בֵּל

From the study of Isaiah 46:1

Range of meaning

Bēl is Babylonian for "lord". By the first millennium BC it was the standard title for Marduk, patron god of Babylon, whose temple was Esagila. Nabû (Nebo) was Marduk's son, the divine scribe who wrote the tablets of destiny, and was worshipped at Ezida in Borsippa. Together they were the leading pair of the Babylonian state religion.

Against the English

English versions keep "Bel" and "Nebo" as names, so readers often take them as two obscure idols, or mix up Bel with the Canaanite Baal. The words are related, but these are different gods. NLT adds "the gods of Babylon" to make this clear.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 50:2 puts the two titles side by side: "Bel is put to shame, Merodach (Marduk) is dismayed". See also Jer 51:44. The kings' names carry the gods: Nebuchadnezzar (Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, "Nabû, protect my heir"), Nabonidus (Nabû-naʾid), Belshazzar (Bēl-šarra-uṣur). The later Greek additions to Daniel include the story "Bel and the Dragon".

From the study of Jeremiah 50:2

Range of meaning

Bel comes from Akkadian bēlu, 'lord, master'. It was once a title for other gods (especially Enlil), but by the Neo-Babylonian period (7th–6th centuries BCE) 'Bēl' meant Marduk. Merodach is the Hebrew rendering of Marduk (Akkadian Marduk/Marutuk), patron god of Babylon and head of the pantheon in the creation epic Enuma Elish.

Against the English

English readers can easily take 'Bel' and 'Marduk' to be two different gods. In this Hebrew poetry the second line repeats the first: one god called by his title and then by his name. BSB and NASB use the familiar 'Marduk'; KJV, WEB and ESV keep 'Merodach'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 46:1, 'Bel bows down, Nebo stoops', pictures Babylon's gods being carried off as baggage. Babylonian texts regularly call Marduk 'Bēl'. During the New Year (Akitu) festival the king 'took the hands of Bēl', meaning Marduk's statue. The Greek addition to Daniel, 'Bel and the Dragon', uses the same title. The Cyrus Cylinder (539 BCE) claims that Marduk himself chose Cyrus to take Babylon.

From the study of Jeremiah 51:44

Range of meaning

From Akkadian bēlu, 'lord, owner, master'. In older Mesopotamia it was the title of Enlil. By the first millennium BC it was the standard title and near-name of Marduk, patron god of Babylon. It is the same root as West Semitic baʿal ('lord, Baal').

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as 'Bel'. NLT-type paraphrases explain it as Babylon's god. A modern reader may take Bel for a minor deity. The first hearers heard 'the Lord of Babylon', the head of its pantheon.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 46:1 ('Bel bows down, Nebo stoops'). Jer 50:2 ('Bel is put to shame, Merodach is shattered', with Merodach = Marduk in parallel). Babylonian royal inscriptions call Marduk bēlu rabû, 'great lord'. The Greek addition to Daniel, 'Bel and the Dragon', mocks a Bel idol that appears to devour food.