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Audiobook edition · 42 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 42 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 42 pagesAbout 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
- Two Judges Watch a Garden in Babylon
- A Trap Closes and Truth Loses to Rank
- Susanna Prays and a Young Man Speaks Up
- Daniel Challenges Bel and a Living Dragon
- The Stories Ask Who Gets Believed
- Laughter, Courage and the Shape of the Tales
- 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 readEnglish
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“I am trapped on every side.”
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 at a glance
- Reading time
- About 10 min8 min fast, 10 min slow
- Length
- 2,490 words2 chapters
- Pages
- 42 pages42 in large print
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom 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.
Joacim has a fine garden beside his house, and the Jews gather there to meet him. That year two elders are appointed as judges, and people with legal disputes come to them at his house. At midday, when the people leave, Susanna goes out to walk in her husband's garden. The two judges watch her every day, and their desire grows. They turn their eyes away from heaven and forget that just judgment is God's concern. The very men chosen to protect justice are the danger.
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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
- English
- Listening time
- 42 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 42 pages · 6 × 9 in
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- 42 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
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- 42 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Delivery and returns
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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.
Daniel. (2026). Susanna, Bel and the Dragon. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-susanna-bel-and-the-dragon
Daniel. Susanna, Bel and the Dragon. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-susanna-bel-and-the-dragon.
@book{daniel2026susanna,
author = {Daniel},
title = {Susanna, Bel and the Dragon},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://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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