If integrated into the book of Daniel: 13.18.

They did as she said: Good News Translation omits this as redundant, since the text goes on to say just what the servants did. This redundant clause is not necessarily hurtful, however.

Shut the garden doors: The Greek verb for shut here is slightly different from the verb in verse 17, but the servants are doing precisely as Susanna told them. In verse 17 Good News Translation simply has “gates” for garden gates, but here it says “main gates,” since here a distinction must be made between those that are shut tight and those that the servants use to go into the house.

Went out by the side doors: The entrance into the house from the garden seems to be in view here. New Jerusalem Bible expresses this well: “going back to the house by a side entrance.” Contemporary English Version has “went into the house through the side gate.” See the comments on verse 4. Revised Standard Version has the plural side doors as in the Greek text. The writer is probably thinking of double doors, that is, an opening with a hinged door on each side, meeting in the middle. Good News Translation has the singular “side door” because in idiomatic English a person would speak of going “out the door” even if there is a double door. The construction of the doors is irrelevant here. The important point is that a side entrance is used.

Because they were hidden: Good News Translation omits this clause as unnecessary after having told the reader in verse 16 that the two men were hiding. The author probably intends the repeated statement to reinforce the suspenseful scene. What is going to happen when the servants leave? Will the men see Susanna undress? We aren’t told the answer to that, but not being told probably heightens the interest by appealing to the curiosity.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.