The Additions to the Greek Book of Daniel

Daniel, his friends, and their activities spawned a larger body of literature beyond what is found in the Hebrew Bible. Most notable in this expanded corpus are the Additions to Daniel, compositions that became attached to the book of Daniel in the Septuagint (LXX). Although untitled in the Septuagint, these compositions eventually acquired the names “The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews,” “Susanna,” and “Bel and the Dragon.” They developed independently of the book as it is found in the Hebrew Bible, perhaps between the third and second centuries bce, but were later attached to Daniel when the book was translated into Greek. It is difficult to date their composition more precisely. “Susanna” and “Bel and the Dragon” bear many resemblances to the court tales of Dan 1–6 and do not seem to reflect specific historical events. They could have been composed at any time in the later Persian period or the first half of the Hellenistic period. Clues in the text suggest that these materials were first written in Hebrew or Aramaic and only later translated into Greek, but no copies of the Additions in Hebrew or Aramaic have been found. The place of composition is also difficult to determine.

These materials continued to develop even after they were translated and appended to the original twelve chapters of Daniel. The Greek translation of Daniel survived in two somewhat different versions. The oldest version of the Additions is known as the Old Greek (OG). It dates to approximately 100 bce and originated in Alexandria, Egypt for Greek-speaking Jews. A retranslation of the entire book of Daniel and the Additions, attributed to the Jewish scholar Theodotion, took place in the second century ce. In the course of this retranslation changes were made to the text of the Additions, some of which were designed to resolve apparent contradictions between the Additions and the original twelve chapters. The NRSV translation given here follows Theodotion's version, which eventually displaced the Old Greek translation in the Septuagint.

Canonical Status and Location

The Additions have canonical authority for Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians who append them to Daniel. In both versions of the Septuagint, “The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews” is found in 3, inserted between vv. 23 and 24 of the of the original Masoretic Text. In Roman Catholic and Orthodox Bibles these compositions appear as vv. 24–90. The placement of the two tales varies somewhat. In Theodotion's version, “Susanna” comes before Dan 1 and introduces the young Daniel, while “Bel and the Dragon” comprises ch 13, the order followed in the Orthodox tradition. In the Old Greek, however, “Susanna” is usually ch 13 while “Bel and the Dragon” is ch 14. This is the order followed in modern Roman Catholic translations. For Protestant Christianity and for Judaism, the Additions are noncanonical and thus are not appended to the original twelve chapters of Daniel. Protestant Christianity locates them in the Apocrypha, as in this Bible.

Amy C. Merrill Willis