Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 46:1

"Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things that ye carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary [beast]." — Isaiah 46:1 (ASV)

Bel boweth down — Bel or Belus (בל bēl — from בעל b^e‛ēl — the same as בעל ba‛al) was the chief domestic god of the Babylonians and was worshipped in the celebrated tower of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:44). It was usual to compound names with the titles of the divinities that were worshipped; therefore, this name is often found, as in Bel-shazzar, Bel-teshazzar, Baal-Peor, Baal-zebub, Baal-Gad, and Baal-Berith.

The Greek and Roman writers compare Bel with Jupiter, and the common name they give to this idol is Jupiter Belus (Pliny, Natural History 37.10; Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.16; Diodorus Siculus 2.8-9). Herodotus (1.181-183) says that in the center of each division of the city of Babylon (for the Euphrates divided the city into two parts) there is a circular space surrounded by a wall. In one of these stands the royal palace, which fills a large and strongly defended space.

The temple of Jupiter Belus, he says, occupies the other division, its huge brass gates perhaps still visible at that time. It is a square building, each side being two furlongs in length. In the middle, a tower rises with a solid depth and height of one furlong, upon which, resting as a base, seven other turrets are built in regular succession.

The ascent on the outside, winding from the ground, continues to the highest tower, and in the middle of the whole structure, there is a convenient resting place. In this temple, there is a small chapel containing a figure of Jupiter in a sitting posture, with a large table before him. These, along with the base of the table and the seat of the throne, are all made of the purest gold. There was formerly in this temple a statue of solid gold, twelve cubits high.

This statue, Herodotus says, was seized by Xerxes, who put the priest to death who tried to prevent its removal.

The upper room of this tower was used as an observatory. The idol Baal, or Bel, was especially the god of the Phoenicians, the Canaanites, the Chaldeans, the Moabites, and some of the surrounding nations. The most common opinion has been that the idol was the sun (see the notes on Isaiah 17:8-9), and that under this name, this luminary received divine honors.

However, Gesenius suggests that the name Jupiter Belus did not refer to Jupiter, ‘the father of the gods,’ but to the planet Jupiter (Stella Jovis). This planet, along with Venus, was regarded as the giver of all good fortune and forms with Venus the most fortunate of all constellations under which sovereigns can be born. Therefore, Gesenius proposes that the planet Jupiter was worshipped under the name Bel, and the planet Venus under the name of Astarte, or Astareth (see Gesenius, Commentary on Isaiah, volume 2, page 333 and following, and Robinson’s Calmet, article ‘Baal’).

The phrase ‘boweth down’ probably means here that the idol sank down, fell, or was removed. It was unable to defend the city and was taken captive and carried away. Jerome translates Confractus est Bel — ‘Bel is broken.’ The Septuagint, Ἔπεσε Βὴλ Epese Bēl — ‘Bel has fallen.’ Perhaps the language alludes to Dagon falling before the ark of God (1 Samuel 5:2–3, 7). The meaning is that even the object of worship—that which was regarded as most sacred among the Chaldeans—would be removed.

Nebo stoopeth — This was an idol-god of the Chaldeans. In the astrological mythology of the Babylonians, according to Gesenius (Commentary on Isaiah, volume 2, page 333 and following), this idol was the planet Mercury. He is regarded as the scribe of the heavens, who records the succession of celestial and terrestrial events, and is related to the Egyptian Hermes and Anubis.

The extensive worship of this idol among the Chaldeans and Assyrians is evident from the many compound proper names found in the Scriptures of which this word forms a part (such as Neb-uchadnezzar and Neb-uzaradan), and also in classical texts (such as Nab-onad and Nab-onassar).

Nebo was, therefore, regarded as an attendant on Bel, or as his scribe. The exact form of the idol is, however, unknown. The word ‘stoopeth’ means that it had fallen down, as when one struck dead falls suddenly to the earth. The language denotes conquest, where even the idols so long worshipped would be thrown down. The scene is in Babylon, and the image in the prophet’s mind is that of the city being taken, and the idols that were worshipped being thrown down by the conqueror and carried away in triumph.

Their idols were upon the beasts — That is, they are laid upon the beasts to be carried away in triumph. It was customary for conquerors to carry away all that was splendid and valuable to grace their triumph on their return. Nothing would be a more certain indication of victory, or a more splendid accompaniment to a triumph, than the gods that the vanquished nations had adored. Thus in Jeremiah 48:7, it is said, And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, with his priests and his princes together (Compare to Jeremiah 44:3, margin).

Your carriages — That is, they were loaded with the idols that were thus carried off in triumph.

They are a burden — They are so numerous, so heavy, and to be carried so far. This is a very striking and impressive manner of foretelling that the city of Babylon would be destroyed. Instead of using direct prophetic language, the prophet represents himself as seeing heavily loaded animals and wagons moving along slowly, pressed down under the weight of the captured gods to be carried into the distant country of the conqueror. They move out from Babylon, and the caravan, loaded with the idols—the spoils of victory—is seen slowly moving forward to a distant land.