Darius summoned Daniel to test his wisdom and found him seven times wiser than any report had claimed. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, Darius appointed Daniel as his personal counselor, just as the previous king had done. But one day the king tried to convert Daniel to his own religion.
The idol Bel was the great god of Babylon, and his appetite was legendary. Every day the priests laid out one bullock, ten rams, ten sheep, one hundred doves, seventy loaves of bread, and ten barrels of wine on his table. By morning, it was all gone. "Would that thou didst believe in the glory of our god Bel," the king told Daniel, "who consumes what is laid upon this table."
Daniel was unimpressed. "Let not the heart of the king be deceived," he replied. "There is no breath in it. It is simply the work of the craftsman. It is the priests of Bel who eat the contents of this table." He offered to prove it, and the king agreed.
Daniel had the temple locked and sealed with only one entrance open. Then the king ordered ashes scattered across the floor of the temple while the priests were kept in ignorance. The doors were sealed with the king's ring and Daniel's ring, and they retired for the night.
The next morning, the seals were untouched. When they opened the doors, the table was bare, every morsel consumed. Darius fell prostrate before Bel in awe. But Daniel pointed to the floor. There in the ashes were the footprints of men, women, and children. The seventy priests of Bel were hauled before the king, and under threat of death, they revealed their secret entrances: hidden passages through which they crept in every night to feast on the god's offerings.
LXXII. (1) Now, when Darius was seated on the throne
of his kingdom, he sent for Daniel, the servant of God, to
test his wisdom and to obtain his counsel. Having come
before him, he tried him and proved him, and found him
sevenfold wiser than report had told of him. He was
therefore very pleased with him, and loved him, and
220 [LXXII. 2
appointed him to be his counsellor, as Darius had done
before him.
(2) One day Darius held a feast in honour of Bel, the
god of Babylon, and the king accordingly prepared an
offering to be brought before Bel, the god of Babylon.
The daily order of the offering consisted of 1 bullock,
10 rams, 10 sheep, 100 doves, 70 loaves of bread, and
10 barrels of wine, for the table of the god. On the day
in question they arranged the table before Bel, and the
king said to Daniel, ' Would that thou didst believe in the
glory of our god Bel, who consumes what is laid upon
this table.'
(3) And Daniel replied, ' Let not the heart of the king
be deceived and be led astray, for it is vanity. There is
no breath in it, but it is simply the work of the craftsman.
How can it therefore eat or drink anything? It is
the priests of Bel who eat the contents of this table, as
well as the meal-offering and burnt-offering. Now% if thou
wilt hearken unto me, and deliver these priests into my
hand, I will show thee the deceit they practise upon thee
and thy people, which causes you to prostrate yourselves
to vanity and emptiness.' ' Let it be as thou hast spoken,'
said the king. Daniel then commanded the porters of Bel
to lock the temple and all its gates, except the one which
the king and Daniel entered.
(4) Then said the king, * Bring me some ashes.' When
they were brought he scattered them upon the floor of the
house, and the priests were kept in ignorance of Daniel's
advice. As soon as they had done this, the king and Daniel
went out with their young men by the same gate, and,
locking the door, the king sealed it with his own seal and
with that of Daniel, and then both of them went back to
the palace, and retired for the night.
(5) On the following morning the king sent for Daniel,
to let him see and know what Bel had done. Coming to
the gate of the temple, they found the seals just as they
had been left; and the king said, ' Has there been any
tampering with these seals ?' And Daniel said * No,' and
commanded the seals to be removed. They then opened
the gate, and saw that the contents of the table which they
had arranged, from the bread even to the meat and wine,
had all been consumed.
(6) As soon as the king saw this, he fell prostrate before
Bel, and exclaimed, ' 0 Bel, great is thy name in the world,
and who is like unto thee in might among all the other
gods ?' But Daniel answered, ' Let not the king say that,
for Bel is but clay, earthenware, and brass, and cannot eat
or drink. Look but upon the ashes which we have spread
on the floor, and round about the temple and the table, and
see whose footprints are these, for they are the traces of the
consumers of Bel's table.' The king looked, and beheld
the footprints of men, women, and children; (7) and
sending forthwith for these seventy priests and ministers
of Bel, he swore to them, saying, ' If ye will not tell me
the truth, ye shall surely die.' They then showed him
the secret entrances through which they came in and
went out in the night, to eat the contents of the table.
[Here one leaf of the MS. is missing.]
