What is narrated here, happened at a later time, although it is placed before the first book (at the beginning of the book). For it was a custom with the writers to narrate many things in an inverted order in their writings. For we find also in the prophets some visions recorded among the first and fulfilled among the last; and again, on the other hand, some recorded among the last and fulfilled first. And this was done by the disposition of the Spirit, that the devil might not understand the things spoken in parables by the prophets, and might not a second time lay his snares and ruin man.
Verses 1, 2. "Now there was a man that dwelt in Babylon whose name was Joakim; and he took a wife whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Helcias, a very beautiful woman and one who feared the Lord" (Vulgate: God). Having expounded to the best of my ability the contents of the book of Daniel according to the Hebrew, I shall briefly set forth the comments of Origen concerning the stories of Susanna and of Bel contained in the Tenth Book of his Stromata. These remarks are from him and one may observe them in the appropriate sections (i.e., of Origen's work).
This Joakim who lived in Babylon took Susanna as his wife. She was the daughter of Hilkiah, the priest who had found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord when King Josiah had ordered him to purify the holy of holies. His brother is Jeremiah the prophet, who, like those who remained after the deportation of the people to Babylon, went to Egypt and lived in Taphne, where he was stoned to death by them while he was prophesying. Susanna, being of the priestly line, of the tribe of Levi, intermarried with the tribe of Judah, thus in herself joining these two righteous tribes from whom the righteous seed of Christ would appear, and thus he who was born from them in Bethlehem was manifested as a priest of God. Matthew, in fact, wanting to follow the pure and untainted genealogy along the line of Joseph, when he reached Josiah, omitted his five sons and mentioned Jeconiah, who was born in Babylon from Susanna, passing over one righteous seed in favor of another righteous seed. It says, in fact, “Josiah begat Jeconiah and his siblings at the time of the deportation of Babylon.”
Trees are easily recognized from the fruit they have produced. Being devout and full of zeal for the law22 they bear to the world worthy sons of God, that is, the prophet and witness of Christ and the one who from Babylon has been found tested and faithful, who has manifested the holiness and the wisdom of the blessed Daniel.
It is opportune to ask how those who were captives and had been enslaved by the Babylonian could gather together in the same place as if they were free. It must be known that after he deported them, Nebuchadnezzar dealt with them in a humane way and permitted them to meet together and to do all things according to the law.
It is well to make use of this testimony in order to exhort parents to educate with the divine law and testimony of God not only their sons but also their daughters.
Verse 3. "And being righteous folk, her parents had educated their daughter in conformity with the law of Moses (Vulgate: because they were righteous, they had instructed...." This verse should be used as a testimony in order to urge parents to teach their daughters in accordance with God's law and holy Word, as well as their sons.
Susanna had to endure this from of old, and we still must endure under the princes of Babylon. Susanna was a figure of the church; her husband Joakim, a figure of Christ. The garden that was found near the house represented the communion of saints, planted like fruitful trees in the middle of the church. Babylon is the world. The two elders are figures of the two peoples who conspire against the church, one of the circumcision and the other of the Gentiles.
A Hebrew informed us that they were Achiah and Zedekiah, those whom “the king of Babylon roasted in the fire because their conduct in Israel was an outrage, having committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors.”
Verse 5. "And there were two of the elders of the people (the Vulgate omits: of the people) who were appointed judges that year." There was a Jew who used to allege that these men were Ahab and Zedekiah (variant: Alchias and Zedekiah), of whom Jeremiah wrote: "The Lord do to thee as Ahab and Zedekiah, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire because of the iniquity they had wrought in Israel and because they had committed adultery (variant: were committing adultery) with the wives of their citizens" (Jeremiah 29:22-23).
"It was concerning them that the Lord said that iniquity came forth from Babylon on the part of the ancient judges who appeared to govern the people. They used to frequent the house of Joakim..." Very appropriately it is not said of these sinful elders, "They governed the people," but rather, "They appeared to govern." For those who furnish good leadership to the people are the ones who govern them, but those who merely have the title of judge and lead the people unjustly only appear to govern the people rather than actually doing so.
“In the morning” Susanna went to take a walk. It is not at all out of place (in order to pacify those who find examples in the sacred writing for everything that we do) to take a walk at a time such as this, for example, since back then one did well to take a walk in order to keep his own body healthy.
The leaders of the Jews want to eliminate this episode from the Scriptures, insinuating that none of this happened in Babylon, because they are ashamed of what the elders did then. The economy of the Father does not acknowledge this line of argument since the sacred Scriptures, without qualification and with all frankness, tell us everything, not only the just actions of the people who were saved by what they accomplished but also the scandalous lives of some whose conduct led to their own perdition. In such a way, fortified by the fear of God, we will hurry to imitate the righteous in order to be saved like they were, but those who have done the opposite will have under their eyes the sentence that will be sent from God.
These words are easily understood: the two peoples, incited by Satan who is working in them, never stop trying to raise up persecutions and tribulations against the church. They try to destroy it, but they are not in agreement with each other.
The Greek word pathos is better rendered for us with the term “disturbance” rather than with the term “passion.” Therefore this disturbed and covetous desire stimulated, or rather it churned violently, in the heart of the elders. But because their souls were like plowed soil and they could only think about getting what they desired, their own feelings became perverted, and, once perverted, their eyes were turned toward earth so that they did not see the celestial truths, and they forgot about sound judgment, they forgot about God, about honesty, about the nature oriented toward the good inborn in every person.
Verse 8. "And they were inflamed with lust for her, and they perverted their own mind and turned their eyes away that they might not look toward heaven nor remember just judgments." What the Greeks call pathos we render more correctly by "emotion" than by "passion." And so it was this emotion, this lustful desire, which aroused or even smote the hearts of the elders. But in order that they might lay some basis for it in their hearts and might plan how to satisfy their desires, they perverted their own minds. And as their minds were subverted, they turned away their eyes that they might not regard heavenly things or remember righteous judgments, or God, or honor, or character, the factors for good which are inherent in all men. "And behold, Susanna was taking a walk according to her custom." It has been stated already that Susanna was actually in the habit of taking walks in the mornings. For the sake of pleasing those people who seek out Scriptural precedent for everything we do, it would not be inappropriate to seize upon this passage about taking walks, and say that it is a good thing for a person to take walks for the invigorating of his body. Origen says that he has taken this particular passage from the Septuagint; by this statement he shows that he has not discussed the rest of the chapter on the basis of the Septuagint translation.
These words indicate that, with regard to food, the Jews are not in agreement with the Gentiles; but in their ideas and in all the other affairs of this world, they are of one mind and can agree with one another.
Thus in revealing themselves to each other they look toward the time when suddenly they will be interrogated by the angels in order to render to God an account of all the sins they have done, according to the word of Solomon, “The interrogation will destroy the impious.”
Which is the favorable day if not that of Passover? This is the day in which the laver is prepared in the garden for those who burn with lust; and the church, washed like Susanna, is presented to God as a young and pure spouse. And, like the two attendants who accompanied Susanna, faith and charity prepare the oil and the ointments for those who come to be washed. What do the ointments signify? The commandments of the Word. The oil is nothing other than the gifts of the Spirit. With these the faithful come scented with the anointing that takes place after the laver of washing. These things were prefigured here in the blessed Susanna for our sake.
Thus here it is symbolized that anyone who wants to partake of the water that flows in the garden must renounce the gate that is wide and enter through the tight and narrow door.
Verse 19. "Susanna sighed and said: 'I am straitened on every side.'" Anyone who has attained to the acme of perfect virtue never says that she is faced with a crisis of decision, when she is unable to escape the hands of adulterers who say, "Consent to us and have intercourse with us; for otherwise, if thou art unwilling, we will witness against thee that a young man was with thee and thou sentest away thy maidens from thee for this purpose." It is of course a characteristic of human frailty to fear a death which is inflicted upon one because of his uprightness. To be sure we might interpret her distress as arising not from the prospect of death but from the contumely and disgrace which would be heaped upon her by those accusers who would claim: "A young man was with her, and she sent away her maidens for that reason."
Listening to these words, the blessed Susanna was troubled in her heart and set a watch on her mouth since she did not want to be contaminated by the impious elders. It is possible to truly understand what happened to Susanna, you see, since you find the same thing fulfilled now also with the church. When, in fact, the two peoples come to an agreement in order to corrupt some of the saints, they wait for the appropriate moment and then penetrate into the house of God, while all are praying and singing hymns to God, and they drag outside some of those they seize, saying, “Come, consent with us and worship our gods; otherwise we will denounce you.” If they do not consent, they drag them before the court and accuse them of acting contrary to the law of Caesar and condemn them to death.
He calls sin death. In the same way, therefore, that for the one who commits adultery, adultery is death, so every sin that leads to death must be called death. And we are convinced that we die every time we sin mortally, whereas we rise again and recover life every time we do works worthy of life.
Verse 22. "'For if I do this, it is death to me; but if I do not..." She speaks of sin as death. For just as in the case of one who commits adultery, the adultery means death, so also every sin which results in death is to be equated with death. And we believe we die as often as we sin unto death. And therefore on the other hand we rise again and are made alive just as often as we perform deeds which are worthy of life.
And to whom did Susanna cry out? She cried out to God, as Isaiah says, “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer you; while you are still speaking, he will say, Here I am.” “And the two elders cried out against her.” The wicked never stop crying out against us and say, Away with such people from the earth, for it is not fitting that they should live.
Verse 23. "'But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing the deed than to sin in the sight of the Lord.'" In the Greek the word is not hairetoteron, or "better", but haireton, which we may render by "good" . And so she chose her words well when she avoided saying, "It is better for me to fall into the hands of my enemies, the elders, than to sin in the sight of the Lord"; for thus she avoided calling something better in comparison with sin, which was not a good thing at all. But, she remarks, it is good for me not to do the wicked thing, and to fall into your clutches without sinning in God's sight. Therefore one should not use the comparative and say, "It is better for me to fall into your clutches than to sin in God's sight," but rather the positive, "It is good for me not to do the wicked thing and fall into your clutches, rather than to commit sin in God's sight."
“It is better for me not to escape your hands than to sin in front of God.” She refused the proposals she heard because she feared him who she could not see and to whose divine gaze, however, she was very visible. Because she did not happen, in fact, to see God does not mean that God did not see her. God saw what he was building up: he inspected his work, inhabited his temple. He was there; he was answering their insidious trap. If the giver of chastity had abandoned her, chastity also would have been extinguished. Therefore she said, “I am trapped on every side.” But she waited for the one who would save her from weakness of spirit and from the fury of the false witnesses who were like stormy winds. Between these winds and that storm, however, chastity did not suffer shipwreck because the Lord guided the route. She screamed. People came. The process began, and the case came up for judgment. The servants of Susanna believed what the imposter elders said against their mistress. It seemed to them that it would be against their religion not to believe the elders, even though the innocent and stainless life Susanna had led up to this point seemed to offer valid testimony of her chastity. No such chatter had been made on her account. There they were, false witnesses, but God noticed. The household believed one thing; God saw another. But what God saw, human beings did not know, and it seemed right to believe the elders. Therefore she had to die, but if her flesh were to die, her chastity still would have triumphed. Instead, the Lord was present to whom she prayed, and he heard because he knew her.
Verse 24. "And Susanna cried out with a great voice..." Her voice was great, not because of the intense vibrations it sent through the air nor because of the outcry that came from her lips, but because of the greatness of the chastity with which she called out to the Lord. And so for this reason the Scripture did not attribute a great voice to the outcry of the elders, for the following statement is merely: "The elders also cried out against her."
The devil does not fill someone or dwell in him by participation in his nature or being, as some think, but is thought to dwell in someone whom he has filled with confusion, deception and wickedness. With this same deception he entered the old men, who became cruel toward Susanna, and filled their souls with the passion of lust and the belated will of old age. In fact, it is written, “The two old men arrived, full of evil intentions.” He also filled the entire Jewish people with these deceptions. As the prophet says, “Woe to you, sinful nation, a people full of sins, evil seed, corrupt children.” “Evil seed” is the devil, and his children are called “sinners” because of their surpassing wickedness. If, therefore, those who are called “his children” in the Scriptures do not possess the devil according to a participation in being—because this has been shown, more than once, to be impossible in creatures—then neither can anyone else receive him by participation in his being but only by taking on an extremely treacherous will.
Her beauty was not, in fact, the beauty of the body of a prostitute, like the beauty painted on the body of Jezebel or the face that is made up with makeup of all colors. Rather, it was the beauty of faith, wisdom and holiness.
Verse 42. "But Susanna cried out with a great voice..." Her voice was rendered the clearer because of the emotion of her heart, the honest sincerity of her avowal, and the uprightness of her conscience. And so, although men would not listen to it, her outcry to God was great.
“With my voice I have cried to the Lord.” I have not, that is, cried with the voice of the body, whose sound is made from the vibration of the air, but with the voice of the heart that is silent for human beings but sounds like an outcry to God. Susanna was heard by this voice. With this voice the Lord has taught to us to pray without sound in the secret places, that is, in the recesses of the heart. Nor would one say that we pray less intensely because of the fact that no word comes out of our mouth. In fact, when we pray silently in our heart, if alien thoughts come to distract the mind of one who prays, we cannot anymore say, “With my voice I have cried to the Lord.” We can rightly say these words only when the soul—without being dragged down with the flesh and having no sexual purposes in mind—alone speaks to the Lord. Then this prayer can be truly called an “outcry” because of the vigor of the tension that the soul experiences. “And he has heard me from his holy mountain.” From the prophet the Lord called a mountain where it is written that the stone that was cut without human hands has grown into the grandeur of a mountain.
The Spirit endued the soul of Daniel with wisdom so that, young as he was, he became a judge of elders. The chaste Susanna was condemned as a wanton harlot. There was no one to plead her case, for who was to deliver her from the rulers? She was led away to death; she was now in the hands of the executioners. But her Helper was close at hand, the Comforter, the Spirit who sanctifies every rational nature. Come here to me, he says to Daniel. Even though you are young, convict old men infected with the sins of youth. For it is written, God raised up the Holy Spirit on a young lad; and nevertheless (to pass on quickly) by the sentence of Daniel that chaste woman was saved. We bring this forward as testimony since this is not the time for expounding further. Nebuchadnezzar also knew that the Holy Spirit was in Daniel because he says to him, “O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, I know about you that the Holy Spirit of God is in you.” One thing he said truly, and one falsely. Daniel did have the Holy Spirit, that was true; but he was not the master of the magicians because he was no magician. His wisdom came through the Holy Spirit. And before this he had also interpreted for Nebuchadnezzar the vision of the image that he who had seen it did not himself understand. For he says, Tell me the vision, which I who saw it do not know. See the power of the Holy Spirit: those who saw it did not know, while those who did not see it did know and interpreted.
Verse 45. "And as she was being led away to die, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young boy." By this language it is shown that the Holy Spirit did not then enter into Daniel, but rather that He was already within him, and only because of the tenderness of his years He had remained inactive. Nor could He show forth His works until an occasion arose and the Lord stirred him up on behalf of the holy woman.
Let us examine why this visitation of the Lord did not take place before her condemnation but at the moment in which they were taking her away to death. This happens so that the power of God would shine forth. When he wants to save one of his servants, he saves him when he wants to and how he wants to. When he wants the trial to end, he waits patiently, to glorify and crown his servant like a good athlete. When Susanna finished praying and was heard, the angel of the Lord was sent to her, he who is the avenger and helper, to defeat her enemies. When Daniel saw the angel’s haste, being a prophet and having the Spirit of God, he shouted, “I am innocent of her blood!” so as not to be responsible for her death with the others. Pilate acted in the same way before the Lord, washing his hands and saying, “I am not responsible for this blood.”
Verse 46. "And he cried out with a great voice: 'I am innocent of the blood of this woman...'" Because the Holy Spirit was roused up within him and dictated to the boy what he should say, his voice was great. And if there is any place in Holy Scripture where the voice of a sinner is called great, it has (yet) to be noted.
Verses 54-59. "'Tell me under which tree thou sawest them conversing with each other.' And he answered, 'Under the mastic tree.' And Daniel said to him, 'Well hast thou lied against thine own head; for behold, the angel of God, having received His sentence from Him, shall cleave thee in twain.' And a little while later the other elder said, 'Under the holm tree.' And Daniel said to him, 'Well hast thou lied against thine own head; but the angel of the Lord waiteth with a sword to sever thee in twain.'" Since the Hebrews reject the story of Susanna, asserting that it is not contained in the Book of Daniel, we ought to investigate carefully the names of the trees, the skhinos and the prinos, which the Latins interpret as "holm-oak" and "mastic-tree," and see whether they exist among the Hebrews and what their derivation is - for example, as "cleavage" , and "cutting" or "sawing" is derived from "holm tree" in the language of the Greeks. But if no such derivation can be found, then we too are of necessity forced to agree with the verdict of those who claim that this chapter was originally composed in Greek, because it contains Greek etymology not found in Hebrew. But if anyone can show that the derivation of the ideas of cleaving and severing from the names of the two trees in question is valid in Hebrew, then we may accept this scripture also as canonical.
Let us pay attention, just as Joshua says, so that we can prevail over the Canaanites, because if they prevail over us and hold us captive, they may turn us from Israelites to Canaanites, just as it happened to him who was won over by the enticements of the flesh, to which the prophet said, “Race of Canaan and not of Judah, beauty has seduced you.” Let it not happen to us, therefore, that we hear, “race of Canaan,” because “cursed is the son of Canaan; he will be a servant to his brothers.” May the Lord instead grant that we may be children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, heirs according to the promise and brought forth from stones76 so that we may be children of Abraham, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Salvation was awaited by and offered to Israel but not to the carnal Israel. “In fact, it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise who are considered his offspring.” As John also attests, the children of Abraham are not the children according to the flesh, since they are also children of vipers, and God can raise up children of Abraham from rocks. The Lord taught that the right of succession is constituted by works of faith and that we must not think of the birth of children according to carnal generation, when he says, “If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works that Abraham did.” And Daniel also, condemning the old men, does not say, “offspring of Abraham,” but, “offspring of Canaan and not of Judah.” Ezekiel also, confronting the people with their iniquities, says, “Your father was a Canaanite, your mother a Hittite. Your origin and your birth are of the land of Canaan.” We are not dealing, therefore, with this Israel that comes from carnal succession and to which is attributed the birth of a generation that is wholly profane because of its unbelief. It is not to this Israel, therefore, that salvation is given, because they did not accept it when it was offered, but to that other who, their slavery ended, has become the people of God.
Ham receives the sentence so that he might come to his senses, and he is punished through his son, so that you would learn that even if one is old, the punishment will pass to the child. And this makes his life bitter and painful, knowing that even after his death his son will be punished for what he did. And that the son will be miserable from birth and all his descendants detestable and inclined to evil is what the Scripture says instead of pronouncing a curse: “Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.” And elsewhere it says scornfully, “offspring of Canaan and not of Judah.”
Verse 60. "And the whole congregration (Vulgate: assembly) cried out with a great voice and blessed God, who saveth those who trust in Him..." If the whole congregation put them to death, the view which we mentioned earlier is apparently refuted, namely that these were the elders Ahab and Zedekiah, in conformity with Jeremiah's statement (Jeremiah 29:22). The only other possibility is that instead of taking the statement, "They killed them," literally, we interpret it as meaning that they gave them over to the king of Babylon to be put to death. That would be just like when we say that the Jews put the Savior to death; not that they smote Him themselves, but they gave Him over to be slain and cried out, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" (John 19:15).
This is the text of the story, but an allegory can also be drawn from the letter. Hilkiah in fact means “alteration of God” or “praise of God.” Susanna means “their praise” or “apostolic lily.” Joakim, “disposition of the Lord” or “praise of the Lord.” Daniel, “judgment of God” and “God is judge.” When, therefore, the joy of the souls of the church, who are pleasing to God—that is, the apostolic lily, the sweet-smelling flower, the spiritual aroma, the daughter of Hilkiah who learned from her parents to act according to the tradition of the prophets (who are the food and the inheritance of Israel)—unites with Christ, the spiritual spouse, who is Joakim, the spiritual spouse of the church—the one who prepares for the faithful the goods of the world to come, announcing the kingdom of heaven and making them participants of the Holy Spirit (who is worthy of praise forever, amen)—then the godless judges of the people will suddenly arise. If, however, they cannot corrupt her soul with forbidden dogma, killing it (this is in fact the death of the soul), then they give the body over to the senseless, unreasoning mob to be sacrificed. And if God permits the suffering of the spouse, he places the crown of martyrdom on her. And if instead he frees her from the hands of her enemies, then also he honors her, keeping her near himself. Those who plot against her are in any case condemned to Gehenna by God’s just judgment, pronounced over them by Daniel, whose name is translated “judgment of God.” The old men have no name, like the rich man spoken of by Luke, who did not pity Lazarus’s sores.
Verse 63. "But Helcias and his wife praised God for their daughter Susanna..." Like true saints they praise God after a worthy fashion, not simply on the ground of Susanna's deliverance from the clutches of the elders - for that would hardly be sufficient matter for praise or of any decisive importance, even if she had not been so delivered - but rather on the ground that no immorality was found in her.
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Daniel 13:1