The Deuterocanon
Two elders lie about a woman in a garden, and a young Daniel cross-examines them apart.
A short courtroom drama and arguably the first detective story in Western literature. Two respected elders spy on a beautiful married woman bathing, proposition her, and when she refuses accuse her of adultery, which carries a death sentence. Susanna is condemned on their word until a young Daniel interrupts the proceedings, insists the witnesses be separated, and asks each one under which tree the act occurred. They name different trees. The story is a sustained argument about the abuse of authority and the cross-examination of witnesses, and it was cited in later legal thought. Placed at the start or end of Daniel depending on the edition. Scripture for Catholics and Orthodox, Apocrypha for Protestants.
If you remember one thing
Two elders accuse a woman who refused them, and a young Daniel questions them separately about which tree they saw her under. Their answers do not match.
“It is better for me to fall into your hands and not to do it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord.”
Susanna 23
Placement and canon
Placed before Daniel 1 in some editions and as chapter 13 in others. Scripture for Catholics and Orthodox, Apocrypha for Protestants.
Named here rather than skipped. Where Christians read a passage differently, we say so instead of choosing for you.
Daniel 13 in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles; printed separately in the Apocrypha.
Everyone here has a write-up, drawn from the same records that explain the names while you read the text.
Taken young into the Babylonian court, Daniel rose by wisdom and unbending faith, refusing the king's food, reading dreams and the writing on Belshazzar's wall, and emerging unharmed from the lions' den. His later visions map the rise and fall of empires to the end.
The whole book, with the people and places explained as you read. Available in KJV. Chapters marked ✦ carry a verse the New Testament takes up.
A quiz for Susanna is on the workbench. In the meantime, the games for the judges, the kings, and the prophets are open.
