Jeremiah 50:22Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. (Jeremiah 50:2). Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
1. Bel was the principal god of the Babylonians, and the third in rank among the Assyrians. The name is generally supposed to be the Chaldaic form of Baal, though this is disputed by some. For an account of Baal-worship see note on Numbers 22:4141And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people. (Numbers 22:41) (#184). In addition to what is there stated, we may remark that the sacrifices offered to Bel consisted of adult cattle and their sucklings, together with incense. The horned cap, so frequently observed in Assyrian monuments, is supposed to have been the symbol of this god. Bel is also mentioned in Isaiah 46:11Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast. (Isaiah 46:1) and Jeremiah 51:4444And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. (Jeremiah 51:44).
2. The origin and meaning of the name Merodach are doubtful. Instead of being a separate deity from Bel, he is supposed to be identical; the name being originally a descriptive epithet of Bel, which gradually became recognized as one of the names of that deity. On the monuments he is known as Bel Merodach. “Nebuchadnezzar calls him ‘the king of the heavens and the earth,’ ‘the great lord,’ ‘the senior of the gods,’ the most ancient, ‘the supporter of sovereignty,’ ‘the layer up of treasures,’ etc., and ascribes to him all his glory and successes” (Rawlinson's Five Great Monarchies, vol.1, p. 135).