Susanna

Biblical Record

Susanna appears in Luke 8:1-3. According to this passage, Jesus went through the cities and villages proclaiming the kingdom of God. He was accompanied by the Twelve and by certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Luke names three of these women: Mary Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward (an official in charge of household affairs); and Susanna. He adds that many other women also "ministered unto him of their substance" (Luke 8:3).

This single verse is all that Scripture records about Susanna. Her origins, her family, the illness from which she was healed, and her later life are not recorded. Luke 24:10 names the women who brought word of the empty tomb as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and "other women"; whether Susanna was among them cannot be determined from the text alone.

Significance in Scripture

The passage shows that women, in addition to the Twelve, took part in Jesus' itinerant ministry and materially supported its practical needs. Susanna is significant as one of the few members of that group whose names have been preserved. Her name is said to derive from a Hebrew word meaning "lily."

Interpretation and Debate

• Were they women disciples?: Some interpreters regard these women who followed Jesus as disciples in a broad sense. Others read them chiefly as examples of service through material support. This difference is also bound up with how various denominations and interpreters view the role of women in the church (see ordination of women).
• Distinction from the apocryphal figure of the same name: The additions to the Book of Daniel, which the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church include in their Bibles, contain the story of a woman named Susanna. In the Korean Common Translation, it appears as Daniel 13 and is paired with another of the additions, Bel and the Dragon (chapter 14). In this story Susanna, a virtuous woman living in Babylon, is sentenced to death on the false accusation of two elders. The young Daniel then questions the two elders separately and exposes the contradictions in their testimony, and Susanna is set free. Protestants do not accept these additions as canonical and classify them as Apocrypha; they are not included in the New Korean Revised Version or the Korean Revised Version. The Thirty-Nine Articles, which the Anglican Church of Korea follows, hold that the Apocrypha may be read for example of life and instruction of manners but are not to be used to establish doctrine. The two Susannas are entirely separate figures from different periods and settings.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant churches that use the New Korean Revised Version, Susanna is seldom the subject of a sermon in her own right; she is more often mentioned alongside the other women when Luke 8:1-3 serves as the text for preaching on the women who served Jesus or on service through material giving. In the Catholic Church, Susanna is used as a baptismal name.