Bel and the Dragon

Summary:

Bel and the Dragon is a two-part narrative intended to demonstrate the folly and deceitfulness of idolatry and pagan priests. The motif of eating unifies the accounts. In the first story, Daniel's detective work proves that the idol Bel, the Babylonian god Marduk, does not actually eat sacrificial food; rather, pagan priests and their families do. So the king has them executed for their deception and allows Daniel to destroy the idol and its temple. In the second, Daniel kills a serpent worshipped as a god, representing the Babylonian dragon goddess Tiamat, by feeding it a noxious concoction. Daniel's punishment is to be placed in a den of hungry lions; but they refuse to eat him. Instead, an angel carries the prophet Habakkuk from Judea to Babylon to feed Daniel. Those who tried to destroy Daniel are fed to the lions. The moral: God protects his people.

Canonical Status:

Among the Deuterocanonical books of Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox Churches Among the Old Testament Apocrypha of Protestants Not included in the Hebrew Scriptures - Tanak Daniel 14 in the Septuagint (Greek) and Vulgate (Latin) translations

Author: anonymous Jewish author of the diaspora

Date: 2nd century BC

Original Language:

Survives only in Greek, marked by semitisms. Some scholars argue for an Aramaic or Hebrew Vorlage, although no Semitic original has been discovered to date.

Notes prepared by George Lyons (Professor of Biblical Literature)

for the Wesley Center for Applied Theology at Northwest Nazarene University

Copyright 2000 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology

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