Bel

Bel is the Aramaic form of Baal, the chief national deity of Babylon, identified with the god Marduk. As the patron god of Babylon's imperial power, Bel represents the ultimate idolatrous challenge to Israel's LORD. Isaiah 46:1 describes Bel bowing down and Nebo stooping as they are loaded onto exhausted beasts—a mocking reversal in which idols that should carry their worshippers must themselves be carried. Jeremiah 50:2 and 51:44 announce that Bel will be put to shame and disgorge what he has swallowed—a reference to nations conquered and absorbed into Babylonian power. The deuterocanonical book of Bel and the Dragon dramatizes Daniel's exposure of the Bel cult as fraud.