O Susannah Trivia Quiz

Answer: Babylon

Babylon, capital of the Babylonian empire and the most cosmopolitan city of its time, was the place of exile of the Jewish upper classes deported from Jerusalem by Nebuchadrezzar (known as Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible). Thus, this work of pious historical fiction is set during the period of the Babylonian Captivity.

Jerusalem was the capital of the Davidic kingdom and, after the division of Judah and Israel, of Judah.

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. Rages (or Rhages) was a city in Media where much of the action of the deuterocanonical book of Tobias (or Tobit) takes place.

Answer: Yes

"In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim. He was married to a woman called Susanna daughter of Hilkiah, a woman of great beauty; and she was God-fearing, for her parents were worthy people and had instructed their daughter in the Law of Moses."
(Dan. 13:1-3)

Susannah was a beautiful and righteous married woman. The entire story hangs on this point.

Answer: In the garden on the grounds of her home

"Joakim was a very rich man and had a garden by his house...
At midday...Susanna would take a walk in her husband's garden."
(Dan. 13: 4 and 7)

To be able to afford a garden (an orchard in the Douay-Rheims translation) on his grounds in a major city, Joakim must have been wealthy indeed, especially considering he was a foreigner. Bearing this point in mind, the elders' plot seems not only wicked but stupid. Why deliberately alienate a rich and influential member of the community? But then, at no time throughout the story are the elders depicted as bright.

Answer: Blame

When they are introduced, the reader is left in no doubt that they are bad guys:

"Two elderly men had been selected from the people, that year, to act as judges. Of such the Lord had said, 'Wickedness has come to Babylon through the elders and judges posing as guides to the people.'"
(Dan. 13:5)

Jewish tradition identifies these wicked men with two false prophets, Ahab and Zedekiah, whom Jeremiah denounced:

"This is what Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who prophesy lies to you in my name: I shall hand them over now to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon who will put them to death before your very eyes."
(Jer. 29:21)

Whether the elders in the tale of Susannah are based on historical persons or not, they are certainly liars and pretty unsavory types.

Answer: They used her home as their base of operations.

In ancient Babylon, there were no community centers or clubhouses. The homes of respected community members like Joakim served, instead, as gathering places. The story tells us:

"Joakim ...used to be visited by a considerable number of the Jews, since he was held in greater respect than any other man.
Two elderly men had been selected from the people, that year, to act as judges. ...
These men were often at Joakim's house, and all who were engaged in litigation used to come to them."
Dan. 13:4-6

So they knew Susannah, by sight and reputation if perhaps not personally. This made it easy for them to lay their wicked plot.

Answer: To seduce Susannah

Basically, they are dirty old men. They stalk her, spy on her, lust after her and, when the time is right, confront her with demands for sexual favors. Such conduct would be repulsive and (by the way) against Mosaic law were Susannah an unmarried girl. To behave so towards a respectable married woman is, or ought to be, unthinkable.

The mere formulation of their plot shows the elders to be depraved and wicked, wholly unworthy of the office of judge they hold.

Answer: If she did what they wanted and was discovered, she would be put to death.

Not only have these dirty old men been stalking Susannah, they conspire to force her to commit adultery. Moreover, she knows the Law:

"...a woman called Susanna daughter of Hilkiah...she was God-fearing, for
her parents were worthy people and had instructed their daughter in the Law of Moses."
(Dan. 13:2-3)

This means she was familiar with Deuteronomy 22:22 which states:

"If a man is caught having sexual intercourse with another man's wife, both must be put to death: the man who has slept with her and the woman herself."

She not only feels aesthetic and moral repugnance at the elders' advances, she knows they put her in peril of her life.

Presumably the villains, being elders and judges, are also familiar with the law. It seems, though, they reckon on being canny enough not to be caught or else they rely upon their position to shield them from the consequences of their crime.

Answer: Yes

Not content to be voyeurs, watching the beautiful Susannah bathe in the garden on a hot day, the villains wait till she sends away the servant girls and then spring their trap. They may not be too bright, but they are diabolically cunning. If they can't have her, they will make an accusation of adultery against her that she will find it difficult if not impossible to refute.

"Hardly were the maids gone than the two elders sprang up and rushed upon her.
'Look,' they said, 'the garden door is shut, no one can see us. We want to have you, so give in and let us!
Refuse, and we shall both give evidence that a young man was with you and that this was why you sent your maids away.'
(Dan. 13:19-21)

At this, the hapless Susannah resigns herself to be either raped or unjustly condemned for adultery, since she knows she cannot get away from the two determined elders, nor can she out-shout them to call for help. Throughout her ordeal, however, her faith in the Lord and in His vindication of the innocent remains steadfast.

Answer: No

"She [Susannah] cried out as loud as she could, 'Eternal God, you know all secrets and everything before it happens;
you know that they have given false evidence against me. And now I must die, innocent as I am of everything their malice has invented against me!'
The Lord heard her cry
and, as she was being led away to die, he roused the holy spirit residing in a young boy called Daniel
who began to shout, 'I am innocent of this woman's death!'
(Dan. 13:42-46)

This inspiration of Daniel's is the only supernatural or miraculous aspect of the story. It may not, though, be as much out of the blue as it seems at first. Daniel is, we discover, a canny and observant young man. Certainly, he shows himself later in the story to have the measure of the elders. It is likely that he knows Susannah by reputation. After all, she is the beautiful and pious wife of a leading citizen. Recall too that though 'the people' (that is the assembly or the mass of folk hanging around Joakim's house) immediately accept the elders' claims, those who know Susannah do not:

"Once the elders had told their story, the servants were thoroughly taken aback, since nothing of this sort had ever been said of Susanna."
(Dan. 13:27)

A great deal is left unsaid in this story. Still, it is reasonable to make a couple of assumptions. First, servants of Sixth Century B.C. Babylon are like servants of all times and places. They know everything about the families they work in. So, if there were the slightest hint of scandal about Susannah, the servants would know. But it is specifically stated that they are shocked at the accusation. We can make another assumption; namely that Sixth Century B.C. Babylonian servants, like servants and indeed people in general of all times and places, talked freely. Finally, in light of how much he knows about all the players in the drama, it is reasonable to suppose that Daniel, like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, has contacts and informants throughout all strata of society.

Answer: He questions each of the elders separately.

From antiquity through early modern times it was not unusual to seek supernatural signs and intervention in what we would today consider legal cases. Daniel does not do so, though his intelligence, keen powers of observation and knowledge of people seem all but miraculous to the dull-witted crowd. Instead he applies what Agatha Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot calls "the little grey cells". Indeed, in "Asimov's Guide to the Bible" Isaac Asimov has this to say about The History of Susannah and the Two Elders:

"This is what we would today call a detective story and, considering the time of its composition, it is an excellent one..."

Daniel is no Hercule Poirot. He does, however, approach the problem with the assumption that Susannah has been framed, and he proposes a way to prove his suspicion. Reasoning that the crux of the matter lies with the elders, whose true character he understands, he questions them separately, thereby exposing their lies.

"When the men had been separated, Daniel had one of them brought to him. ...
Now then, since you saw her so clearly, tell me what sort of tree you saw them lying under.' He replied, 'Under an acacia tree.'
Daniel said, 'Indeed! Your lie recoils on your own head: the angel of God has already received from him your sentence and will cut you in half.'
He dismissed the man, ordered the other to be brought and said to him, '...Now then, tell me what sort of tree you surprised them under.' He replied, 'Under an aspen tree.'
Daniel said, 'Indeed! Your lie recoils on your own head: the angel of God is waiting with a sword to rend you in half, and destroy the pair of you.'"
(Dan. 13:52-9)

The fickle crowd, swayed by the power and authority of Daniel's inspiration-guided judgment, turn on the elders whom Daniel has convicted of perjury out of their own mouths, praising God and demanding that, as the Law of Moses prescribed, they receive the same punishment as they had sought to inflict on Susannah; that is, that they be put to death. And so, as the story concludes, an innocent life was saved that day. No consulting detective could ask for more.