Before dealing with these Additions individually a word may be said about them collectively. None of them occur in the Hebrew Bible and in only one manuscript of the Septuagint proper are they found[408]; but in the great uncials (B, A, Q), which contain Theodotion’s Version of the Septuagint, they all appear as integral parts of the text of Daniel. “In the Greek manuscripts no break or separate title divides these Greek additions from the rest of the text, except that when Daniel is divided into ‘visions,’ the first vision is made to begin at i. 1, Susanna being thus excluded from the number; Bel, on the other hand, is treated as the last of the visions.”[409] What the actual number of Additions originally was is uncertain; they are usually reckoned as three; it is possible, however, that five originally separate pieces were incorporated into the text of the Septuagint, viz. the Story of Susanna, the Prayer of Azariah, a short narrative piece, the Song of the Three Children, and Bel and the Dragon. The second, third and fourth of these are usually regarded as forming one piece; this question we shall consider immediately. Although some of these Additions are quite inappropriate in their present context, they have from very early times been regarded as belonging to the Book of Daniel proper; “from the Fathers it is clear that in the earliest Christian copies of the Septuagint both Susanna and Bel formed part of Daniel, to which they are ascribed by Irenæus and Tertullian, and implicitly by Hippolytus. The remarkable letter of Julius Africanus to Origen which throws doubt on the genuineness of Susanna, calling attention to indications of its Greek origin, form a solitary exception to the general view; even Origen labours to maintain their canonicity.”[410] Clement of Alexandria also apparently regarded Susanna[411] and the Song of the Three Children[412] and Bel[413] as canonical; and a string of other authorities could be cited. A useful collection of references to and quotations from these Additions in early Christian writings is given by Daubney, _The Three Additions to Daniel_, pp. 76-80, 163-169, 235-239. II. THE PRAYER OF AZARIAH This addition consists of two pieces: a narrative portion, verses 1, 23-27, and the Prayer itself, verses 2-22. Now in the Aramaic of Daniel iii. 23, 24 the text runs: (23) “And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. (24) Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king, was astonished, and rose up in haste....” Any candid reader must see at once that there is something not in order with the text here; the natural sequence of the text would, one might justly expect, give some reason for Nebuchadnezzar’s astonishment before stating the fact. Something has evidently fallen out of the text after verse 23. If we insert after verse 23 of the canonical Daniel the narrative addition found in the Septuagint (Theodotion’s Version) we get the following: