Lexical Summary Bel: Bel Original Word: בֵּל Strong's Exhaustive Concordance Bel By contraction for Ba'al; Bel, the Baal of the Babylonians -- Bel. see HEBREW Ba'al NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originshort. form of Baal Definition a chief Bab. deity NASB Translation Bel (3). Brown-Driver-Briggs בֵּל proper name, masculine a chief Babylonian deity (Babylonian Bêlu = בַּעַל, lord; Bêl regarded as older form than בַּעַל by HptHebraica. i. 178; BAS i. 17) = Merodach (compare מרדך), tutelary god of Babylon (to be distinguished from older Bêlu, one of ancient Babylonian triad) Jeremiah 50:2 ("" מְרֹדַךְ) Jeremiah 51:44; Isaiah 46:1 ("" נְבֹו) — both writers of Babylonian period; — on Bel see COT Genesis 11:4; Judges 2:11; SayRel. Babylonian 103, 110 JenKosmologie 24, 134, 307, 391. Topical Lexicon Name and Historical Background Bel (בֵּל) is the Semitic title “lord,” employed in Babylon chiefly for Marduk, the city-god of Babylon and head of the Mesopotamian pantheon from the late second millennium BC onward. Kings such as Nebuchadnezzar II styled themselves “servant of Bel,” and royal inscriptions credit Bel-Marduk with bestowing dominion over “all peoples, nations, and languages.” The name also appears in compounds (for example, Belshazzar, “Bel protect the king,” in Daniel 5). In Scripture, Bel functions as the emblem of Babylonian idolatry and imperial pride. Biblical Occurrences 1. Isaiah 46:1 records the future humiliation of Babylon’s gods: “Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and cattle. Your loads are made a burden, a burden to a weary animal”. Bel within the Babylonian Pantheon Marduk rose to supremacy after the Hammurabi period when Babylon ascended politically. Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation epic, celebrates him as the slayer of the chaos-monster Tiamat and proclaims that the other gods “called his name Bel.” His annual New Year festival (Akitu) reenacted creation, affirmed kingship, and featured the public display of his golden statue, the very object later hauled off by Persian forces in 539 BC—an event echoed in Isaiah’s image of idols borne away on beasts of burden. Prophetic Message and Theological Themes 1. Superiority of Yahweh. By predicting Bel’s defeat, the prophets set forth the exclusive sovereignty of the LORD. Babylon’s “lord” must stoop, whereas Israel’s Lord upholds His people (Isaiah 46:3-4). Foreshadowing of Final Judgment Revelation 17–18 appropriates Babylon imagery for the eschatological city opposed to God. Just as Bel is publicly shamed, so “Babylon the Great” is rendered desolate (Revelation 18:2). The earlier oracle becomes a template for God’s climactic victory over idolatry. Pastoral and Missional Application • The narratives surrounding Bel admonish believers to renounce all modern forms of idolatry—whether material, ideological, or personal—and to cling to the only Savior who can carry His people (Isaiah 46:4). Key Related Passages Isaiah 46:1-7; Jeremiah 50:1-3, 38; Jeremiah 51:44-48; Daniel 5:1-4, 22-23; Romans 1:23-25; 1 John 5:21. Forms and Transliterations בֵּ֜ל בֵּל֙ בל bel bêlLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Isaiah 46:1 HEB: כָּרַ֥ע בֵּל֙ קֹרֵ֣ס נְב֔וֹ NAS: Bel has bowed down, Nebo KJV: Bel boweth down, Nebo INT: has bowed Bel stoops Nebo Jeremiah 50:2 Jeremiah 51:44 |
    |