Bel and the Dragon

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Niemand
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Bel and the Dragon

Post by Niemand »

"Bel and the Dragon" does not appear in the Protestant Bible (and thus ours). I don't get the feeling it is necessarily a true story, but it does have something to teach us about idolatry and false gods, and it is kind of a fun story.

Unlike the previous apocryphal works I've written on, this is not a standalone work. In RC/Orthodox Bibles, this is slotted into the Book of Daniel at chapter 14. Esther also has some extra Apocryphal material, and I may discuss that at some point.

I'll post the complete KJV text first and then have a look at the story a bit further. This can be broken down into three parts:
* Bel - the idol of Bel/Baal
* The Dragon - another idol
* The Lion's Den - which seems to be a reworking or sequel to Daniel 6:1–28
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This is part of my series on Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical works

Tobit:
viewtopic.php?p=1341501#p1341501

Psalm 151:
viewtopic.php?t=63875

Epistle to the Laodiceans
viewtopic.php?t=64025&p=1208281

If you are looking for other books, there are also numerous posts on Jasher, the Book of Enoch etc by other posters.

Bel and the Dragon (KJV)

The Bel narrative
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1 And king Astyages was gathered to his fathers, and Cyrus of Persia received his kingdom.

2 And Daniel conversed with the king, and was honoured above all his friends.

3 Now the Babylons had an idol, called Bel, and there were spent upon him every day twelve great measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine.

4 And the king worshipped it and went daily to adore it: but Daniel worshipped his own God. And the king said unto him, Why dost not thou worship Bel?

5 Who answered and said, Because I may not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who hath created the heaven and the earth, and hath sovereignty over all flesh.

6 Then said the king unto him, Thinkest thou not that Bel is a living God? seest thou not how much he eateth and drinketh every day?

7 Then Daniel smiled, and said, O king, be not deceived: for this is but clay within, and brass without, and did never eat or drink any thing.

8 So the king was wroth, and called for his priests, and said unto them, If ye tell me not who this is that devoureth these expenses, ye shall die.

9 But if ye can certify me that Bel devoureth them, then Daniel shall die: for he hath spoken blasphemy against Bel. And Daniel said unto the king, Let it be according to thy word.

10 Now the priests of Bel were threescore and ten, beside their wives and children. And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.

11 So Bel's priests said, Lo, we go out: but thou, O king, set on the meat, and make ready the wine, and shut the door fast and seal it with thine own signet;

12 And to morrow when thou comest in, if thou findest not that Bel hath eaten up all, we will suffer death: or else Daniel, that speaketh falsely against us.

13 And they little regarded it: for under the table they had made a privy entrance, whereby they entered in continually, and consumed those things.

14 So when they were gone forth, the king set meats before Bel. Now Daniel had commanded his servants to bring ashes, and those they strewed throughout all the temple in the presence of the king alone: then went they out, and shut the door, and sealed it with the king's signet, and so departed.

15 Now in the night came the priests with their wives and children, as they were wont to do, and did eat and drink up all.

16 In the morning betime the king arose, and Daniel with him.

17 And the king said, Daniel, are the seals whole? And he said, Yea, O king, they be whole.

18 And as soon as he had opened the dour, the king looked upon the table, and cried with a loud voice, Great art thou, O Bel, and with thee is no deceit at all.

19 Then laughed Daniel, and held the king that he should not go in, and said, Behold now the pavement, and mark well whose footsteps are these.

20 And the king said, I see the footsteps of men, women, and children. And then the king was angry,

21 And took the priests with their wives and children, who shewed him the privy doors, where they came in, and consumed such things as were upon the table.

22 Therefore the king slew them, and delivered Bel into Daniel's power, who destroyed him and his temple.


The Dragon narrative
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23 And in that same place there was a great dragon, which they of Babylon worshipped.

24 And the king said unto Daniel, Wilt thou also say that this is of brass? lo, he liveth, he eateth and drinketh; thou canst not say that he is no living god: therefore worship him.

25 Then said Daniel unto the king, I will worship the Lord my God: for he is the living God.

26 But give me leave, O king, and I shall slay this dragon without sword or staff. The king said, I give thee leave.

27 Then Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and did seethe them together, and made lumps thereof: this he put in the dragon's mouth, and so the dragon burst in sunder : and Daniel said, Lo, these are the gods ye worship.

28 When they of Babylon heard that, they took great indignation, and conspired against the king, saying, The king is become a Jew, and he hath destroyed Bel, he hath slain the dragon, and put the priests to death.

29 So they came to the king, and said, Deliver us Daniel, or else we will destroy thee and thine house.

Daniel in the Lion's Den redux

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30 Now when the king saw that they pressed him sore, being constrained, he delivered Daniel unto them:

31 Who cast him into the lions' den: where he was six days.

32 And in the den there were seven lions, and they had given them every day two carcasses, and two sheep: which then were not given to them, to the intent they might devour Daniel.

33 Now there was in Jewry a prophet, called Habbacuc, who had made pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl, and was going into the field, for to bring it to the reapers.

34 But the angel of the Lord said unto Habbacuc, Go, carry the dinner that thou hast into Babylon unto Daniel, who is in the lions' den.

35 And Habbacuc said, Lord, I never saw Babylon; neither do I know where the den is.

36 Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown, and bare him by the hair of his head, and through the vehemency of his spirit set him in Babylon over the den.

37 And Habbacuc cried, saying, O Daniel, Daniel, take the dinner which God hath sent thee.

38 And Daniel said, Thou hast remembered me, O God: neither hast thou forsaken them that seek thee and love thee.

39 So Daniel arose, and did eat: and the angel of the Lord set Habbacuc in his own place again immediately.

40 Upon the seventh day the king went to bewail Daniel: and when he came to the den, he looked in, and behold, Daniel was sitting.

41 Then cried the king with a loud voice, saying, Great art Lord God of Daniel, and there is none other beside thee.

42 And he drew him out, and cast those that were the cause of his destruction into the den: and they were devoured in a moment before his face.

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Niemand
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Re: Bel and the Dragon

Post by Niemand »

Breaking this down into the various sections.

Who is Bel?
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Who was Bel? Well, Bel was a very widespread god. His worship even reached the Celtic peoples of the west, where Bel has echoes in names such as Belos, Belinos, Bile, Balor, Beli etc. Beltane (Bealltainn), the old Celtic festival may take his name from him. Bel in this story represents the Assyrian and Babylonian god, and we tend to know him better by his Levantine name "Baal". Beelzebub's name also recalls him.

Bel's name appears to mean "lord" in Semitic languages.

Summary

From
https://www.gotquestions.org/Bel-and-the-Dragon.html
Bel and the Dragon is one of several additions to the book of Daniel. The original book of Daniel ends after chapter twelve. The extra material is found only in translations, such as the Septuagint, but not in the Masoretic Text. Bel and the Dragon is a later addition most likely derived from various legends and folk stories about Daniel. This non-canonical material includes chapter 13, known as the “Song of the Three Children”; chapter 14, known as “Susanna”; and chapter 15, known as “Bel and the Dragon.” The fifteenth chapter is a single narrative in three parts.
* Daniel is revered highly by the pagan king Cyrus, but Cyrus wishes him to worship the idol of Bel. The message here is that government authority can press us towards false idols even when well meaning.
* The idol of Bel appears to eat and drink. Daniel disbelieves this and instead reveres the true God not one made by human hands.
* Cyrus "pits the Persian priests against Daniel. If they cannot prove that Bel eats the food, they will be executed. If Daniel cannot prove someone else is eating it, he will be executed." This is a high stakes game.
* The room is sealed with the king's signet. Unknown to the pagans, Daniel has sprinkled ashes on the floor. They create footprints in the dust, leading to a secret door.
* Cyrus has the pagan priests and their accomplices executed.

Moral of the story
Pagan idols are false gods. However, in 1 Samuel 5 the statue of Dagon bows to the Ark of the Covenant, suggesting some can be filled with demons. (This was a favourite lesser known Bible story of someone
viewtopic.php?t=69006&hilit=Bible ) We know from other sources that some pagan statues weep, bleed or even drink milk (as in a Hindu instance).

This story warns us against appearances. Satan is the father of lies. Some of his deceptions are simple party tricks, but can even fool powerful rulers.

What else? One could see this story as a kind of parody of false tithing or the abuse of tithing by unrighteous religious leaders. In Acts 15.20, we are told not to eat food dedicated to idols. The mention of the priests' children may seem innocuous, but the cult of Baal/Bel in some places involved child sscrifice and in that context takes on a sinister tinge. These children may have been sacrificed to the idol in another context, but the priests are willing to have their children potentially executed by the king as well to protect their false god. It's very reminscent in some ways of how children's future freedoms and even their very lives have been risked by the Covid narrative in our times.

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Niemand
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Re: Bel and the Dragon

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The Dragon
The Dragon/Serpent cult seems to have appeared in almost every culture ever known, from the Australian Aborigines' Rainbow Serpent to Quetzalcoatl to Wales to the Chinese Dragon. The Serpent beguiled Eve in Eden and the Dragon appears in the Book of Revelation, with its presence almost "bookending" the Bible... following hot on the toes if the Creation narrative and just before being defeated by the returned Jesus.

The serpent/dragon is commonly seen as representing earth energies. Its false idol may have returned in a new guise...

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Summary
This narrative is very similar to the Bel one that comes just before it, only Daniel debunks it in a different fashion.

This dragon is a "living god" unlike the Bel idol, but it is also a false god and a mortal one at that. Daniel dispatches it. What exactly was this creature supposed to be? A living dragon or something else mysterious. This is probably a made up story, but it reminds me of the "dragons" from one of the gates of Babylon. (Now in Berlin of all places.) This is what they looked like:
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From
https://www.gotquestions.org/Bel-and-the-Dragon.html
The second part of Bel and the Dragon involves an actual living dragon, which Cyrus again tells Daniel to worship. Since the dragon is flesh and blood, Cyrus claims, it is superior to Bel and should be honored. Daniel again claims to worship only God and says he can kill this dragon without weapons. The king agrees to Daniel’s demonstration, and Daniel poisons the dragon with a mixture of tar, hair, and ashes. This causes the dragon to burst open, proving it to be an inferior creature and not a god to be worshiped.

Wikipedia goes down the line that this may be a pagan story itself reworked to make it Jewish. Even if it is, I don't think the message is a bad one.
in the Alexander cycle of Romances it was Alexander the Great who overcame the dragon by feeding it poison and tar.

Earlier scholarship has suggested a parallel between this text and the contest between Marduk and Tiamat in Mesopotamian mythology, where the winds controlled by Marduk burst Tiamat open and barley-cake plays the same role as the wind. However, David DeSilva (2018) casts doubt on this reading.

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Niemand
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Re: Bel and the Dragon

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Daniel in the Lion's Den... again
This is the hardest part to write about because it is very similar to the story of Daniel being fed to lions earlier in the book (Daniel 6)

Lions are, of course, a symbol of Israel. This may be significant. Habakkuk also puts in an appearance.

The message here is that even though Daniel did the right thing by exposing the false gods Bel and the Dragon, the worldly authorities made him pay for it. God's prophet also lets him know that he has not been abandoned.

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27 When they of Babylon heard that, they took great indignation, and conspired against the king, saying, The king is become a Jew, and he hath destroyed Bel, he hath slain the dragon, and put the priests to death.

Was Cyrus a Jew? Cyrus is addressed directly in Isaiah 45. (Credit: Abijah for pointing this out elsewhere.) Jews did get some positions of authority in his empire and previous ones in the region. In one of my posts I discussed whether Zoroaster/Zarathustra was a lost prophet. Cyrus would have probably venerated him, not a dragon, also Zoroastrianism does have a fire cult aspect (hence the dragon?).
viewtopic.php?p=1301214#p1301214

The evidence does not point to Cyrus being a Bel or a dragon worshipper although some in his empire may have been.

Bread, wine and sheep
3 Now the Babylons had an idol, called Bel, and there were spent upon him every day twelve great measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine.

Interesting choice here, flour (bread), sheep and wine. An echo of the sacrament and sheep/lambs have multiple meanings in scripture.

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BuriedTartaria
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Re: Bel and the Dragon

Post by BuriedTartaria »

Niemand wrote: In RC/Orthodox Bibles, this is slotted into the Book of Daniel at chapter 14.
Fascinating. I've actually been on a Book of Daniel kick the past few days (mainly King Nebuchadnezzar's dream). I think Daniel has become my favorite individual in the Old Testament. So stumbling upon your thread and seeing this apocryphal story is a neat find.

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream is just, I can't put into words how powerful it is. What a profound thing to point to when making a case for a prophetic Bible. The concept of a stone cut from a mountain without hands that consumes the kingdoms of the earth just gives you hope. What a wonderful book of scripture.

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Niemand
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Re: Bel and the Dragon

Post by Niemand »

BuriedTartaria wrote: January 16th, 2023, 7:37 pm
Niemand wrote: In RC/Orthodox Bibles, this is slotted into the Book of Daniel at chapter 14.
Fascinating. I've actually been on a Book of Daniel kick the past few days (mainly King Nebuchadnezzar's dream). I think Daniel has become my favorite individual in the Old Testament. So stumbling upon your thread and seeing this apocryphal story is a neat find.

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream is just, I can't put into words how powerful it is. What a profound thing to point to when making a case for a prophetic Bible. The concept of a stone cut from a mountain without hands that consumes the kingdoms of the earth just gives you hope. What a wonderful book of scripture.
I think the Book of Revelation is best understood in relation to Daniel.

There are a couple of obvious similarities in Revelation to this section e.g. the mention of a dragon and also the mention of an image which appears to live. I see these three stories as folk tales added to Daniel, but not harmful ones.

I believe the stories of Bel and the Dragon used to be performed as mediaeval plays as well, but Daniel's killing of the dragon isn't exactly St. George!

At least one of our regular forum posters, now calling herself "Lucifer" (!) has read the story before.
viewtopic.php?p=1341614#p1341614
XEmilyX wrote: June 9th, 2021, 7:18 pm I read bel and the dragon it was actually pretty interesting.
The king said to Daniel that bel the God was real because he would eat the food daily that he brought to it. Well what happened was the priests were taking the food through a trap door to pretend it was being eaten by the idol. Eventually the king found out and slew all the priests and also sadly their families but daniel was spared.
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Last edited by Niemand on January 23rd, 2023, 4:10 am, edited 3 times in total.

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abijah
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Re: Bel and the Dragon

Post by abijah »

I have yet to really dig deep into Bel and the Dragon, along with most the apocrypha to be honest (maybe Enoch the exception). I feel like it'll take me multiple lifetimes just contemplating the canonical works lol although I know at some point I need to increase my familiarity more.

I remember having heard see interesting stuff about Bel and the Dragon on a podcast I'd listened to in the past year or two, and found out it had come up in this one 'Jonah and the Chaos Dragon' where there's some interesting commentary from Michael Heiser (I figure itll be easier to read and distinguish-between Heiser's own words, and the words he's quoting-from if I just post screenshots of the transcript):
Spoiler
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Somewhat tangential to this topic, I've had recent impressions and wondering, specifically in regard to how Egypt (to Israel's west), and how Babylon (to Israel's east) relate to each other in the overarching story of human history, 'God's cosmic meta-drama' so to speak.

Originally where my thought process began was how the archetypal Egyptian method of oppressing Israel was via💧 *drowning*/*'the`waters'* 🌊:

Exodus 1
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

Then I wondered if perhaps Egypt (Israel's first/original captor) is symbolically linked somehow to *the`waters*, then maybe it makes sense if Babylon (Israel's eventual captor ) somehow correlates with *fire* -- that whereas Egypt *drowns*, in contrast, Babylon ♨️ *burns* 🔥:

Daniel 3
4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

Then I realized there's more subtle hints suggesting some such connection. For example, both the *river-drownings* and the *oven-burnings* arise from the context of an empire-wide proclamation/royal`decree :

Exodus 1
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
  • Daniel 3
    4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people...
    6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Both narratives entail the manufacture of *bricks* (masonry) 🧱:

Genesis 11
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar [aka 'Babel']; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
  • Exodus 1
    13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
    14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field...
Special detail given to the *materials used* to make the bricks:

Genesis 11
3 And they had brick for stone, and tar had they for morter.
  • Exodus 5
    6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
    7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
    8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof...
    10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
    11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
    12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
    13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw...
Another literary link b/w Egypt (Israel's first exodus) and Babylon (Israel's eventual exodus) is via this "midst" terminology:

Exodus 7
21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
  • Daniel 3
    23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
    24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
    25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
    26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Exodus 7
5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from their midst.
  • Jeremiah 50
    6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
Also both Israel's exodus from Egypt as well as Babylon include curious details about *vessels* being carried out with them:

Exodus 3
21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty [like an empty vessel...? 🤔].
22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.
  • Isaiah 52
    11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence [Babylon], touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.
    12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you...
What makes these peculiar connections b/w Babylon and Egypt particularly relevant to this thread is that it provides yet another thematic link, specifically of a dragon.

When YHWH rescued Israel from the Egyptians thru the Re(e)d Sea, the scriptures present this as being on par with Him destroying Rahab, aka the sea-dragon who (along w/ Pharaoh) was emblematic of Egypt as a whole:

Isaiah 51
9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

There are many more, I could go on 🤔 but considering how this might relate the 'Bel and the Dragon' narrative, now as I reflect I'm thinking there's probably a stronger connection with Tiamat, the Babylonian dragon-goddess, who was representative of 'the primordial deep', the abyssal waters from which the earth was formed at the beginning, and which eventually caved-back-in resulting in the Flood. Who is definitely related somehow the Egyptian dragon-goddess Rahab.

Which seems to bring me back full circle to Michael Heiser's podcast episode where he commentates on 'Bel and the Dragon' in light of *what* context? The chaos dragon who swallows Jonah, lol.

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Niemand
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Re: Bel and the Dragon

Post by Niemand »

Bel and the Dragon (KJV) audiobook - 7 minutes
I can't see me doing a post about Enoch in the near future, partly because so many people have written on it already here and because it's not in the western or the Eastern Orthodox canon. The Books of Maccabees and Esdras are going to be some work.

More Wikipedia info (sorry!)... he name for the Babylonian dragon seems to be mušḫuššu or sirrush, and there is some connection with the constellation Hydra (not Draco as one might expect), i.e. the water serpent. It's tempting to assign Orion to Bel and Leo to the lion is we're to give these stories an astrological reading.

In these stories
* Bel is the inanimate god. Since Bel means Lord, it can be seen as a front for various priestly groups, their families and children.
* The Dragon is the animate god, an animal worshipped (mich like sacred Hindu cows today)

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Niemand
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Re: Bel and the Dragon

Post by Niemand »

Book of Judith
viewtopic.php?t=69402

The Book of Sirach, Ecclesiasticus, the NT, the BOM and the other Jesus
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Book of Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy/Jeremiah
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1 Maccabees
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2 Maccabees
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3 Maccabees
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4 Maccabees
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The Book of Odes - this is an Eastern Orthodox work of limited interest, but included for the sake of completeness.
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Last edited by Niemand on January 31st, 2023, 6:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Niemand
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Re: Bel and the Dragon

Post by Niemand »

Outside the Western and Eastern Orthodox Canon...

The Ethiopian canon. This includes brief info on the books of Sinodos, Ethiopian Clement, Ethiopian Covenant, and Didascalia as well as a list of other works in the canon.
viewtopic.php?t=69540

The Book of Enoch
viewtopic.php?t=69577

The Book of Jubilees aka Leptogenesis or Little Genesis
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3 Corinthians (Armenian canon)
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--
I discuss Habakkuk's hair raising experience here

viewtopic.php?p=1347962

Habakkuk's hair has an uplifting experience.

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So in #1 of this series, we saw how God helped a baldy from a mob of annoying children. (viewtopic.php?t=69474), then in #2 the strange role of clothes and nudity in Mark's gospel (viewtopic.php?t=69486), which are both stories we almost never discuss in Sunday School. Here's another which you'll never hear for slightly different reasons I'll go into later. We tend to dance through some parts of the Old Testament, but they do have some things to teach us.

In the lesser known Bible story thread I quoted a couple of people who mentioned the story of the wonderfully named Habakukk:
viewtopic.php?t=69006

Discussing the Book of Habakkuk, one person likes it:
Because it's relatable. A man loves God and his earthly country but sees how far it has strayed from God and is grieved by it.
In Habakkuk 1:2,. he is unusual in being one of the few prophets to question God: "O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!"

But Habakkuk is not just found in his own book. Another person singles out the incident of
The angel grabbing on to Habakkuk's hair and flying him to Daniel.
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That story has him arguing with God as well...

Daniel 14:
Now there was in Jewry a prophet, called Habbacuc, who had made pottage, [soup] and had broken bread in a bowl, and was going into the field, for to bring it to the reapers. But the angel of the Lord said unto Habbacuc, "Go, carry the dinner that thou hast into Babylon unto Daniel, who is in the lions' den."
And Habbacuc said, "Lord, I never saw Babylon; neither do I know where the den is."
Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown, and bare him by the hair of his head, and through the vehemency of his spirit set him in Babylon over the den. And Habbacuc cried, saying, "O Daniel, Daniel, take the dinner which God hath sent thee."
And Daniel said, "Thou hast remembered me, O God: neither hast thou forsaken them that seek thee and love thee."
So Daniel arose, and did eat: and the angel of the Lord set Habbacuc in his own place again immediately.


So the angel grabs Habakkuk from a field and takes him off to give Daniel some company this time and to break bread with him (a "type" or foreshadowing of the sacrament.)

The New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition translates one of the verses as:
Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head and carried him by his hair; with the speed of the wind he set him down in Babylon, right over the den.
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I prefer this translation to the KJV because it conveys the idea of speed better than "the vehemency of his spirit" (the version above notes this as an alternative translation.) Then Habakkuk is either dragged all the way back to where he was by his hair, or is teleported back to his field to continue his work.

Then in a satisfying post-script, Daniel is taken out of the den right before the eyes of the King and Daniel's evil jailers are put into the den and eaten up by the hungry lions.

There is a lot of symbolism and meaning in this story:
* The Lord never forgets Daniel even when he is in deep trouble.
* Habakkuk is argumentative as usual, but fulfils his role.
* God provides a solution which is completely unexpected to both Daniel and Habakkuk (and probably the lions). Habakkuk does not know how to help Daniel but this is not a problem.
* The bread. We read Habakkuk "had broken bread in a bowl, and was going into the field, for to bring it to the reapers." Bread is made with grain and represents the final product which the harvesters are bringing in. In Mark 4:39, Jesus says of missionary work: "...when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." This may itself be quote of Joel 3:14. We celebrate sacrament with bread among fellow converts, both of which are there as results of different harvest.
* Habakkuk says "Lord, I never saw Babylon". Babylon is famously the city of sin and oppression throughout most of the Bible. This represents Habakkuk's innocence and purity, and his doubt. Jeremiah 50:16 says "Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest". Here the reverse happens to help Daniel.
* "Pottage" (soup) also appears in the story of Esau who famously sells off his birthright because of hunger, so maybe some symbolism there. Genesis 25:30: "And Esau said to Jacob, 'Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.'" I find this harder to interpret.

Now there's maybe someone reading this scratching their head because they can't find Daniel 14. This a bit of a cheat as it's one of the Apocryphal additions to Daniel (which I discuss here -> viewtopic.php?t=69261) included at the end of the "Bel and the Dragon section.* You'd think the tyrants would have worked out it was a waste of time to throw Daniel in the lions' den, but according to the Apocrypha this happened a second of time. It's a cute story.

I don't make any claim for the additions to Daniel to be scriptural but it is a good story, and maybe does have something to teach us.

Habakkuk's life
Not much is known about Habakkuk's life. Most of the information can be taken from the Book of Habakkuk itself. According to Jewish tradition (the Zohar (Volume 1, page 8b)) Habakkuk is the boy born to the Shunamite woman through Elisha's blessing in 2 Kings 4:16:
And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace [חֹבֶקֶת‎ – ḥōḇeqeṯ] a son. And she said, "Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid."
Some say his name is Akkadian instead. The Persians claim Habakkuk was a guardian of Solomon's Temple, but was later captured by the Babylonians (an interesting parallel to this story.) He has at least two alleged burial places.

Habakkuk is a good role model to those of us who struggle with God's will and question what is happening around us.

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* The Roman Catholics have this story in Daniel 14:33-39. Protestants have to find it in Bel and the Dragon section of Apocrypha (verses 33-39) if they have the Apocrypha in their Bible. Mormons... will just have to look up a different Bible edition!

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Niemand
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 13999

Re: Bel and the Dragon

Post by Niemand »

Latest Apocrypha
Four Apocryphal Psalms - 152, 153, 154, 155
viewtopic.php?t=69985

Ethiopian Canon...
The Book of Enoch
viewtopic.php?t=69577

1 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon), another lost book?
viewtopic.php?t=69855

2 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon), - the return of Tsirutsaydan
viewtopic.php?t=69971

3 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon) a Question of Satan, another lost work?
viewtopic.php?t=70277

The First and Second Books of Adam and Eve (the Conflict with Satan)
viewtopic.php?t=70846

Lost works and nearly lost works
The LDS Bible Dictionary on Lost Books and non-canonical works referred to in the Bible.
viewtopic.php?t=69805

Antilegomena: the books which barely made it into the Bible - Revelation, Esther, Song of Songs, James etc
viewtopic.php?p=1350652

Is Q canonical? How about the Gospel of Thomas? The answer's more complicated than you think.
viewtopic.php?t=69715

Other New Testament works
The Gospel of Nicodemus or Acts of Pilate, as tested on Mennonites
viewtopic.php?t=69760

The Epistle of Barnabas (NT Apocrypha) - link between OT and NT, or not?
viewtopic.php?t=69679

1 Clement: Papist propaganda or a window into the early church?
viewtopic.php?p=1368842

2 Clement: Inclement Gnosticism?
viewtopic.php?t=70327

The Didache or Teachings of the Apostles
viewtopic.php?t=69698

The Shepherd of Hermas - inspired literature or pagan trash?
viewtopic.php?t=69650

The Three different Apocalypses of Peter: Guides to the universe or sadism? The ancient Apocalypse of Peter, the Arabic Apocalypse of Peter and the Nag Hammadi/Gnostic Text of the same name.
viewtopic.php?t=70682

A post on the Restored Branch, an English LDS microsect and its canon which includes works from the Nag Hammadi and Gnostic texts: these are the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Phillip, the Gospel of Truth (sic), the Letter of the Apostle Paul, the Sophia (Wisdom) of Jesus the Christ, the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles and the Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip.
viewtopic.php?t=70413

Celtic legends about the Bible, including the visits of Biblical figures to western Europe, the Michael Line, Holy Grail, and Pontius Pilate.
viewtopic.php?t=71061

On other interrelated religions:
The Samaritans, their canon and its significance
viewtopic.php?t=69905

My thread about the Koran, and its use of figures from the Bible, the Apocrypha and extracanonical material. How useful a source is the Koran itself? Does it have any real extra information on Biblical figures? This is something of work in progress.
viewtopic.php?t=70169

Was Zoroaster/Zarathustra a lost prophet of God? Some surprising links between this largely forgotten figure and Judaism, plus the Gathas.
viewtopic.php?t=65938

My thread on a bizarre Middle Eastern sect and their beliefs. Are the Yezidis of the Middle East an ancient Satanist group or a lost Jewish tribe? And what is the connection between their religion and today's rainbow flag? Is this strange group simply misunderstood?
viewtopic.php?t=70625

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Niemand
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 13999

Re: Bel and the Dragon

Post by Niemand »

I'm a fan of Christopher Glyn's Bible/Apocrypha readings, and have used them elsewhere, but here's an alternative reading if his one is taken down.
Found another short LDS discussion of this book - yay!

https://johnslds.blogspot.com/2015/01/a ... n.html?m=1

Not much more than a summary but good to see LDS engaging with these works... because they would have appeared in Joseph Smith's family Bible and he would have read them growing up.

---
Latest Apocrypha etc
Will the real Book of Jasher please stand up? At least a dozen works are claimed to be the Book of Jasher, but did it ever exist in the first place?
viewtopic.php?p=1438746

The Book of Gad the Seer, a work referred to in the Old Testament which may have been preserved by a small group of Jews in India. Some of its content is stunning including references to a sacrificed lamb who is sent by God and the future tribulation.
viewtopic.php?t=71421

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: are these lost books of the founders of each Tribe of Israel or a later forgery?
viewtopic.php?t=71314

The Ascension of Isaiah, visions of Christ and Antichrist
viewtopic.php?t=71598

The Book of the Cock – an unfortunately named gospel still in current use in Ethiopia.
viewtopic.php?t=71338

The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, an early endorsement of Paul or a forgery?
viewtopic.php?p=1400884

The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus - a beautiful short epistle about the relations of Christians and non-Christians, and the Tree of Knowledge
viewtopic.php?p=1404032

End Times Prophecy in Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha: A guide
Includes discussions of 2 Esdras, (1) Enoch, Nicodemus, Ascension of Isaiah, Gad the Seer and the Shepherd of Hermas
viewtopic.php?t=71659

New Age Bibles: Urantia, Oahspe, Kolbrin, Oera Linda, Crowley's Book of the Law, a Course in Miracles etc. These works, usually channelled, provide a very different take on spirituality yet are strangely similar to one another. How should we approach these new works and are they just demonic?
viewtopic.php?p=1433133

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