Bel and the Dragon

King Astyages died and was buried with his ancestors, and Cyrus of Persia took over his kingdom.

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

NoteAstyages was the last king of the Medes; Cyrus of Persia took his throne around 550 BC. "Gathered to his fathers" is a standard biblical way of saying a man died and joined his ancestors in the grave. This story survives only in the Greek versions of Daniel, not in the Hebrew and Aramaic text; some Bibles print it as Daniel chapter 14.

2Daniel kept company with the king, and the king honored him more than all his friends.

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

Note"Friends" here is close to a job title. At the Persian court, and at the Greek courts that followed, the King's Friends were a recognized rank of courtiers and advisers. Being honored above all of them is a statement about Daniel's standing in the government, not about his social life.

3Now the people of Babylon had an idol called Bel. Every day they spent on it twelve great measures of fine flour, forty sheep, and six large containers of wine.

3Now 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.

NoteBel means "lord," and was the title of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon. The "great measures" are artabas, a Persian dry measure of roughly ten to fifteen gallons each, so the flour amounts to well over a hundred gallons; the wine containers are a Greek liquid measure of about ten gallons each. Laying out a daily meal in front of a god's image was ordinary practice in Babylonian temples, and the size of the allowance was a measure of the god's importance.

4The king worshiped it and went every day to bow down to it, but Daniel worshiped his own God. The king said to him, "Why don't you worship Bel?"

4And 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?

5Daniel answered, "Because I may not worship idols that human hands have made. I worship the living God, who created the sky and the earth, and who rules over every living creature."

5Who 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.

6Then the king said to him, "Don't you think Bel is a living god? Don't you see how much he eats and drinks every day?"

6Then 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?

7Then Daniel smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't be fooled. This thing is clay on the inside and bronze on the outside, and it has never eaten or drunk anything."

7Then 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.

Note"Brass" in the English of 1611 covers bronze, an alloy of copper and tin; brass proper was barely known in the ancient world. The image is a hollow shell: a clay body with metal plating over it.

8So the king was angry. He called for his priests and said to them, "If you do not tell me who it is that eats up all this food, you will die.

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

9But if you can prove to me that Bel eats it, then Daniel will die, because he has insulted Bel." And Daniel said to the king, "Let it be as you have said."

9But 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.

NoteBlasphemy here means speaking contemptuously of a god. In Babylon, as generally in the ancient world, that was a capital charge, which is why the king can set Daniel's life against the priests' lives on the same terms.

10Now there were seventy priests of Bel, not counting their wives and children. The king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.

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

11So Bel's priests said, "Look, we are going out. You, Your Majesty, set out the food and get the wine ready. Then shut the door tight and seal it with your own seal ring.

11So 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;

NoteA signet is a ring or small cylinder carved with the owner's personal mark. A door was sealed by tying it shut with cord, pressing soft clay over the knot, and stamping the clay with the signet. The impression cannot be lifted and put back, so a seal still intact in the morning proves nobody opened the door in the night.

12And tomorrow, when you come in, if you do not find that Bel has eaten it all, we will be put to death. Otherwise Daniel will, since he is lying about us."

12And 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.

13They were not worried about it, because under the table they had made a secret entrance. They came in through it again and again, and ate up the food.

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

14So when the priests had gone out, the king set food in front of Bel. Now Daniel had told his servants to bring ashes, and they scattered them all over the temple floor with only the king watching. Then they went out, shut the door, sealed it with the king's seal ring, and left.

14So 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.

NoteThe detail that only the king is watching matters: no servant or official is present who could carry word of the ash test to the priests.

15During the night the priests came, with their wives and children, as they always did, and they ate and drank it all.

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

16Early in the morning the king got up, and Daniel with him.

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

17The king said, "Daniel, are the seals unbroken?" And Daniel said, "Yes, Your Majesty, they are unbroken."

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

18As soon as he had opened the door, the king looked at the table and shouted in a loud voice, "You are great, Bel, and there is no trickery in you at all!"

18And 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.

19Then Daniel laughed and held the king back so he would not go in. He said, "Look at the floor now, and look carefully at whose footprints these are."

19Then 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.

20The king said, "I see the footprints of men, women, and children." Then the king was angry.

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

21He arrested the priests along with their wives and children, and they showed him the secret doors where they came in and ate what was on the table.

21And 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.

22So the king put them to death and handed Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.

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

23In that same place there was a great dragon, which the people of Babylon worshiped.

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

NoteThe Greek word is drakon, meaning a large serpent, not the winged, fire breathing dragon of later European stories. Babylonian art did feature a serpent like creature, the mushhushshu, shown on the Ishtar Gate and linked with the god Marduk.

24The king said to Daniel, "Will you say this one is made of bronze too? Look, he is alive; he eats and drinks. You cannot say he is not a living god. So worship him."

24And 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.

25Then Daniel said to the king, "I will worship the Lord my God, because he is the living God.

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

26But give me permission, Your Majesty, and I will kill this dragon without a sword or a club." The king said, "I give you permission."

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

27Then Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, and boiled them together, and made lumps out of them. He put these in the dragon's mouth, and the dragon burst open. Daniel said, "Look at the gods you worship."

27Then 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.

NotePitch is bitumen, the thick black tar that seeps out of the ground in Babylonia and was used there as mortar and waterproofing. Boiled together with fat and hair it sets into a dense, sticky mass.

28When the people of Babylon heard about it, they were furious and made a plan against the king. They said, "The king has become a Jew. He has destroyed Bel, he has killed the dragon, and he has put the priests to death."

28When 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.

Note"The king has become a Jew" means he has gone over to the Jews' religion and abandoned the gods of his own city. It is a charge of disloyalty to Babylon and its temples, not a remark about his ancestry.

29So they came to the king and said, "Hand Daniel over to us, or we will destroy you and your household."

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

30When the king saw that they were pressing him hard, he was forced to hand Daniel over to them.

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

31They threw Daniel into the lions' den, and he was there six days.

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

NoteThis is a separate visit to the lions from the better known one in Daniel chapter 6. The two stories are told independently of each other, with different kings and different circumstances.

32There were seven lions in the den, and every day they had been given two dead bodies and two sheep. Now they were given nothing, so that they would eat Daniel.

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

NoteThe word behind "carcases" means human bodies, presumably of executed criminals; the lions' usual daily ration was two of these plus two sheep. Withholding the ration was meant to make sure the animals were hungry.

33Now in Judea there was a prophet named Habakkuk. He had made stew and had broken bread into a bowl, and he was going out to the field to take it to the harvest workers.

33Now 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.

NoteHabakkuk is the prophet whose short book stands among the twelve Minor Prophets; that book says nothing about this episode. "Jewry" is older English for Judea, the region around Jerusalem, several hundred miles from Babylon, which is the point of his objection in verse 35. Breaking bread into a bowl of stew was the ordinary way of carrying a hot meal out to workers in the fields.

34But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, "Go and carry the meal you have to Babylon, to Daniel, who is in the lions' den."

34But 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.

35Habakkuk said, "Lord, I have never seen Babylon, and I do not know where the den is."

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

36Then the angel of the Lord took hold of the top of his head and carried him by the hair of his head. With the force of his breath he set him down in Babylon, above the den.

36Then 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.

Note"The crown" is the top of the head. "The vehemency of his spirit" uses spirit in its older sense of breath or wind: it is the rushing force of the angel's breath that moves Habakkuk, not an emotional state.

37And Habakkuk called out, "Daniel! Daniel! Take the meal that God has sent you."

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

38Daniel said, "You have remembered me, God. You have not abandoned those who look for you and love you."

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

39So Daniel got up and ate, and the angel of the Lord put Habakkuk back in his own place at once.

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

40On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. When he reached the den, he looked in, and there was Daniel, sitting.

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

41Then the king shouted in a loud voice, "You are great, Lord God of Daniel, and there is no other besides you!"

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

NoteThe King James line "Great art Lord God of Daniel" is defective as printed; words have dropped out of the sentence. The sense is "Great are you, Lord God of Daniel."

42And he pulled Daniel out, and threw into the den the men who had been the cause of his destruction. They were eaten up in a moment, right in front of him.

42And 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.

Note"Those that were the cause of his destruction" means the men who had tried to destroy Daniel. The "his" refers to Daniel, not to the king.