Beelzebub

Judaism

Hebrew Scriptures

The source for the name Beelzebub is in the Books of Kings (), written Baʿal zəvuv, referring to a deity worshipped by the Philistines in the city of Ekron.

This passage notes that King Ahaziah of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, after seriously injuring himself in a fall, sent messengers to inquire of Baʿal-zəvuv, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, to learn if he would recover.

Elijah then condemned Ahaziah to die by God's words because Ahaziah sought counsel from Baʿal-zəvuv rather than from God.

4 Assuredly, thus said GOD: You shall not rise from the bed you are lying on, but you shall die. And Elijah went.|}}

Testament of Solomon

In the [Testament of Solomon, Beelzebul (not Beelzebub) appears as prince of the demons and says that he was formerly a leading heavenly angel who was associated with the star Hesperus (the normal Greek name for the planet Venus (Aphrodite, Αφροδíτη) as evening star). Seemingly, Beelzebul here is synonymous with Lucifer. Beelzebul claims to cause destruction through tyrants, to cause demons to be worshipped among men, to excite priests to lust, to cause jealousies in cities and murders, and to bring about war. The Testament of Solomon is an Old Testament pseudepigraphical work, purportedly written by King Solomon, in which the author mostly describes particular demons whom he enslaved to help build Solomon's Temple, with substantial Christian interpolations.

Rabbinical literature

Rabbinical literature commentary equates the Baʿal-zəvuv of Ekron as lord of the "fly". The word Baʿal-zəvuv in rabbinical texts is a mockery of the worship of Baal, which ancient Hebrews considered to be idol worship.

Jewish scholars have interpreted the title of "Lord of the Flies" as the Hebrew way of calling Baʿal a pile of excrement, and comparing Ba'al followers to flies.

Christianity

Christian Bible

In Mark 3:22, the scribes accuse Jesus Christ of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. The name also appears in the expanded version in Matthew 12:24,27 and Luke 11:15, 18–19, as well as in Matthew 10:25.

: —Matthew 12:25–28}}

Beelzebub is also identified in the New Testament as the Devil, "the prince of demons". Recognizing translation concerns, biblical scholar Thomas Kelly Cheyne suggested that it might be a derogatory corruption of Ba'al-zəbûl, "Lord of the High Place" (i.e., Heaven) or "High Lord".

Gnostic tradition

Texts of the Gospel of Nicodemus vary; Beelzebul and Beelzebub are used interchangeably. The name is used by Hades as a secondary name for the Devil, but it may vary with each translation of the text; other versions separate Beelzebub from the Devil.

According to the teachings of the Modern Gnostic Movement of Samael Aun Weor, Beelzebub was a prince of demons who rebelled against the Black Lodge during World War II and was converted by Aun Weor to the White Lodge.

Christian tradition

Beelzebub is commonly described as placed high in Hell's hierarchy. According to the stories of the 16th-century occultist Johann Weyer, Beelzebub led a successful revolt against the Devil, is the chief lieutenant of Lucifer, the Emperor of Hell, and presides over the Order of the Fly. Similarly, the 17th-century exorcist Sébastien Michaëlis, in his Admirable History (1612), placed Beelzebub among the three most prominent fallen angels, the other two being Lucifer and Leviathan. John Milton, in his epic poem Paradise Lost, first published in 1667, identified an unholy trinity consisting of Beelzebub, Lucifer, and Astaroth, with Beelzebub as the second-ranking of the many fallen angels. Milton wrote of Beelzebub "than whom, Satan except, none higher sat." Beelzebub is also a character in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, first published in 1678.

In 1409–1410 The Lanterne of Light (an anonymous English Lollard tract often attributed to John Wycliffe) provided a classification of the princes of Hell based on the seven deadly sins and associated Beelzebub with the deadly sin of envy. However, Sebastien Michaelis associated Beelzebub with the deadly sin of pride, one of the other seven deadly sins, and according to Peter Binsfeld in his 1589 Treatise on Confessions by Evildoers and Witches Beelzebub was the demon of gluttony, whereas Francis Barrett asserted that Beelzebub was the prince of idolatry.

Not only had the Pharisees disparagingly accused Jesus of using Beelzebub's demonic powers to heal people (Luke 11:14–26), but others have been labelled possessed for acts of an extreme nature. Down through history, Beelzebub has been held responsible for many cases of demonic possession, such as that of Sister Madeleine de Demandolx de la Palud, Aix-en-Provence in 1611, whose relationship with Father Jean-Baptiste Gaufridi led not only to countless traumatic events at the hands of her inquisitors but also to the torture and execution of that "bewitcher of young nuns", Gaufridi himself. Beelzebub was also imagined to be sowing his influence in Salem, Massachusetts; his name came up repeatedly during the Salem witch trials, the last large-scale public expression of witch hysteria in either North America or Europe, and afterwards, the Rev. Cotton Mather wrote a pamphlet titled Of Beelzebub and his Plot.

Translation concerns

It is unknown whether Symmachus the Ebionite was correct in identifying these names. Zeboul might derive from a slurred pronunciation of zebûb; from zebel, a word used to mean "dung" in the Targums; or from Hebrew zebûl found in in the phrase bêt-zebûl, "lofty house". The Septuagint renders the name as Baalzebub (Βααλζεβούβ) and as Baal muian (Βααλ μυῗαν, "Baal of flies"). However, Symmachus may have reflected a tradition of its offensive ancient name when he rendered it as Beelzeboul.

In any case, the form Beelzebub was substituted for Beelzeboul in the Syriac translation and Latin Vulgate translation of the gospels, and this substitution was repeated in the King James Version, the resulting form Beelzeboul being mostly unknown to Western European and descendant cultures until some more recent translations restored it.

Alternatively to Baʿal zəvuv, the deity's actual name could have been Baʿal zəvul, "lord of the (heavenly) dwelling", and Baʿal zəvuv could have been a derogatory pun used by the Israelites.

In Arabic translations, the name is rendered as Baʿl-zabūl (بعلزبول).

Etymology

The title Baal means "Lord" in the ancient Ugaritic and Cananitic languages and was used as a title for various local gods, often preceding the descriptive name of a specific god. The name Baʿal zəvuv appears in the Hebrew Bible as the god of the Philistine city of Ekron but opinions differ on what the name means . In one understanding, Baʿal zəvuv is translated literally as "lord of (the) flies". It was long ago suggested that there was a relationship between the Philistine god, and cults of flies, referring to a view of those cults as pests, feasting on excrement. This is similar to Hellenic gods such as Zeus Apomyios or Myiagros (“fly-averting Zeus”) who were thought to protect people from pest insects. A Ugaritic text depicts Ba'al expelling flies, which are the cause of a person's sickness.

According to Francesco Saracino (1982) the evidence is inconclusive, but the linguistic structure of the name Baʿal zəvuv resembles how other divine names were formed in the wider Mediterranean world. This supports the possibility that the name reflects a genuine local deity of Ekron; perhaps one associated with healing, as implied by the story in , where King Ahaziah sends messengers to consult Baʿal zəvuv about his recovery from an injury.

References

References

1. {{cite Dictionary.com. Beelzebub
2. "Beelzebub {{!}} Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable – Credo Reference".
3. [[Testament of Solomon]] 6.2
4. Testament of Solomon 6.7
5. (October 1898). "The Testament of Solomon". [[The University of Pennsylvania Press]].
6. The Babylonian Talmud, Vol. 1 of 9: Tract Sabbath – Page 186 "made themselves Baal-berith for a god"; by Baal-berith is meant the Zebub (fly) idol of Ekron, and every idolater (at that time) made an image of his idol in miniature in order to keep it constantly at hand and to be able at any time to take it out, .."
7. {{cite encyclopedia. KTAV Publishing House. Kohler. Kaufmann. (1904)
8. {{cite dictionary. [[Routledge]]. link. Lurker. Manfred. (2004)
9. [http://eastonsbibledictionary.com/beelzebub.htm Easton's Bible Dictionary] {{webarchive. link. (2011-10-03)
10. "In NT Gk. beelzeboul, beezeboul (Beelzebub in TR and AV) is the prince of the demons (Mt. 12:24, 27; Mk. 3:22; Lk. 11:15, 18f.), identified with Satan (Mt. 12:26; Mk. 3:23, 26; Lk. 11:18).", Bruce, "Baal-Zebub, Beelzebul", Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996). New Bible dictionary (3rd ed.) (108). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.
11. "Besides, Matt 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15 use the apposition ἄρχων τῶν δαιμονίων 'head of the →Demons'.", Herrmann, "Baal Zebub", in Toorn, K. v. d., Becking, B., & Horst, P. W. v. d. (1999). Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible DDD (2nd extensively rev. ed.) (154). Leiden; Boston; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brill; Eerdmans.
12. Wex, Michael. (2005). "[[Born to Kvetch]]". St. Martin's Press.
13. Weor, Samael Aun. (2007). "The Revolution of Beelzebub: Gnosis, Anthropogenesis, and The War in Heaven". Thelema Press.
14. Rudwin, Maximilian. (1970). "The Devil in Legend and Literature". AMS Press.
15. Milford, Humphrey. "Introduction", [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/AHA2749?rgn=main;view=toc ''The Lanterne of Liȝt'']. Oxford University Press, 1917
16. ''Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology'', by Rosemary Guiley, pp. 28–29, Facts on File, 2009.
17. ''Dictionary of Demons'', by Fred Gettings, Guild Publishing, 1998, pp. 55–56
18. Mather, Cotton. (1693). "Of Beelzebub and his Plot".
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20. (2002). "The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". [[Eerdmans]].
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23. (1860). "Van Dyck Version". Bible Society of Egypt.
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25. (1999). "Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible". [[Brill (publisher).
26. (2000). "A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature". [[University of Chicago Press]].
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29. Freedman, David Noel. (2000). "Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible". [[Eerdmans]].
30. Seracino, Francesco. (July 1982). "Ras Ibn Hani 78/20 and Some Old Testament Connections". Brill.