The Three Additions to Daniel: a Study
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Scenes from the Old Testament Susanna and the Elders 6 March
Scenes from the Old Testament Susanna and the Elders 6 March 2016 The Dean of St Edmundsbury Daniel 13 The man that looks on glass, on it may stay his eye Or if he pleaseth, through it pass, and then the heavens espy. The stained glass in St Edmundsbury Cathedral is largely Victorian – good quality, of course; but not the old mediaeval images that throughout Suffolk were destroyed by William Dowsing and his iconoclastic crew in the seventeenth century. They rampaged through village and church, smashing that which was idolatrous to their eyes, seeking the purity of clear glass, unadulterated by corrupting images, to mediate the pure gospel, now revealed in plain English. At the Cathedral one window remains of mediaeval origin. You’ll see it as you enter, straight ahead of you, in the South West corner. The bottom half shows the story of Susanna and the elders, or judges, who falsely accuse her of adultery. It’s a story from the thirteenth chapter of Daniel, which you’ll find in the Apocrypha, that selection of books that isn’t found in Protestant versions – literally, the hidden Bible. Nevertheless, it’s a story that is familiar throughout the history of visual art. It gave artists the opportunity to please their patrons, after all, with a biblical character, a very delicate woman and beauteous to behold, suggestively, provocatively portrayed, washing herself, naked. A virtuous, married woman; her virtue and unattainability intensifying her allure, of course. A story for the responsible elders of any age: a reminder to keep their attention pure, even as they are titivated; not to succumb to the temptations of lust, of easy gratification. -
Bible Book Club Additions to Daniel
Bible Book Club Additions to Daniel The original book of Daniel was written in both Hebrew (1.1-21 and 8–12) and Aramaic (2–7). There are, however, three additional chapters that exist only in Greek. The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Holy Children (Sometimes called the Song of the Three Jewsinserted between Daniel 3.23 and 3.24); the Story of Susanna (sometimes found before 1.1 and sometimes as chapter 13) and the story of Bel and the Dragon (sometimes found after 12.13 and sometimes as chapter 14 of the book). The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Holy Children: this has three parts. The first is a prayer of Azariah (also known as Abednego in Babylon) while the three youths were in the fiery furnace (verses 1-22); an account of an angel of the Lord who drive out the fiery flame from the furnace (verses 23-27) and the song the three sang when they had been delivered from the furnace (28-68). The Story of Susanna is the story of a beautiful but virtuous woman who some unscrupulous men tried to blackmail into having sex with them. She refused and was arrested and awaiting the death penalty, when Daniel intervened and challenged her accusers. Under questioning it became clear that they were lying and were themselves put to death. The story of Bel and the Dragon has three strands to it. A confrontation between Daniel and the King about whether the idol ‘Bel’ was real or not; the story of a dragon which Daniel slayed and an additional story of Daniel in the lion’s den in which the prophet Habakkuk fed him some stew. -
INTRODUCTION Toward the Middle of the Third Century , Julius Africanus Sent a Letter to Origen, Chiding the Great Scholar for Em
chapter one INTRODUCTION Toward the middle of the third century ce, Julius Africanus sent a letter to Origen, chiding the great scholar for employing the Story of Susanna in debate with another Christian.1 Though the two Greek versions of Daniel used by Christians at the time both included Susanna, Africanus points to several problems with the story, including its absence from the Jewish ver- sion of Daniel and the presence of Greek puns in the story, which proves that it is not a translation from Hebrew.2 For these reasons, according to Africanus, Christians should reject the story as a genuine part of Daniel; indeed, they should consider it spurious (κίβδηλος) and a recent fabrication (νεωτερικὸς καὶ πεπλασµένος; §2).3 Origen responds with a detailed refuta- tion of each of Africanus’ points, especially the suggestions that the Chris- tian OT should mimic the Jewish Bible and that the Story of Susanna could not have been written in Hebrew. The sophisticated argumentation of these two early Christian biblical critics has impressed their modern counter- parts: Walther Reichardt hailed Africanus’ letter as a model of philological research, while Gilles Dorival declared Origen’s letter to have few rivals in the history of biblical studies.4 1 The most recent edition of the correspondence is N. de Lange (ed.), Origène, La Lettre à Africanus sur l’histoire de Suzanne, in Origène, Philocalie, 1–20: Sur les Écritures, SC 302 (ed. M. Harl; Paris, 1983), 469–578; on the date of the correspondence, see pp. 498–501. For a biographical sketch of Africanus, see Iulius Africanus Chronographiae: The Extant Fragments, GCS NF 15 (ed. -
Syllabus, Deuterocanonical Books
The Deuterocanonical Books (Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and additions to Daniel & Esther) Caravaggio. Saint Jerome Writing (oil on canvas), c. 1605-1606. Galleria Borghese, Rome. with Dr. Bill Creasy Copyright © 2021 by Logos Educational Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this course—audio, video, photography, maps, timelines or other media—may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval devices without permission in writing or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. 2 The Deuterocanonical Books (Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and additions to Daniel & Esther) Traditional Authors: Various Traditional Dates Written: c. 250-100 B.C. Traditional Periods Covered: c. 250-100 B.C. Introduction The Deuterocanonical books are those books of Scripture written (for the most part) in Greek that are accepted by Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches as inspired, but they are not among the 39 books written in Hebrew accepted by Jews, nor are they accepted as Scripture by most Protestant denominations. The deuterocanonical books include: • Tobit • Judith • 1 Maccabees • 2 Maccabees • Wisdom (also called the Wisdom of Solomon) • Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus) • Baruch, (including the Letter of Jeremiah) • Additions to Daniel o “Prayer of Azariah” and the “Song of the Three Holy Children” (Vulgate Daniel 3: 24- 90) o Suzanna (Daniel 13) o Bel and the Dragon (Daniel 14) • Additions to Esther Eastern Orthodox churches also include: 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, Odes (which include the “Prayer of Manasseh”) and Psalm 151. -
What About the Apocryphal Books?
What about the Apocryphal Books? By Martin Pickup Many people are aware of the fact that a Catholic Bible contains some extra books that are not found in most other Bibles. The Old Testament portion of a Catholic Bible includes some additional books that are called the Apocrypha. Are these additional books inspired of God? Should they be granted a place in a Christian=s canon? The term apocrypha literally means Ahidden books.@ Centuries ago the term was used to refer to writings deemed to be esoteric and appropriate reading only for mature believers rather than for the masses. Later, the term came to designate certain writings that some early Christians regarded as part of the Old Testament Scriptures. These works were Tobit, The Letter of Jeremiah, Judith, 1 & 2 Esdras, Additions to Esther, Sirach, Baruch, Additions to Daniel, The Prayer of Manasseh, 1 & 2 Maccabees, and The Wisdom of Solomon. All of these apocryphal works were composed between 200 B 30 BC, hundreds of years after the time when the 39 books of the Old Testament were completed. Some Christians in the early centuries did believe that some of the Apocrypha were inspired. In 1546 the Roman Catholic Church officially gave to most of the Apocryphal books a deutero-canonical status (which effectively signified a secondary level of canonicity), and included them thereafter in all Catholic Bibles. 1 & 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh were the exceptions; the Council of Trent denied these three works any degree of canonicity. Protestants have historically disavowed the inspiration and canonicity of the entire Apocrypha, though up until about 1825 Protestant Bibles still commonly included the 1 2 Apocrypha in a special section. -
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OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Fri Feb 20 2015, NEWGEN View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Goldsmiths Research Online Chapter 8 The Apocrypha in Early Modern England Ariel Hessayon Q. Are the Apocrypha Books to be owned as Gods Word? A. No. Every word of God is pure: add thou not unto his words, least he reprove thee, and thou be found a lyar (Proverbs 30:5–6).1 Protestantism is a religion based on an anthology: the Bible. English Protestants, how- ever, generally accepted fewer holy books than Catholics. Scripture alone, rather than the papacy or church councils, was paramount. Yet which scriptures were to be accepted and which rejected was no straightforward matter. This chapter begins with a brief account of how and why certain Jewish writings came to be regarded as apocryphal, highlighting the crucial contribution Jerome’s contentious canonical theory would play. It also underscores the fact that the Apocrypha was a Protestant construction, one moreover that reflected the privileging of Jewish texts available in Hebrew over those then extant in Greek. For the gradual evolution of the Apocrypha as a distinct corpus was partially a by-product of the humanist return to the sources—specifically Hebrew. Previous studies of the Apocrypha in early modern England have tended to stress two points: first, that the removal of these books from the Old Testament was unauthor- ized, lacking explicit royal and ecclesiastical sanction; secondly, that their influence was greater than commonly recognized. Here I want to suggest that in addition the Apocrypha was important because of its inherent potential to exacerbate religious conflict—not just between Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists, but also between moderate churchmen and puritans. -
“Lost Books” of the Bible Part
“Lost Books” of the Bible Part One: Apocrypha Fourteen books, including additions to Daniel and Esther, appear in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, that do not appear in either the Protestant of Jewish versions of the Bible. These books were called “Apocrypha” or “Hidden” by Jerome, who translated them into Latin in the 4th century and created what is known as the Vulgate. These are books that originated in the Jewish community but were originally in Greek or Aramaic, not Hebrew. They were rejected by the Rabbis as scripture in the early 2nd century and later, during the Reformation, the Protestants followed their example. While some Protestants consider these books to have religious value but do not consider them scripture, but the Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox churches given them equal authority to the Old and New Testament. The Russian Orthodox give them a secondary status as scripture, but no of equal authority. In addition to the books listed below the Orthodox churches include 3 and 4 Maccabees and Psalm 151. 1 Maccabees: Details the revolt by Jewish revolutionaries against the Greeks. Includes the story of Hanukkah, during which the Temple is cleansed after being violated by the Greeks. 2 Maccabees: A revision of the events of 1 Maccabees, supposedly a condensation of a five-volume work. Unlike the previous book this one focuses on exaggerated numbers, miracles, and supernatural manifestations. It emphasizes the courage and nobility of Jewish martyrs. Additions to Daniel: These expand the story of Daniel and include the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children: Daniel 3:24–90 inserted between verses 23 and 24 (v. -
Susanna Daniel 13
SUSANNA DANIEL 13 Domenichino 1 Susanna and the Elders, 1603 THE SETTING: • BABYLON DURING THE EXILE- DANIEL WAS A YOUNG BOY AT THIS TIME (VS 45) (~605-581BC) • MOST OF THE STORY TAKES PLACE AT THE HOME OF SUSANNA’S WEALTHY HUSBAND OR IN THEIR GARDENS. 2 THE CHARACTERS: SUSANNA • SUSANNA- HER NAME MEANS “LILY” • BEAUTIFUL AND GOD-FEARING (VS 2) • MARRIED TO JOAKIM (VS 1), DAUGHTER OF HILKIAH • RAISED JEWISH BY PIOUS PARENTS ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF MOSES. (VS 3) • SHE HAD MAIDS AND ATTENDANTS , HER HUSBAND WAS WEALTHY AND RESPECTED. (VS 4, 15) 3 • SHE WAS A MOTHER. (VS 30) Susanna at Her Bath, 1526, Albrecht Altdorfer 4 THE CHARACTERS: THE 2 JUDGES THE 2 ELDERS WERE APPOINTED TO SERVE AS JUDGES IN THE COMMUNITY (VS 5) THERE WAS A PROPHECY ABOUT THESE JUDGES (VS 5) : THE LORD SAID, “LAWLESSNESS HAS COME OUT OF BABYLON, THAT IS, FROM THE ELDERS WHO WERE TO GOVERN THE PEOPLE AS JUDGES.” 5 THE ROLE OF JUDGES IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY • TO HELP TO SOLVE DISPUTES BY MEANS OF ARBITRATION AND ADJUSTMENT. • TO CALL UPON JEWISH LAW AND ETHICAL TEACHING IN MAKING DECISIONS. • TO CONTAIN DISPUTES INVOLVING MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY AND TO AVOID RECOURSE TO THE CIVIL/FOREIGN COURTS. 6 THE BOOK OF JUDGES: AN EARLIER TIME • THE EVENTS DESCRIBED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOK OF JUDGES COVERS TIME FROM AROUND 1400 B.C. TO 1040 B.C. • THIS WAS A TIME BEFORE THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL. • THESE JUDGES WERE MILITARY LEADERS, AND SOMETIMES PROPHETS. • THEY WERE CHOSEN BY GOD TO RESCUE THEIR PEOPLE AND ESTABLISH JUSTICE. -
The Prayer of Susanna (Daniel 13)
Dalia Marx The Prayer of Susanna (Daniel 13) The story of Susanna relates to a “brief but terrifying experience”1 in the life of a faithful and beautiful Jewish woman, the wife of Joachim, a wealthy and respected member of the Jewish community in Babylonia. God-fearing and well versed in the laws of Moses, Susanna falls victim to a false accusation by two Jewish elders who attempt to force her to have sexual relations with them. She stands firm and chooses certain death rather than submit to their lust. In her despair, she prays to God, who hears her supplication, and is subsequently saved by Daniel, a youth who interrogates and condemns the elders, saving Susanna from a disgraceful death.2 Of the four scrolls named after women – Ruth, Esther, Judith, and Susanna – the story of Susanna is the least known to Jews.3 While the books of Ruth and Esther were incorporated into the Hebrew Bible and the apocryphal story of Judith is occasionally mentioned in Jewish texts, Susanna is barely mentioned. Her story is not mentioned in early Jewish sources,4 nor does it have a signifi- cant presence in later Jewish texts.5 The story of Susanna is one of the three Greek additions to the book of Daniel, along with the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Children and the story of Bel and the Dragon, which are not found in Semitic languages and have not become part of the Hebrew canon. Like the rest of Daniel, it has been preserved || 1 Moore, Daniel, 77. -
Thematic Irony in the Story of Susanna
Page 1 of 6 Original Research Thematic irony in the story of Susanna Author: It is commonly held that irony features significantly in Susanna. This seemingly plausible Dichk M. Kanonge1 hypothesis, however, has not yet been supported by compelling evidence resulting from a systematic analysis of Susanna. This study attempts to fill this gap by investigating the main Affiliation: 1Faculty of Theology, ironic expressions, words and incidents featuring in Susanna. The approach followed consists North-West University, of uncovering expressions of irony embedded in the story by paying attention to ironic use of Potchefstroom Campus, metaphor, ironic use of wordplay, ironic use of rhetorical questions, ironic understatements South Africa (e.g. litotes), ironic exaggeration (e.g. hyperbole), ironic use of social conventions and traditions Note: and ironic attribution. It is the contention of this study that Susanna is a thematically ironic story. This article was part of the The use of reversed social conventions is the most powerful and the most abundant expression third chapter of the author’s of irony in the story. This dominant derisive technique is possibly aimed at addressing the PhD thesis presented at the irrelevance as well as the abuse of Jewish social conventions in the Second Temple period. Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (South Africa) in 2009. The text of Susanna that will be Introduction used here is essentially the Theodotion version. This This article investigates the occurrence of irony in the story of Susanna. Scholars assume that version has a most elaborate Susanna1 is highly ironic in its content as well as in the structure of its plot (cf. -
Susanna the Martyr
SUSANNA THE MARTYR Catholics who have any acquaintance with modern Biblical studies are sure to have encountered the phrase genera litteraria, or its English equivalent 'literary forms,' and to know that great stress was laid on this subject in the Encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu. But, if I may judge from my own experience, the implications of this theme are often not well grasped. I have heard a priest declare indignantly, when some historical passage of the Bible was being discussed, ' You can't apply genera litteraria here! ' apparently understanding them as some technique for turning history into fiction. But literary forms are as inescapable as M. Jourdain's prose. You cannot put pen to paper without adopting some literary form. The style of a telegram is one, a letter to a friend uses another, letters to the Editor constitute a third, entries in a private diary make up a fourth, and so on. Similarly, you cannot peruse any piece of writing, without subscon sciously at least determining its literary form and interpreting it accordingly. Your identification may of course be wrong-in which case your understanding of it is liable to be wrong too. The instruc tions of the Encyclical deal not with the existence of literary forms but with their recognition; in particular, they warn us against taking for granted that the literary forms used by the inspired writers are those with which we are familiar in modern literature and in our daily lives. Normally, the precise opposite is true. In the .seventeenth century the wrong identification of literary forms led to the misreading of poetic affirmations as scientific state ments offact. -
Daughters in the Deuterocanonical Books of the Old Testament
5743 Received: Feb 14, 2020 / Accepted: Mar 26, 2020 / Published: Jun 26, 2020 VERBUM VITAE • 37/2 (2020) 297-310 ISSN 1644-856 / e-ISSN 2451-280X / DOI 10.31743/vv.5743 Received: Feb 14, 2020 / Accepted: Mar 26, 2020 / Published: Jun 26, 2020 Daughters in the Deuterocanonical Books of the Old Testament MICHAŁ WOJCIECHOWSKI Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie [email protected], ORCID: 0000-0002-5658-7512 Abstract: The instances where daughters are mentioned in the Greek books of the Old Testament are not numerous. They are interesting, however, and deserving of exegesis and interpretation. In Tobit and Ben Sira their relationship to fathers are stressed and this aspect is of importance, whether those relationships are good or strained. If the texts are compared with the Hebrew Bible, more light is thrown on the personalities of the daughters, and they are valued more highly. Some influence of the Greek civilization can be presupposed here. A link with the Mediterranean culture of honor and shame can also be traced, especially in Ben Sira. Keywords: Daughter, Women in the ancient world, Father, Bible, Septuagint, Apocrypha, Deuterocanon- ical books, Tobit, Susanna, Ben Sira, Sirach, Anthropology, Family, Family values. This article concerns mainly women and could be seen as inspired by feminist stud- ies, although in this contemporary approach women are only rarely seen as daugh- ters. Moreover, being a daughter implies a relationship in a family, with mother, fa- ther and their other children, and also a place in a society. Therefore, examining this matter is nearer to the social scientific and anthropological approach to the biblical studies.