When two elders become the local judges, they visited Joakim’s house and stalked Susanna, lusting after her and disobeying God’s law (8-9). Structurally, the book is only 64 verses long and can be summarized as follows: In Babylon, a wealthy man called Joakim marries the God-fearing Susanna, daughter of a priest (1-4). Though the early church originally considered it canonical, debate erupted to whether it should be excluded as early as the third century, as attested in the Letter to Africanus, a detailed correspondence between Africanus and Origen. Susanna’s strongest literary influences are the Old Testament books of Genesis, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, though, ironically, it is not dependent on Daniel itself. The Book of Susanna is most commonly placed before the events of Daniel 1 (Theodotion tradition) however, the Septuagint and Vulgate editions position it between Daniel 12 and 14. After being bestowed with power by Darius (and surviving an encounter with lions through divine intervention), Daniel experiences a series of intense personal visions dreams showing events ranging from the near future to the end of days.

Belshazzar died and lost the kingdom to Darius the Mede. Years after these events, Daniel was called to interpret prophetical words towards Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar. After a series of religious confrontations, Daniel’s interpretations were clear: accept God or suffer His wrath. The Book of Daniel begins with King Nebuchadnezzar’s desire to impose Babylonian culture upon some Israelite youths, of whom Daniel was one, but as the years pass, Daniel astonishes Nebuchadnezzar by interpreting his symbolic dreams. The Book of Daniel, written by the prophet Daniel himself (12:4) in the sixth century B.C., is placed in different locations of the Bible depending on the culture: the Jews place it among the Writings, dismissing its prophecies, while the English translations place it among the Major Prophets. Susanna is among the additions to the book of Daniel (as are Bel and the Dragon, The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews) and was most likely composed between 200–100 B.C.

Susanna is one of 12-15 books generally recognized as comprising the Apocrypha. The books of the Apocrypha were generally written in the roughly 400 years between the composition of the books in the Old and New Testaments, the intertestamental period. The Book of Susanna (also known as History of Susannah and the Elders) is part of what is considered the Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical books and appears in the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles.

Susanna in the book of daniel