, Azariah—Abednego’s Hebrew name—stands in the fire and prays. He praises God’s justice, confesses the sins of Israel, laments the absence of temple, sacrifice, and national power, and asks God to receive the humility and repentance of the faithful as an acceptable offering. [4]
The prayer turns the furnace scene into a communal act of penitence. The youths represent an afflicted Israel that has lost visible security but can still offer repentance, trust, and fidelity. The USCCB notes that Daniel 3:24–90 is an addition to the Aramaic text, probably first composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, though no original-language manuscript survives. [4]
The Song of the Three Young Men
After an angel protects the youths from the flames, the addition moves into a great hymn of praise. Heaven, angels, waters, sun, moon, stars, rain, dew, winds, fire, cold, mountains, seas, animals, humanity, priests, servants of God, and the three youths themselves are summoned to bless the Lord. The result is a cosmic liturgy: the whole created order joins the faithful in praise.
This hymn became one of the additions’ most enduring liturgical texts. Jennie Grillo traces how the Prayer and Song, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon survived in manuscripts, worship, art, homily, music, and other Christian forms. [9]
Susanna: False Witness and Righteous Judgment
Susanna tells of a beautiful and God-fearing Jewish woman in Babylon who is trapped by two elders appointed as judges. When she refuses their sexual demands, they accuse her falsely of adultery. Because they are respected elders and claim to be eyewitnesses, the assembly believes them and condemns Susanna to death. She refuses to sin even when submission might save her life, entrusting herself to God instead. [5]
As Susanna is led to execution, God stirs up the young Daniel. He separates the accusers for questioning, and their accounts collapse when each names a different tree. The false witnesses are exposed and Susanna is vindicated. The story joins sexual integrity, justice, evidence, corrupt authority, and divine deliverance. The USCCB notes that Susanna and Bel and the Dragon survive only in Greek and later translations, though they were probably first composed in Hebrew or Aramaic. [5]
Bel: Exposing a Manufactured God
Daniel 14 opens with the Babylonian idol Bel. The king believes Bel to be alive because enormous quantities of food disappear from the sealed temple each night. Daniel rejects the claim that a man-made idol can be the living God. To expose the deception, he scatters ashes across the temple floor before it is sealed. In the morning the food is gone, but footprints reveal that the priests and their households entered through a hidden passage and consumed the offerings. [8]
The episode satirizes idolatry and religious fraud. The supposed god depends on human beings for food, secrecy, and reputation, while Daniel worships the Creator. Lawrence Wills describes the Bel material as satire or parody, and the USCCB notes significant differences between its Septuagint and Theodotion forms. [10] [6]
The Dragon and Daniel’s Second Lions’ Den
The second half of Daniel 14 concerns a living creature—called a dragon or great serpent—that the Babylonians worship. Daniel destroys it without sword or club, demonstrating that even a living creature is not therefore divine. The enraged population forces the king to hand Daniel over, and he is cast into a lions’ den for six days.
An angel then transports the prophet Habakkuk from Judea to Babylon with food for Daniel. On the seventh day the king finds Daniel alive and praises his God. The episode echoes Daniel 6 while giving the lions’ den a different cause and sequence. [6]
What the Additions Teach
Lorenzo DiTommaso argues that all three additions reinforce a model of Jewish life in a foreign environment: covenant fidelity is tested by hostility, the threat of death, corrupt power, and idolatry, yet trust in God ultimately leads to vindication. The three youths remain faithful before an imperial command; Susanna refuses sin despite a death sentence; Daniel rejects false gods even when royal and popular pressure turn against him. [11]
Justice and reversal unite the additions: the innocent are threatened but saved, false witnesses condemn themselves, fraudulent priests are exposed, and idols are unmasked. These themes align with the larger Daniel, where pagan empires may dominate temporarily but history remains under divine sovereignty.
Language, Date, and a Wider Danielic Tradition
The origins of the additions remain debated. Amanda Davis Bledsoe notes that each may reflect an underlying Semitic original, while other scholars argue for Greek composition. Their attachment to Daniel may have occurred around the period when the book was translated into Greek in the late Second Temple era. [12]
The additions show that ancient Jewish Daniel traditions were broader than the twelve chapters preserved in Hebrew-Aramaic. Alongside other Second Temple Danielic materials, they witness to an active literary tradition surrounding Daniel and his companions.
Canon and Catholic Reception
The Catholic Church receives the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon as canonical Scripture. The Council of Trent lists Daniel among the books of the Old Testament and states that the biblical books are received “entire with all their parts” as read in the Catholic Church and contained in the Old Latin Vulgate tradition. [13]
Eastern Orthodox traditions likewise receive the additions, while Protestant Old Testaments generally follow the shorter Hebrew-Aramaic Daniel and omit them or place them in the Apocrypha. Their early Greek, Latin, and Syriac transmission gave them an extensive afterlife in worship, art, literature, and music. [9]
Where to Read in Douay-Rheims Numbering
In the Douay-Rheims tradition, following the Vulgate arrangement, the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men appear at Daniel 3:24–90, Susanna is Daniel 13, and Bel and the Dragon is Daniel 14. These locations differ from some ancient Greek manuscript arrangements, but they provide the standard Catholic chapter numbering used by the Douay-Rheims and by this site. [3] [4] [5]
Annotated Sources
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “The Book of Daniel — Introduction.” Original source retained. Introduces Daniel’s Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek forms and identifies the Prayer/Song, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon as the major Greek additions. bible.usccb.org/bible/daniel/0 ↩︎
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Understanding the Bible.” Original source retained. Explains that Catholic Bibles contain portions of Daniel and Esther not found in Protestant Old Testaments. usccb.org/bible/understanding-the-bible
- Catholic Encyclopedia, “Book of Daniel.” Original source retained. Historical discussion of the three deuterocanonical additions and their Vulgate/Douay-Rheims placement. newadvent.org/cathen/04621b.htm ↩︎
- Douay-Rheims Bible, Daniel 3. Original source retained. Shows the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men beginning at Daniel 3:24 in the Douay-Rheims/Vulgate tradition. drbo.org/chapter/32003.htm ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
- Douay-Rheims Bible, Daniel 13. Original source retained. Presents Susanna as Daniel chapter 13 in the Douay-Rheims tradition. drbo.org/chapter/32013.htm ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Daniel, Chapter 14.” Text and extensive notes on Bel and the Dragon, including differences between the Septuagint and Theodotion versions and the second lions’ den episode. bible.usccb.org/bible/daniel/14 ↩︎ ↩︎
- Olivier Munnich, “Daniel, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon: Old Greek and Theodotion,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint. Oxford University Press, 2021. A modern scholarly study of the two principal Greek Daniel traditions, their relationship to the Hebrew-Aramaic text, Papyrus 967, and the placement of the deuterocanonical additions. Oxford Academic — Daniel, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon ↩︎
- Douay-Rheims Bible, Daniel 14. Direct Douay-Rheims witness for Bel, the dragon, Habakkuk, and Daniel’s second lions’ den narrative. drbo.org/chapter/32014.htm ↩︎
- Jennie Grillo, Daniel After Babylon: The Additions in the History of Interpretation. Oxford University Press, 2024. A modern reception history tracing the Additions through Greek, Latin, and Syriac manuscripts and their later use in liturgy, exegesis, art, music, and literature. Oxford Academic — Daniel After Babylon ↩︎ ↩︎
- Lawrence M. Wills, “Susanna and Bel and the Serpent (Greek Daniel),” in Ancient Jewish Novels: An Anthology. Oxford University Press, 2002. Treats Susanna and Bel and the Dragon as ancient Jewish narrative literature and identifies the Bel episode as satire or parody directed against idolatry. Oxford Academic — Susanna and Bel and the Serpent ↩︎
- Lorenzo DiTommaso, “The Additions to Daniel,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha. Oxford University Press, 2021. A major overview of the three additions, their Greek setting, covenantal themes, Jewish identity in foreign lands, and relationship to the wider Daniel tradition. Oxford Academic — The Additions to Daniel ↩︎
- Amanda Davis Bledsoe, “Additions to Daniel,” Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies. Scholarly overview of provenance, original-language questions, Greek transmission, dating, canon, and the relationship of the additions to wider Second Temple Danielic literature. Oxford Academic — Additions to Daniel ↩︎
- Council of Trent, Session IV, “Decree Concerning the Canonical Scriptures” (1546). The Council lists Daniel among the canonical books and receives the books entire with all their parts as used in the Catholic Church and contained in the Old Latin Vulgate. papalencyclicals.net — Fourth Session ↩︎