Susanna and Chastity in Early Christianity
Early Christian writers treated Susanna as a model of chastity, innocence, and courage under pressure. Hippolytus, Cyprian, and the Apostolic Constitutions all use her story to teach purity and warn against false accusation. Origen also notes a textual dispute about Susanna, so the moral use is strong even where the text history is debated.
119 early-church witnesses · 177 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about susanna and Chastity?
Early Christian writings strongly praised Susanna as a model of chastity and used her story to warn against false accusation and sexual sin. Hippolytus calls her “the blessed Susannah” and says her “honour and chastity” helped show Daniel as a prophet, while Cyprian and the Apostolic Constitutions use Susanna as a warning against corrupt desire and unjust judgment.
Origen, however, also preserves an early dispute about whether the Susanna story was in the Hebrew text, so the strand of moral use is strong even though textual questions were raised. The Bible passages tied to Susanna and to women serving in purity support the same basic theme: modesty, faithfulness, and innocence under pressure. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians often used Susanna as an example of chastity and innocence.
- Hippolytus and Cyprian connect her story to purity and truthful judgment.
- Origen preserves an early debate about the Susanna text itself, but not about her moral example.
Questions Answered by the Sources
How did early Christians describe Susanna’s character?
The strongest sources present Susanna as a chaste, faithful woman whose innocence and modesty are praised. Early Christian writers also refer to her as blessed and as a model of purity.
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching
22. And Susannah sighed. The blessed Susannah, then, when she heard these words, was troubled in her heart, and set a watch upon her mouth, not wishing to be defiled by the wicked elders.
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching
such as he was who became a prophet and witness of Christ, and she who was found chaste and faithful in Babylon, whose honour and chastity were the occasion of the manifestation of the blessed Daniel as a prophet.
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching
... years." Then we find that the blessed Daniel prophesied in Babylon and appeared as the defender of Susanna.
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Colossians 1:2 Direct teaching
and he took a wife, whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah, a very fair woman, and one that feared the Lord.
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Book 79 1:63 Supporting witness
Therefore Hilkiah and his wife praised God for their daughter Susanna, with Joakim her husband, and all their kindred, because there was no dishonesty found in her.
Did early Christians use Susanna as an example of false accusation?
Several sources use Susanna to warn against false testimony and unjust judgment. They stress that the elders bore false witness and that the Lord delivered Susanna from the ungodly.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
...:17. But if you become imitators of the elders in Babylon, who, when they had borne witness against Susanna, unjustly condemned her to death, you will become liable to their judgment and condemnation. For the Lord, by Daniel, delivered Susanna from the hand of the ungodly, but condemned to the fire those elders who were guilty of her blood, and reproaches you by him, saying: "Are you so foolish, you children of Israel? Without examination, and without knowing the truth, have you condemned a daughter of Israel? Return again to the place of judgment, for these men have borne false witness against her."
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
...h passion or envy, press a false accusation against a brother, as the two elders did in the case of Susanna in Babylon, and as the Egyptian woman did in the case of Joseph. Therefore, as a man of God, do not rashly receive such accusations, lest you take away the innocent and slay the righteous. For he who receives such accusations is the author of anger rather than of peace. But where there is anger, the Lord is not there. For that anger, which is the friend of Satan—I mean that which is stirred up unjustly by false brothers—never allows unanimity to be in the Church. Therefore, when you know such people to be foolish, quarrelsome, passionate, and delighting in mischief, do not give credit to them. Instead, observe what sort of people they are when you hear anything from them against their brother. For murder is nothing in their eyes, and they cast a man down in such a way that one would not suspect it. Therefore, consider the accuser carefully, wisely observing his way of life, what it is and what sort it is. And if you find him to be a man of truth, do according to the doctrine of our Lord, Matthew 18:15. Take the one who is accused and rebuke him, so that he may repent, when
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
...y for evil purposes and, by agreeing together, present a lie. So it was with the two elders against Susanna in Babylon, and the sons of transgressors against Naboth in Samaria, and the multitude of the Jews against our Lord in Jerusalem, and against Stephen, His first martyr. Therefore, let the witnesses be meek, free from anger, fair, kind, prudent, self-controlled, free from wickedness, faithful, and religious. The testimony of such people is firm because of their character, and true because of their way of life. But do not accept the testimony of people of a different character, even if they seem to agree together in their evidence against the accused. For it is ordained in the law: “You shall not be with a multitude for wickedness; you shall not receive a vain report; you shall not consent with a multitude to pervert judgment.” Exodus 23:2 You should also know the accused person well, especially what he is like in his conduct and way of life. Ask whether he has a good reputation in his life, whether he has been blameless, whether he has been zealous in holiness, whether he loves widows, strangers, the poor, and the brothers, whether he is not given to filthy lucre, whether h
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Book 79 1:24 Direct teaching
With that Susanna cried with a loud voice: and the two elders cried out against her.
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Book 79 1:29 Direct teaching
and said before the people, Send for Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah, Joakim’s wife. And so they sent.
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Colossians 1:27 Supporting witness
But when the elders had declared their matter, the servants were greatly ashamed: for there was never such a report made of Susanna.
What did early Christians teach about chastity using Susanna’s example?
Beyond Susanna herself, the sources show a wider early Christian ethic of chastity: purity of body, mind, and conduct, modest dress, self-control, and sexual faithfulness. Susanna’s story fits into that broader teaching as an example of steadfast purity.
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Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom Direct teaching
...ed the Scripture containing the prophecy of Daniel, when he was still a young man, in the matter of Susanna, I did this as if it had escaped me that this part of the book was spurious. You say that you praise this passage as elegantly written, but you find fault with it as a more modern composition and a forgery. You add that the forger used something that not even Philistion the playwright would have used in his puns between prinos and prisein, and schinos and schisis. These words, as they sound in Greek, can be used in this way, but not in Hebrew. In answer to this, I have to tell you what it is fitting for us to do, not only in cases like the History of Susanna, which is found in every Church of Christ in that Greek copy which the Greeks use, but is not in the Hebrew; or in the case of the two other passages you mention at the end of the book, containing the history of Bel and the Dragon, which likewise are not in the Hebrew copy of Daniel; but also in thousands of other passages which I found in many places when, with my little strength, I was comparing the Hebrew copies with ours. For in Daniel itself I found that the word "bound" is followed in our versions by very many ve
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Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom Supporting witness
...well in Hebrew, but not in Greek. So it should not surprise us if the translators of the History of Susanna arranged it so that they found some Greek words, taken from the same root, which either matched the Hebrew form exactly, though I hardly think that was possible, or at least showed some resemblance to it. Here is an example of this in our Scripture. When God made the woman from the man's rib, Adam says, "She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of her husband." Now the Jews say that the woman was called Essa, and that "taken" is a translation of this word, as is clear from chos isouoth essa, which means, "I have taken the cup of salvation." And they say that is means man, as we see from Hesre aïs, which means, "Blessed is the man." According to the Jews, then, is means man, and essa means woman, because she was taken out of her husband, that is, is. So then, it should not surprise us if some interpreters of the Hebrew Susanna, which had been hidden among them from a very early time and had been preserved only by the more learned and honest people, either translated the Hebrew word for word or found some resemblance to the Hebrew forms, so that the Greeks would
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Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom Supporting witness
For if we were at liberty to speak in this scoffing way of the Scriptures in use in the Churches, we should rather compare this story of the two harlots to the play of Philistion than that of the chaste Susanna.
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Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom Supporting witness
So far as to the History of Susanna not being found in the Hebrew.
What did early Christians teach about chastity when they talked about Susanna?
They used Susanna to fit a wider teaching that purity includes both the body and the mind. Writers like Theophilus, Hermas, Lactantius, Cyprian, Clement, and Tertullian stress chastity, modesty, self-control, and even pure thoughts.
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Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching
..."They are daughters of each other. One of them is called Simplicity, another Guilelessness, another Chastity, another Intelligence, and another Love. When you do all the works of their mother, you will be able to live." I said, "I would like to know, Lady, what power each one of them has." She said, "Hear what power they have. Their powers are arranged by each other, and they follow each other in the order of their birth. For from Faith comes Self-restraint; from Self-restraint, Simplicity; from Simplicity, Guilelessness; from Guilelessness, Chastity; from Chastity, Intelligence; and from Intelligence, Love. So the deeds of these are pure, chaste, and divine. Whoever gives himself to these, and is able to hold firmly to their works, will have his dwelling in the tower with the saints of God." Then I asked her about the ages, whether the end was now coming. She cried out in a loud voice, "Foolish man! Do you not see that the tower is still being built? When the tower is finished and built, then the end comes. And I assure you, it will be finished soon. Ask me no more questions. Let you and all the saints be content with what I have called to your remembrance, and with my renewing
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Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching
About chastity, the holy word teaches us not only not to sin by our actions, but not even in our thoughts. We must not even think any evil in our hearts, or look at another man's wife with lust in our eyes. So Solomon, who was a king and a prophet, said, "Let your eyes look straight ahead, and let your eyelids look directly before you. Make straight paths for your feet." Proverbs 4:25 And the voice of the Gospel teaches even more strongly about chastity, saying, "Whoever looks at a woman who is not his own wife, in order to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28 And, the Gospel says, "He who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. And whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery." Matthew 5:32 Because Solomon says, "Can a man carry fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can someone walk on hot coals and his feet not be burned? So he who goes in to a married woman will not be innocent." Proverbs 6:27-29
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Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching
...n greater honor and glory with the Lord. But if they marry, they do not sin." Therefore, guard your chastity and purity, and you will live to God. Keep the commandments that I now give you, and that I am going to give you, from now on, yes, from the very day when you were entrusted to me, and I will dwell in your house. And your former sins will be forgiven, if you keep my commandments. And all will be forgiven who keep these commandments of mine and walk in this chastity.
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Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Direct teaching
...e or a slave, is just as much an adulterer and impure. But just as a woman is bound by the bonds of chastity not to desire any other man, so the husband must be bound by the same law, since God has joined the husband and wife together in the union of one body. For this reason, He has commanded that a wife must not be sent away unless she is found guilty of adultery, and that the bond of the marriage covenant must never be broken unless unfaithfulness has broken it. This also is added to complete chastity: there must be an absence not only of the sinful act, but even of the thought of it. For it is clear that the mind is polluted by desire, even when it is not carried out. So a just man ought neither to do, nor to want to do, what is unjust. Therefore the conscience must be cleansed, for God, who cannot be deceived, examines it. The heart must be cleared from every stain, so that it may be a temple of God, lit not by the shine of gold or ivory, but by the brightness of faith and purity.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching
...rried, he rightly says that if she marries, he does not sin. But each person, whether he has chosen chastity, or whether he has joined himself in marriage for the begetting of children, must firmly remain in his own purpose and not turn aside to what is worse. For if he is able to increase and intensify the pattern of life he has chosen, he gains greater honor with God because of pure self-control that comes from reason. But if he goes beyond the rule he chose, he will then fall back into a lesser hope of glory. For just as chastity has its own duties and ministries, marriage also has its own duties and ministries that belong to the Lord. I mean the care of children and of a wife. For what properly occupies the man who is complete in marriage is the marriage bond itself, so that he may show care and foresight for everyone in the common household. Therefore, he says, bishops ought to be appointed from those who have first trained themselves in ruling their own house, so that they may also be able to preside over the whole Church. So then, each person, in whatever calling he was called, as 1 Corinthians 7:24 says, must carry out his ministry in deed, so that he may become free in
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
I have not yet carried out everything required by the duty of chastity. God limits this not only within private walls, but also to the lawful bounds of the marriage bed, so that when a man has a wife, he should not also want to have either a female slave or a free woman besides her, but should keep faith in marriage. For according to human law, only the woman is an adulteress if she has another man, while the husband, even if he has several women, is freed from the charge of adultery. But the divine law joins the two in marriage with equal right, since it is one body, so that whoever has torn apart the union of that body in different directions is judged an adulterer. And for no other reason did God, although He made the other living creatures resist the males after conception, make woman alone among them all receptive to the man. This was clearly so that, if women resisted, lust would force men to desire something else, and by doing so they would not keep the glory of chastity. But neither would a woman gain the virtue of modesty if she were not able to sin. For who would call a dumb animal modest, when after conception it resists the male? It does this because it must come into p
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching
...fe, it is not useful to marry.” Matthew 19:10 To this the Savior replied, teaching us that complete chastity is a gift given by God. It is not merely the result of training, but is given by God through prayer. He said, “Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.” Matthew 19:11 Then, since some make a clever but misleading attack on the words, “those to whom it is given,” as if people who wanted to remain pure in celibacy but were overcome by their desires had an excuse, we must say this: if we believe the Scriptures, why do we hold on to the words, “but only those to whom it is given,” yet no longer pay attention to this, “Ask, and it will be given to you,” Matthew 7:7 and to what is added to it, “For everyone who asks receives”? Matthew 7:8 For if those to whom it is given can receive this teaching about complete purity, then let the one who is willing ask, obeying and believing Him who said, “Ask, and it will be given to you,” Matthew 7:7 and not doubting the words, “Everyone who asks receives.” Matthew 7:8 But if you ask there who it is that asks, then no one who does not receive has really asked, even if he seems to have done so. For it is not l
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Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness
..., he sets a proper limit for your clothing and ornaments. He said, "Let women adorn themselves with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or expensive clothing, but as is fitting for women who profess chastity, with a good way of life." 1 Timothy 2:9-10 Peter also agrees with these same teachings and says, "Let a woman's adornment not be outward, in clothing, or gold, or fine dress, but the adornment of the heart." 1 Peter 3:3-4 But if they also warn that women who are used to excusing their dress by referring to their husband should be restrained and limited by religious observance according to the Church's discipline, how much more right is it for the virgin to keep that observance? She has no excuse for adorning herself, nor can the deceitfulness of her fault be laid on another, but she herself remains guilty of it!
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Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching
When, therefore, he ascends into your heart, immediately he talks to you of righteousness, purity, chastity, contentment, and of every righteous deed and glorious virtue.
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Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians Supporting witness
Next, [teach] your wives [to walk] in the faith given to them, and in love and purity tenderly loving their own husbands in all truth, and loving all [others] equally in all chastity;
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Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness
And concerning chastity, the holy word teaches us not only not to sin in act, but not even in thought, not even in the heart to think of any evil, nor look on another man's wife with our eyes to lust after her.
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Tertullian, On Exhortation to Chastity Supporting witness
that the guilt may be all the deeper of the Christian who refuses the chastity which helps to salvation!
More related quotations from this section 8 shown
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
So the Church is full of people, both chaste women and men, who all their lives have reflected on the death that awakens them to Christ. A person whose life is formed the way ours is can practice philosophy even without formal learning, whether barbarian or Greek, whether slave, old man, boy, or woman. For self-control is open to all human beings who choose it. And we admit that the same nature exists in every race, and the same virtue. As far as human nature is concerned, woman does not have one nature and man another, but the same nature. And the same is true of virtue. If, then, self-restraint and righteousness, and whatever qualities are thought to follow them, are the virtue of the male, then only the male would belong among the virtuous, and the woman would belong to license and injustice. But it is shameful even to say this. Therefore, a woman is to practice self-restraint and righteousness, and every other virtue, just as a man is, whether slave or free, since it properly follows that the same nature has one and the same virtue. We do not say that a woman's nature is the same as a man's in the sense that she is a woman. For clearly it is reasonable that some difference shou
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
let them exhibit, says he, the lovable disposition of chastity;
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Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women Background
...to please by means of sensual attraction, all these things are rejected as frivolous, as hostile to modesty. For where God is, there is modesty; there is sobriety, her assistant and ally. How, then, shall we practice modesty without her instrumental means, that is, without sobriety? How, moreover, shall we bring sobriety to bear on the discharge of the functions of modesty, unless seriousness in appearance, in countenance, and in the general aspect of the entire man marks our conduct?
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Tertullian, Apology Background
...an obstinate refusal to offer sacrifices, he found in their religious services nothing but meetings early in the morning for singing hymns to Christ and God, and sealing their way of life by a united pledge to remain faithful to their religion, forbidding murder, adultery, dishonesty, and other crimes. In reply, Trajan wrote back that Christians were by no means to be sought out. But if they were brought before him, they should be punished. O miserable deliverance. Under the necessities of the case, it is a self-contradiction. It forbids them to be sought out, as innocent, and it commands them to be punished, as guilty. It is at once merciful and cruel. It passes by, and it punishes. Why do you play this game of evasion with yourself, O Judgment? If you condemn, why do you not also inquire? If you do not inquire, why do you not also absolve? Military stations are set throughout all the provinces for tracking robbers. Against traitors and public enemies every man is a soldier. Search is made even for their confederates and accessories. The Christian alone must not be sought, though he may be brought and accused before the judge, as if a search had any other end than that! And so
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Cyprian, Epistles Background
...d up an inward persecution against us, and their unrest may be added to the heap of their sins. For modesty is especially fitting for those whose sins condemn an immodest mind. Let them knock at the doors, but certainly not break them down. Let them come to the threshold of the church, but certainly not leap over it. Let them keep watch at the gates of the heavenly camp, but let them be armed with modesty, since they know that they have been deserters. Let them take up again the trumpet of their prayers, but let them not use it to sound a call to war. Let them indeed arm themselves with the weapons of modesty, and let them take up again the shield of faith, which they had laid aside by their denial through fear of death. But let those who are now armed remember that they are armed against their enemy, the devil, not against the Church, which grieves over their fall. A modest request will help them greatly, along with a humble appeal, a necessary humility, and a patience that is not careless. Let them send tears as their messengers for their sufferings. Let groanings brought out from their deepest heart do the work of an advocate, and show their grief and shame for the crime they
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Cyprian, Treatises Background
But when we speak and make requests in prayer, let it be with discipline, quietness, and modesty. Let us remember that we are standing in God's sight. We must please the eyes of God both by the way our body is composed and by the measure of our voice. For just as it is the mark of a shameless man to be loud in his crying out, so, on the other hand, it is fitting for a modest man to pray with restrained requests. Moreover, in His teaching the Lord has commanded us to pray in secret, in hidden and secluded places, in our own rooms. This is especially fitting for faith, so that we may know that God is present everywhere, and hears and sees all things, and in the fullness of His majesty reaches even into hidden and secret places, as it is written: "I am a God near at hand, and not a God far off. If a man hides himself in secret places, shall I not then see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?" Jeremiah 23:23-24. And again: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." Proverbs 15:3. And when we come together with the brothers in one place, and celebrate divine sacrifices with God's priest, we ought to remember modesty and discipline. We should not pour out
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Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women Background
...That salvation—and not the salvation of women only, but of men also—consists principally in showing modesty. For since, by the introduction into us of the Holy Spirit, we are all the temple of God, Modesty is the sacristan and priestess of that temple. She must allow nothing unclean or profane to be brought into it, lest the God who inhabits it should be offended and completely forsake the polluted dwelling. But at present we are not speaking about modesty itself, because the divine precepts that press on us from every side are enough to enjoin and require it. Rather, we are speaking about the things that belong to it—that is, the way in which it behooves you to walk. For most women—and this very thing I trust God may permit me to rebuke in all, with a view, of course, to my own personal rebuke—either through simple ignorance or else through dissimulation, have the boldness so to walk as if modesty consisted only in the mere integrity of the flesh and in turning away from actual fornication. They act as though there were no need for anything outward besides this, in the matter of the arrangement of dress and ornament, the studied graces of form and brilliance. In their gait they
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Background
So, just as an unmarried woman gives herself to God alone and her concern is not divided, while a chaste married woman divides her life between God and her husband, and a woman of another kind gives herself completely to marriage, that is, to passion, in the same way, I think, a chaste wife, when she gives herself to her husband, sincerely serves God. But when she becomes fond of fine clothing and decoration, she falls away from God and from chaste marriage. She exchanges her husband for the world, like that courtesan from Argos, I mean Eriphyle—
Common Questions
Did early Christians see Susanna as a model of chastity?
Yes. Writers like Hippolytus and Cyprian treat Susanna as a chaste woman whose innocence should be defended.
Did early Christians also use Susanna against false accusation?
Yes. The Apostolic Constitutions warns against the unjust judgment of the elders who accused Susanna.
Was there any early doubt about the Susanna story?
Yes. Origen says the History of Susanna was not found in the Hebrew text, showing an early textual question.
Source Index for Susanna and Chastity
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 138 ranked source links from 177 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 138 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 119
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
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Unknown, Unknown Work
Bible Passages 58 included
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
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Book 79 1:63
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Book 79 1:2
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Book 79 1:24
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Book 79 1:29
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Book 79 1:27
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Book 79 1:42
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Book 79 1:22
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Book 79 1:31
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Book 79 1:28
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Book 79 1:11
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Book 79 1:7