Cyprian of Carthage — Epistles Other fragments on Daniel

For when the iron legs that now hold the sovereignty have given place to the feet and the toes, in accordance with the representation of the terrible beast, as has also been signified in the former times, then from heaven will come the stone that smites the image, and breaks it; and it will subvert all the kingdoms, and give the kingdom to the saints of the Most High. This is the stone which becomes a great mountain, and fills the earth, and of which it is written: I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days. And there was given Him dominion, and glory , and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages shall serve Him: His power is an everlasting power, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed. On the Song of the Three Children O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless the Lord; O you apostles , prophets , and martyrs of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise Him, and exalt Him above all, forever. We may well marvel at the words of the three youths in the furnace, how they enumerated all created things, so that not one of them might be reckoned free and independent in itself; but, summing up and naming them all together, both things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, they showed them to be all the servants of God , who created all things by the Word, that no one should boast that any of the creatures was without birth and beginning. On Susannah…

1. Called Joacim. This Joacim, being a stranger in Babylon , obtains Susannah in marriage. And she was the daughter of Chelcias the priest , who found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, when Josiah the king commanded him to purify the holy of holies. His brother was Jeremiah the prophet , who was carried, with the remnant that was left after the deportation of the people to Babylon , into Egypt , and dwelt in Taphnae; and, while prophesying there, he was stoned to death by the people. A very fair woman , and one that feared the Lord, etc. For by the fruit produced, the tree also is easily known . For men who are pious and zealous for the law, bring into the world children worthy of God ; 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 .

4. Now Joacim was a great rich man, etc. We must therefore seek the explanation of this. For how could those who were captives, and had been made subject to the Babylonians , meet together in the same place, as if they were their own masters? In this matter, therefore, we should observe that Nebuchadnezzar , after their deportation, treated them kindly, and permitted them to meet together, and do all things according to the law.

7. And at noon Susannah went into (her husband's garden). Susannah prefigured the Church ; and Joacim, her husband, Christ; and the garden, the calling of the saints , who are planted like fruitful trees in the Church . And Babylon is the world; and the two elders are set forth as a figure of the two peoples that plot against the Church — the one, namely, of the circumcision , and the other of the Gentiles . For the words, were appointed rulers of the people and judges, (mean) that in this world they exercise authority and rule, judging the righteous unrighteously.