Bel and the Dragon (Bel and the Snake in some translations) is a separate book of the Protestant Apocrypha, but for the Orthodox and Catholics it constitutes part of the canonical book of Daniel. In Catholic Bibles it is chapter 14, the last chapter, of Daniel (see “Translating the Additions to Daniel,” page 183). The main character in the chapter is Daniel, who appears in much the same way as in Susanna (Dan 13), although here perhaps not so much wise as clever. There are obvious parallels between this chapter and chapter 6 of Daniel. The traditional name given to this additional chapter, Bel and the Dragon, is somewhat misleading since it suggests that Bel and the dragon have something to do with each other, while actually there is a story of Daniel and Bel and another about Daniel and the dragon.

There are actually three short tales here, which constitute an easy outline for the book:

1-22 Daniel and the priests of Bel
23-27 Daniel and the snake-god (the dragon)
28-42 Daniel in the pit of lions

The three stories are skillfully woven together into one narrative; they are three steps in a story of how King Cyrus of Persia was converted to believe in the god of Daniel. The episode involving the prophet Habakkuk in verses 33-39 is thought by some scholars to be a later addition, but a good case can be made for its originality.

Most scholars assume that the story was translated into Greek from a Semitic original, although there is not much confidence whether that original was Hebrew or Aramaic. There is no evidence that even as a Semitic original, it ever formed part of the book of Daniel before being placed at the end of the book by the Greek translator. In the 1890s Moses Gaster claimed to have isolated an Aramaic original for the story of Daniel and the dragon, as well as the additions to chapter 3, embodied in the medieval composition Chronicles of Jerahmeel. His thesis was widely ignored until Klaus Koch recently took it seriously enough to call for a renewed investigation, and felt justified in using the Aramaic text as a tool in the textual study of the material. This is noted for information only; this Handbook will make no reference to this Aramaic text.

This book was probably written in the second century B.C. (it is no later), though the story and its parts may be older. It could have been written anywhere Jews lived who knew something of the Babylonian experience. Recent thinking favors Palestine.

Like the other deuterocanonical additions to Daniel, this chapter is found in two forms in the Greek manuscripts: the Septuagint version and that of Theodotion. As in the case of the other two additions, the church tradition has always favored Theodotion’s text. That is the basis of most translations, and it is the text that will be followed here.

The Septuagint version of the story introduces Daniel at the beginning, as if he were unknown to the readers, and identifies him as a priest. This seems to presuppose some other Daniel than the prophet, who was from the tribe of Judah, not Levi (Dan 1.6; a priest named Daniel is mentioned in Ezra 8.2 and Neh 10.6). In Theodotion’s text, which we follow, Daniel is not introduced. It is assumed that the reader will identify him with the Daniel of the book to which this story is appended.

The Septuagint text begins with this superscription: “From the prophecy of Habakkuk son of Joshua of the tribe of Levi.” A prophet named Habakkuk appears in verses 33-39 of Theodotion’s text of Bel and the Dragon, but in the Septuagint text this Habakkuk is not called a prophet. The canonical book of Habakkuk does not identify either the father or the tribe of the prophet. Ever since the fourth century A.D., there has been a question as to whether the Habakkuk of Bel and the Dragon is the well-known Habakkuk or some other figure. It seems certain, however, that the Theodotion text does think of the Habakkuk of verses 33-39 as the same figure as the canonical prophet. There is no evidence, in spite of the Septuagint’s superscription, that this chapter of Daniel ever formed part of a collection of Habakkuk’s prophecy.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.