BĒL (Babylonian “lord”). — A BA'ALBEK (v.), Marduk (v.). The god Enlil, “lord of the earth,” bore the title of B. before the Babylonian dynasty of Hammurapi: he was the “lord” who possessed the tablets of destiny. HAMMURABI (HAMMURAPI) (v.) had his theologians overthrow Enlil’s supremacy, and Marduk took his place, inheriting the title of B.
Daniel (14:1–21) revealed the fraud of the priests of B.-Marduk to the king of Babel; Jeremiah foretells the end of the Babylonian god (51:44). Giustino Boson