Bel and the Dragon

History

The tale of Bel and the Dragon incorporated as chapter 14 of the extended Book of Daniel was written in Aramaic around the late second century BC and translated into Greek in the Septuagint. This chapter, along with chapter 13, is referred to as deuterocanonical, in that it is not universally accepted among Christians as belonging to the canonical works accepted as the Bible. The text is viewed as apocryphal by Protestants and typically not found in modern Protestant Bibles, though it was in the original 1611 edition of the King James Version. It's listed in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England.

Narratives

The chapter is formed of three independent narratives,[2] which place the culture-hero Daniel at the court of Cyrus, king of the Persians: "When King Astyages was laid to rest with his ancestors, Cyrus the Persian succeeded to his kingdom."[3] There Daniel "was a companion of the king, and was the most honored of all his Friends" (14:1).

The narrative of Bel (14:1-22) is a folk tale ridiculing worship of idols. In it, the king asks Daniel, "Do you not think that Bel is a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?" to which Daniel answers that the idol is made of clay covered bronze and thus, cannot eat or drink.

Enraged, the king then demands that the 70 priests of Bel show him who consumes the offerings made to the idol. The priests then challenge the king to set the offerings as usual (which were "twelve great measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine") and then seal the entrance to the temple with his ring: if Bel does not consume the offerings, the priests are to be sentenced to death; otherwise, Daniel is to be killed.

Daniel then proves through a ruse (by scattering ashes on the whole perimeter on the temple in the presence of the king after the priests have left) that the sacred meal of Bel is actually consumed at night by the priests and their wives and children, who entered through a secret door when the temple's doors were sealed.

The next morning, Daniel calls attention to the footprints on the temple's floor; the priests of Bel were then arrested and, confessing their deed, showed the secret passage that they used to sneak inside the temple. They, and their wives and children are then put to death, and Daniel is permitted to destroy the idol of Bel and the temple. This version has been cited as an ancestor of the "locked room mystery".

In the brief but autonomous companion narrative of the dragon (14:23-30), "there was a great dragon, which the Babylonians revered." In this case the supposed god is no idol. However, Daniel slays the dragon by raking pitch, fat, and hair (trichas) to make cakes (mazas, barley-cakes, but translated "lumps") that cause the dragon to burst open upon consumption. In other variants, other ingredients serve the purpose: in a form known to the Midrash, straw was fed in which nails were hidden,[4], or skins of camels were filled with hot coals,[5] or in the Alexander cycle of Romances it was Alexander the Great who overcame the dragon by feeding poison and tar.[6]

The parallel with the contest between Marduk and Tiamat, in which winds (sâru) controlled by Marduk burst Tiamat open, has been noted by many informed readers;[7] barley-cake has been substituted for "wind"[8]

As a result, the Babylonians are indignant. "The king has become a Jew; he has destroyed Bel, and killed the dragon, and slaughtered the priests," they say, and demand that Daniel be handed over to them.

The third narrative (14:31-42), Daniel in the Lions' Den, is apparently Daniel's first or second trip. It has been made into a consequence of the preceding episode, but the Septuagint precedes it with the notice, "From the prophecy of Habakkuk, son of Jesus, of the tribe of Levi." Daniel remains unharmed in the den with seven lions, fed by the miraculous transportation of the prophet Habakkuk. "On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. When he came to the den he looked in, and there sat Daniel! The king shouted with a loud voice, 'You are great, O Lord, the God of Daniel, and there is no other besides you!' Then he pulled Daniel out, and threw into the den those who had attempted his destruction, and they were instantly eaten before his eyes."

Some have suggested that the Daniel in Bel and the Dragon is different from that of Daniel 1-13[citation needed].

The Greek text of "Bel and the Dragon" exists in two versions. One, represented in a minority of manuscripts, sometimes called the "Old Greek" version, seems to represent the Septuagint translation, evidently so unsatisfactory that the early Church opted to substitute Theodotion's version in its place, in the official copies of the LXX that have survived.

[1] When King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the Persian received his kingdom.
[2] And Daniel was a companion of the king, and was the most honored of his friends.
[3] Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels of fine flour and forty sheep and fifty gallons of wine.
[4] The king revered it and went every day to worship it. But Daniel worshiped his own God.
[5] And the king said to him, "Why do you not worship Bel?" He answered, "Because I do not revere man-made idols, but the living God, who created heaven and earth and has dominion over all flesh."
[6] The king said to him, "Do you not think that Bel is a living God? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?"
[7] Then Daniel laughed, and said, "Do not be deceived, O king; for this is but clay inside and brass outside, and it never ate or drank anything."
[8] Then the king was angry, and he called his priests and said to them, "If you do not tell me who is eating these provisions, you shall die.
[9] But if you prove that Bel is eating them, Daniel shall die, because he blasphemed against Bel." And Daniel said to the king, "Let it be done as you have said."
[10] Now there were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.
[11] And the priests of Bel said, "Behold, we are going outside; you yourself, O king, shall set forth the food and mix and place the wine, and shut the door and seal it with your signet.
[12] And when you return in the morning, if you do not find that Bel has eaten it all, we will die; or else Daniel will, who is telling lies about us."
[13] They were unconcerned, for beneath the table they had made a hidden entrance, through which they used to go in regularly and consume the provisions.
[14] When they had gone out, the king set forth the food for Bel. Then Daniel ordered his servants to bring ashes and they sifted them throughout the whole temple in the presence of the king alone. Then they went out, shut the door and sealed it with the king's signet, and departed.
[15] In the night the priests came with their wives and children, as they were accustomed to do, and ate and drank everything.
[16] Early in the morning the king rose and came, and Daniel with him.
[17] And the king said, "Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?" He answered, "They are unbroken, O king."
[18] As soon as the doors were opened, the king looked at the table, and shouted in a loud voice, "You are great, O Bel; and with you there is no deceit, none at all."
[19] Then Daniel laughed, and restrained the king from going in, and said, "Look at the floor, and notice whose footsteps these are."
[20] The king said, "I see the footsteps of men and women and children."
[21] Then the king was enraged, and he seized the priests and their wives and children; and they showed him the secret doors through which they were accustomed to enter and devour what was on the table.
[22] Therefore the king put them to death, and gave Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.
[23] There was also a great dragon, which the Babylonians revered.
[24] And the king said to Daniel, "You cannot deny that this is a living god; so worship him."
[25] Daniel said, "I will worship the Lord my God, for he is the living God.
[26] But if you, O king, will give me permission, I will slay the dragon without sword or club." The king said, "I give you permission."
[27] Then Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, and boiled them together and made cakes, which he fed to the dragon. The dragon ate them, and burst open. And Daniel said, "See what you have been worshiping!"
[28] When the Babylonians heard it, they were very indignant and conspired against the king, saying, "The king has become a Jew; he has destroyed Bel, and slain the dragon, and slaughtered the priests."
[29] Going to the king, they said, "Hand Daniel over to us, or else we will kill you and your household."
[30] The king saw that they were pressing him hard, and under compulsion he handed Daniel over to them.
[31] They threw Daniel into the lions' den, and he was there for six days.
[32] There were seven lions in the den, and every day they had been given two human bodies and two sheep; but these were not given to them now, so that they might devour Daniel.
[33] Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He had boiled pottage and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going into the field to take it to the reapers.
[34] But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, "Take the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions' den."
[35] Habakkuk said, "Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the den."
[36] Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head, and lifted him by his hair and set him down in Babylon, right over the den, with the rushing sound of the wind itself.
[37] Then Habakkuk shouted, "Daniel, Daniel! Take the dinner which God has sent you."
[38] And Daniel said, "Thou hast remembered me, O God, and hast not forsaken those who love thee."
[39] So Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his own place.
[40] On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. When he came to the den he looked in, and there sat Daniel.
[41] And the king shouted with a loud voice, "Thou art great, O Lord God of Daniel, and there is no other besides thee."
[42] And he pulled Daniel out, and threw into the den the men who had attempted his destruction, and they were devoured immediately before his eyes.