ation of Jer. 10:1-16. Its author is supposed
to have been a Hellenistic Jew who lived towards the end of the
Maccabean period.

VIII. ADDITIONS TO THE BOOK OF DANIEL.

20. The Greek version of the book of Daniel, besides many departures
from the Hebrew and Chaldee original, contains three large additions.
The first of these is: _The Prayer of Azarias, and the Song of the Three
Children in the Fiery Furnace_, which is appended to the third chapter.
The second is: _The History of Susanna_, who is exhibited as a pattern
of chastity, and was delivered from the machinations of her enemies
through the wisdom of Daniel. This is placed sometimes before the first
chapter of Daniel, and sometimes after chapter 12. The third addition
is: _The Story of Bel and the Dragon_, which stands at the end of the
book, and is falsely ascribed in the Septuagint to the prophet Habakkuk.
Its design is to show the folly of idolatry. According to Keil, these
three pieces were composed in Egypt towards the end of the third, or the
beginning of the second century before Christ.

IX. THE PRAYER OF MANASSES.

21. A genuine prayer of Manasseh, king of Judah, existed at the time
when the books of Chronicles were composed. 2 Chron. 33:18, 19. But the
existing prayer of the Apocrypha, though upon the whole beautiful and
appropriate, cannot claim to be a true representative of that prayer.
"The author," says Keil, "was a pious Jew who lived at all events before
Christ, though his age cannot be more accurately determined."

X. THE BOOKS OF THE MACCABEES.

22. These are five in number. The first two passed from the Greek into
the early Latin versions, and thence into the Vulgate and the English
versions, and were received as canonical by the Council of Trent. Two
others are found in some manuscripts of the Septuagint. The fifth exists
only in Arabic. "If the historic order were observed, the so-called
_third_ book would come first, the fourth would be an appendix to the
_second_, which would retain its place, and the _first_ would come last;
but it will be more convenient to examine the books in the order in
which they are found in the MSS., which was probably decided by some
vague tradition of their relative antiquity." Smith's Bible Dict., Art.
Maccabees. The name _Maccabees_ is applied to the family and posterity
of the illustrious Jewish priest Mattathias, who maintained a long and
successful struggle with the Syrian kings, and finally succ