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Context No. 4188 of 4322 · Daniel (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Daniel (Greek) 13:36-40: in context

36The elders said, “As we walked in the garden alone, this woman came in with two maids, shut the garden doors, and sent the maids away. 37Then a young man who was hidden there came to her and lay with her. 38And we, being in a corner of the garden, saw this wickedness and ran to them. 39And when we saw them together, we couldn’t hold the man; for he was stronger than we, and opened the doors, and leaped out. 40But having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us. We testify these things.

In the story of Susanna, two respected elders, having failed to force themselves on a virtuous woman, take their revenge by accusing her falsely of the very sin they had attempted. This passage records their lying testimony, a fabricated tale designed to condemn an innocent woman to death. It is a chilling picture of the abuse of position and the wickedness of false accusation.

We read it soberly, hearing beneath the specific story the enduring evil it exposes: the bearing of false witness against the innocent, the use of one's standing and credibility to destroy someone who has done no wrong. But the story does not end with the elders' lie. As it unfolds, God raises up the young Daniel to expose their false testimony, cross-examining them separately until their story falls apart, and the innocent Susanna is vindicated. There is both a warning and a comfort here. The warning: false accusation is a grave evil. And the comfort: God is the vindicator of the innocent, who in his time brings the truth to light.

Do I take seriously the grave evil of false accusation, refusing to bear false witness or destroy another's name with lies, and do I trust that God is the vindicator of the innocent, who brings the truth to light in his time as he did for Susanna?

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