What Scripture says
The Hebrew books of Esther and Daniel are part of the Old Testament. The additions are not in the Hebrew text, and the New Testament never quotes them.
Hebrew Esther famously never mentions God by name. God’s hand is shown through events instead: Mordecai’s hint that deliverance will come “from another place” (Esther 4:14, ESV), the king’s sleepless night (Esther 6:1), and the reversal of Haman’s plot.
What the evidence says
History
The Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) contains extra material in two books.
The additions to Esther
Six additions, about 107 verses in all, labelled A to F:
- A: Mordecai’s dream of two dragons, and his discovery of a plot against the king.
- B: The text of the king’s decree ordering the destruction of the Jews.
- C: Prayers of Mordecai and Esther.
- D: Esther’s fearful approach to the king, who faints when she enters (in the Greek, God changes the king’s spirit).
- E: The king’s second decree, protecting the Jews.
- F: The interpretation of Mordecai’s dream.
The additions mention God over 50 times, and add explicit prayer and piety, which the Hebrew leaves implicit. Many scholars think they were added partly to make the book’s religious character more obvious.
The additions to Daniel
- The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men (68 verses), inserted into Daniel 3 while the three men are in the furnace. The Song is a hymn calling all creation to praise God, still used in Christian worship (the Benedicite).
- Susanna: two elders try to blackmail a virtuous woman into adultery, then falsely accuse her. The young Daniel questions them separately and exposes their lies.
- Bel and the Dragon: Daniel proves the idol Bel isn’t eating food left for it (priests are sneaking in through a secret door, revealed by ashes scattered on the floor), and kills a dragon worshipped in Babylon. He is thrown to the lions again, and the prophet Habakkuk is carried by an angel to bring him food.
Textual Criticism
None of these additions appear in any Hebrew or Aramaic manuscript of Esther or Daniel, including the eight copies of Daniel found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
- Jerome, translating the Bible into Latin around AD 400, noted this and moved the additions to the end of the books, marking them as not found in the Hebrew.
- Julius Africanus, around AD 240, wrote to Origen pointing out that Susanna contains puns that only work in Greek. Daniel asks each elder under which tree they saw the crime. One says a mastic tree (schinos), and Daniel says the angel will cut (schisei) him in two; the other says a holm oak (prinos), and Daniel says the angel will saw (prisai) him. Africanus argued this showed it was composed in Greek, not translated from Hebrew. Origen defended the additions, suggesting the Jews had removed them.
| Addition | Where it appears | Found in Hebrew or Aramaic? |
|---|---|---|
| Six additions to Esther | Throughout Esther | No |
| Prayer of Azariah, Song of the Three | Daniel 3 | No |
| Susanna | Before or after Daniel | No |
| Bel and the Dragon | After Daniel | No |
Where they meet
The additions show how Jewish communities expanded and reflected on these books, making their faith explicit. The prayers in particular are moving, and the Song of the Three is still sung in churches. Catholics and Orthodox include them as Scripture; Protestants treat them as later expansions.
What’s still open
Whether any of the additions came from early Hebrew or Aramaic sources now lost. A few scholars argue the prayers in Daniel 3 may have Semitic origins.
Bottom line
These are Greek expansions added to the Hebrew originals, and they aren’t in any Hebrew manuscript of those books. They are rated Debated because Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include them.