Bel and the Dragon Flashcards
1
Q
Author
Bel and the Dragon
A
unknown
2
Q
Date
Bel and the Dragon
A
most likely 2nd century BC
3
Q
Audience
Bel and the Dragon
A
- Jews with little education
o Used by early Christians
o Stories not to sophisticated
4
Q
Theological significance
Bel and the Dragon
A
- Faith in deliverance
o Daniel’s faith in God to be saved
o Challenges of Bel not legitimate god - False gods
o Bel - Idols
o Babylonians idoled Bel
5
Q
Main Characters
Bel and the Dragon
A
- Bel: The perceived idol by King Cyrus and his people
- The Dragon: is killed by cakes given to it by Daniel in the Second narrative
- Daniel: 1st narrative: Daniel challenges King Cyrus on the legitimacy of Bel being an idol: 2nd narrative: Daniel kills the Dragon by giving it cakes of baking pitch, hari, and fat: 3rd narrative: Daniel survives the Lions’ Den
- King Cyrus: king who is challenged by Daniel in the first narrative on if Bel is a legitimate idol or not; 2nd narrative: is forced to give up Daniel back to the people after the people accused the king of becoming a Jew, killing the dragon, and slaughtering the priests. 3rd narrative: frees Daniel from the Lions’ Den after 7 days of being in there
6
Q
Reasons for Exclusion from the Canon
Bel and the Dragon
A
- Likely originally in Greek
o Aramaic or Hebrew usually only added - Jewish rabbis rejected it
o Not accepted by Judaismo A story that confirms Jew…
• Maybe used as example for things
o To write in Greek for the first time, means diasporas Jews
o King Cyrus is looked in a negative way
• In Isaiah, he was the one who let Jews return to the land
7
Q
Biblical genre
Bel and the Dragon
A
History
