BEL , originally one of the Bab. [Note: Babylonian.] triad, but synonym, in OT and Apocr. [Note: Apocrypha, Apocryphal.] with Merodach, ‘the younger Bel,’ the tutelary god of Babylon ( Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:44 , Isaiah 46:1 , Bar 6:41 ). See also Baal, Assyria and Babylonia. ‘Bel and the Dragon’ (in art. Apocrypha, § 7).