Susan'na (Sovaavra v. r. Iioadvva; i. e. rii'l'IT, Sliosliannuli, a lili/ [q. v.]), the name of two females in the Bible. Tlie name likewise occurs in Diod. Sic. as that of the daughter of Ninus (ii, 6); and Slii'shan (1 Chron. ii, 31,34, 35) is of the same origin and meaning (Gesen. Thesaur. s. v.).
1. The heroine of the story of the Judgment of Dan- iel in the Apocrypha, otherwise called
Susanna, The History of, being one of the appen- dices to the canonical book of Daniel. See Daniel, ArocRYPHAL Aoditions to.
1. Title and Position. — This Apocryphal piece has different titles. Sometimes it is calletU (Sojidfii'i/n) Susanna, sometimes {laru]\) Daniel, and sometimes (AirtK-ptffit; Ani'u'/X) The Judyment of Daniel. Equallj-^ uncertain is its position. The Yat. and Alex. iMSS. and the Yet. Lat. place it before the first chapter of Daniel, while the Sept., after the Cod. Chisianus and Theodotion, ed. Complu., put it after ch. xii.
2. Desiyn.— The object of this attractive story is to celebrate the triumph of womanly virtue over tempta- tions and dangers, and to exalt the wisdom of Daniel in saving the life of the pious heroine. Chrysostom rightly sets forth the beautiful lesson of chastity whicdi this story affords, when he says, " God permitted this trial, that he might publish Susanna's virtue aiul the others' incontinence; and, at the same time, l)y her ex- emplary conduct, give a pattern to the sex of the like resolution and constancy in case of temptation" {Se?-7n. de Susa7ina). The story of Susanna is therefore read in the Roman Church on the vigil of the fourth Sun- day in Lent, and in the Anglican Church on Nov. 22,
SUSANNA
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3. Character, Author, Date, and Original Language. — Though the form of this storj-, as we now have it, shows that it is greatly erabellisheii, yet there is every reason to believe tliat it is not wholly rictitious, but based upon fact. The paronomasias in Daniel's exam- ination of the elders, when he is represented as saying to the one who aftirmed he saw the crime committed, virb (Txii'or, under a mastich-lree, "the angel of God hath received sentence of God, axirrai at fi'taov, to cut thee in two ;" and to the other, who asserted he saw it committed, I'lffo irpivov, under a holm-tree, "the angel of the Lord waiteth with the sword, irpiaia as /.liaui-, to cut thee in two," only prove that the Greek is an elaboration of an old Hebrew story, but not that it originated with the Alexandrine translator of Daniel. The Song of Solomon may have suggested material to the author. Tlie opinion of Eusebius, Apollinarius, and Jerome, that the prophet Habakkuk is the author of the History of Susanna is evidently derived from the Greek inscription of the History of Bel and the Dragon. — Kitto. See Apocrypha.
2. One of the women who ministered to our Lord's personal wants out of their private means (Luke viii, 2, 3). A.D. 28.
SUSANNA was held by the ancient Church to be a symbol of resurrection, and also a type of the persecuted Church — the two elders representing the pagans and the Jews, Representations of her are frequently found in Franco, in cemeteries, on sarcophagi. She is some- times standing between two old men, sometimes between two trees behind which the men are hiding. Some- times she is represented as a lamb between a fox and a leopard. In France she still appears as the representa- tive of the Christian Church, the persecutors being Ari- ans, Goths, and Vandals. — Martignj', Diet, des Antiq. Chret. s. v.
Antique Representations of Susanna.
Susceptores (receivers), a term applied — \. To deaconesses, who assisted in undressing and dressing candidates for baptism, in anointing, and the like. 2. To sponsors, with special reference to the services ren- dered immediately before and after the rite of baptism,
Su'.si (Heb. Susi', "^D^D, horseman; Sept. Souff/), the father of Gaddi, which latter was the commissioner from the tribe of Manasseh to explore Canaan the tirst time (Numb, xiii, 11). B.C. ante 1657.
Susil, FuANZ, a Roman Catholic divine, was born in 1804 at Neu-Rausnitz, near Austerlitz. In 1827 he re-
ceived holj' orders, and in 1837 was appointed professor at Brtinn. He died June 1, 1808, at Bystric, in Moravia. Susil was one of the most prominent theologians and poets of Moravia. Of his works, which are all written in the Czechian language, we mention the Works of the Apostolic Fathers (1837, and often): — Ecclesiastical Hymns (184(5; 2d ed. 1859) :— and a Commentary on the Gospels ( 1864-(57 ), 4 vols. See Literarischer Hand- iveiser fur das katholische Deutschland, 18G8, No. 69, p. 307 sq. (B. P.)