One of my Sunday School classmates mentioned that his Bible had an appendix to Daniel, which included three additional chapters (13 to 15). Do you know the reason why these are excluded from most Bible versions?

 
 
The Hebrew and Aramaic texts of Daniel have been very well preserved. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament written in the third century B.C., includes these other chapters but are not in the Hebrew or Aramaic texts: the Prayer of Azariah, Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon. These books were never accepted as inspired by the Jews and were never in their Old Testament. As well, the Dead Sea Scrolls do not contain these chapters. These were probably later additions which probably came from Egypt.

Pat Zukeran
Probe Ministries

About the Author

Patrick Zukeran is a research associate with Probe Ministries. He has a B.A. from Point Loma Nazarene University, a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a doctorate from Southern Evangelical Seminary. He is an author, radio talk show host, and a national and international speaker on apologetics, comparative religions, Bible, and theology. Pat hosts a nationally syndicated radio show “Evidence and Answers” (www.evidenceandanswers.org) which also airs throughout Asia. Before joining Probe, Pat served for twelve years as an Associate Pastor. He can be reached via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Pat currently resides in Plano, Texas.

What is Probe?

Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Probe fulfills this mission through our Mind Games conferences for youth and adults, our 3-minute daily radio program, and our extensive Web site at www.probe.org.

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