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Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, the audiobook coverAudiobook edition · 42 min
StandardLarge printLarge print · 6 × 9 in · 42 pages · bigger, clearer type
Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, paperbackPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 30 pages
Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, hardcoverHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 30 pages
About this book

What happens when respected judges lie, a king trusts an idol, and one sharp question can challenge them both?

Susanna, Bel and the Dragon brings together three short tales attached to Daniel in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. In Susanna, two respected elders threaten a devout wife with a false charge when she refuses them. Her life hangs on whose words the community believes. According to the tale, young Daniel steps forward to question what others accept.

Bel and the Dragon turn from a threatened woman to the objects of Babylon’s worship. King Cyrus believes Bel eats and drinks; Daniel wants that claim tested. A dragon revered as a living god brings another contest. These anonymous tales blend crime, cunning, comedy and prayer, placing a person of faith against powers that seem far stronger.

What you’ll discover

  • A garden under threat Meet Susanna as a quiet place becomes the setting for a deadly accusation.
  • Questions that test power Follow Daniel into a courtroom where respected voices must answer careful questions.
  • An idol under scrutiny Enter the contest over Bel, where a king’s certainty meets Daniel’s searching doubt.
  • A dragon in Babylon Discover a tale in which public worship places Daniel at odds with an angry crowd.
  • Faith sharpened by wit Explore how these stories bring prayer and reasoning together in the face of deceit.

Who will love it

Readers who like courtroom drama, clever detective tricks and sharp satire will enjoy these tales, as will anyone curious about the Book of Daniel.

What’s inside

The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary

  1. Two Judges Watch a Garden in Babylon
  2. A Trap Closes and Truth Loses to Rank
  3. Susanna Prays and a Young Man Speaks Up
  4. Daniel Challenges Bel and a Living Dragon
  5. The Stories Ask Who Gets Believed
  6. Laughter, Courage and the Shape of the Tales
  7. Daniel the Detective and Susanna the Witness

Who’s who

  • SusannaThe wife of Joacim, a woman of beauty and faith who is trapped between a sin and a false charge.
  • JoacimA wealthy and honored man in Babylon whose garden beside his house is where the Jews gather.
  • The two eldersTwo judges who watch Susanna daily, plan to take advantage of her, and rely on their rank to be believed.
  • DanielA young man who stands up for the truth, questions witnesses and refuses to worship anything but the living God.
  • King CyrusThe Persian king who loves Daniel but worships Bel and believes the idol is alive.
  • The priests of BelSeventy priests who tend the idol and who accept the king's challenge, confident they have nothing to fear.
  • ChelciasSusanna's father, a righteous man who stands with his daughter and her family at her trial.

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Susanna, Bel and the Dragon

by Attributed to the prophet Daniel

Two judges hide in a Babylonian garden, and a young man named Daniel must stand between Susanna and death.

Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readEspañol

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In short

What would you do if the most respected men in your town swore that you had committed a crime, and nobody dared to doubt them? That is the position of Susanna, a wife in Babylon, in one of the oldest courtroom dramas to survive from the ancient world.

Susanna, Bel and the Dragon by Attributed to the prophet Daniel, the cover
Susanna, Bel and the DragonAttributed to the prophet Daniel · read by James MitchellFree: the first 5 minutes
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1

Two Judges Watch a Garden in Babylon

The first tale opens among Jewish exiles in Babylon. A man named Joacim lives there with his wife Susanna. Joacim is wealthy, and the community honors him above any other man. The text gives two plain facts about Susanna. She is very beautiful, and she fears the Lord. Her parents were righteous and raised her by the law of Moses.

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Two judges hide in a Babylonian garden, and a young man named Daniel must stand between Susanna and death.

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Details
Language
Español
Listening time
42 min
Level
Medium level
Paperback
30 pages · 6 × 9 in
Hardcover
30 pages · 6 × 9 in
Large print paperback
42 pages · 6 × 9 in
Large print hardcover
42 pages · 6 × 9 in
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Cite this edition

Daniel. Susanna, Bel and the Dragon. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-susanna-bel-and-the-dragon.

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What is Susanna, Bel and the Dragon about?

It gathers three short tales about Daniel in Babylon. Susanna is a courtroom drama about a falsely accused wife, while Bel and the Dragon tell how Daniel challenges two objects of worship in the court of King Cyrus.

Why is it not in most Protestant Bibles?

The tales survive in Greek and not in the Hebrew text. When sixteenth century Reformers took the Hebrew Old Testament as their standard, they placed these stories among the Apocrypha. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles keep them.

Who is Susanna and who are the elders?

Susanna is the wife of Joacim, a wealthy man in Babylon. The elders are two judges who visit his house, watch her walk in the garden and plan to use their standing to have her condemned.

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