Beelzebub

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Beelzebub

Beelzebub (more accurately Ba‘al Zebûb or Ba‘al Z^əbûb), appears as the name of a deity worshipped in the Philistine city of Ekron. It is later the name of a demon or devil, often interchanged with Beelzebul.

In ancient context, there may be little meaningful distinction between Beelzebub and Ba‘al the ancient Semitic god. In Christian writings, either form may appear as an alternate name for Satan (or the Devil) or may else appear to refer to the name of a lesser devil. As with several religions, the names of any earlier foreign or "pagan" deities often became synonymous with the concept of an adversarial entity. The demonization of the ancient deity led to much of the modern religious personification of Satan, as the adversary of the God.

Ba‘al Zebûb might mean 'Lord of Zebûb', referring to an unknown place name Zebûb, or 'Lord of flies', zebûb being a Hebrew collective noun meaning 'fly'. This may mean that the Hebrews were derogating their enemies' god by referring to him as dung. Thomas Kelly Cheyne suggested that it might be a corruption of Ba'al Zebul, 'Lord of the High Place'. The Septuagint^A renders the name as Baalzeboub, Septuagint^B as Baal myîan 'Baal of flies', but Symmachus the Ebionite may have reflected a tradition of its offensive ancient name when he rendered it as Beelzeboul (Cath.Ency.).

The source for the name Ba‘al Zebûb / Beelzebub is in 2 Kings 1.2–3,6,16 where King Ahaziah of Israel, after seriously injuring himself in a fall, sends messengers to inquire of Ba‘al Zebûb, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, to learn if he will recover. Elijah the Prophet then condemns Ahaziah to die by Yahweh's words because Ahaziah sought council from Ba‘al Zebûb rather than from Yahweh.

In Mark 3.22, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of driving out demons by the power of Beelzeboul, prince of demons, the name also appearing in the expanded version in Matthew 12.24,27 and Luke 11.15,18–19. The name also occurs in Matthew 10.25. It is unknown whether Symmachus was correct in identifying these names or not since we otherwise know nothing about either of them. 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 1 Kings 8.13 in the phrase bêt-zebûl 'lofty house' and used in Rabbinical writings to mean 'house' or 'temple' and also as the name for the fourth heaven.

In summary, either or both of these names might be a genuine divine title, or might be a corruption of such a title, possibly a purposeful corruption to make a mockery of it. The two names might refer to the same original or might not.

In any case the form Beelzebub was substituted for Belzebul in the Syriac translation and Latin Vulgate translation of the gospels and this substitution was repeated in the King James Version of the Bible, the result of which is the form Beelzebul was mostly unknown to western European and descendant cultures until some more recent translations restored it.

Apocryphal literature

In the Testament of Solomon, Beelzebul (not Beelzebub) appears as prince of the demons and says (6.2) that he was formerly a leading heavenly angel who was (6.7) associated with the star Hesperus (which is the normal Greek name for the planet Venus as evening star). Seemingly Beelzebul is here simply Satan/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 on war.

Texts of the Acts of Pilate (also known as the Gospel of Nicodemus) vary in whether they use Beelzebul or Beezebub. The name is used by Hades as a secondary name for Satan. But it may vary with each translation of the text, other versions give the name Beelzebub as Beelzebub, but separates him from Satan.

Later accounts

Beelzebub is commonly described as placed high in Hell's hierarchy, he was of the order of cherubim. According to the renowned 16th century occultist Johannes Wierus, Beelzebub is the chief lieutenant of Lucifer, the Emperor of Hell, and presides over the Order of the Fly. Similarly, the 17th century exorcist Sebastian Michaelis, in his Admirable History (1612), placed Beelzebub among the three most prominent fallen angels, the other two being Lucifer and Leviathan, whereas two 18th century works identified an unholy trinity consisting of Beelzebub, Lucifer, and Astaroth. However, John Milton featured Beelzebub as merely being one of the many fallen cherubim in the epic poem Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. Beelzebub is also a character in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, first published in 1678.

Sebastien Michaelis associated Beelzebub with the deadly sin of pride. However, according to Peter Binsfeld, Beelzebub was the demon of gluttony, one of the other seven deadly sins, whereas Francis Barrett asserted that Beelzebub was the prince of false gods. In any event, Beelzebub was frequently named as an object of supplication by confessed witches. After being accused by the Pharisees of possessing Jesus, he has also been held responsible for at least one famous case of alleged demon possession which occurred in Aix-en-Provence in 1611 involving a nun by the name of Sister Madeleine de Demandolx de la Palud who named one Father Jean-Baptiste Gaufridi as a bewitcher of young nuns. 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, and afterwards Rev. Cotton Mather wrote a pamphlet entitled Of Beelzebub and his Plot.

In the mid 20th Century, the founder of a type of Gnosticism who called himself Samael Aun Weor, wrote a book called "The Revolution of Beelzebub" in which he claimed that through Astral Projection he paid visits to Beelzebub in various regions of the Astral Plane for the purpose of trying to convince Beelzebub to renounce demonic ways inorder to become an angel again. Samael claims in the book to have been successful in his mission and recounts the process through which Beelzebub underwent to undo his demonisation.

Beelzebub in popular culture

The title of William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies is a literal English translation of "Beelzebub".
In Steven Brust's To Reign in Hell, Beelzebub is cast as a faithful servant of Lucifer who is stuck in the unfortunate form of a terrier.
G. I. Gurdjieff's magnum-opus All and Everything 1st Series has a redeemed Beelzebub as the main character
Capcom's Devil May Cry series of video games contain a giant fly-like enemy that goes by the name of Beelzebub.
Konami's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night video game also contains a large fly-flinging enemy named Beelzebub.
Beelzebub is briefly mentioned in Queen's song "Bohemian Rhapsody" with the line, "Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me."
His name is played on in an episode of the television series Futurama, in which Leela calls the Robot Devil "Beelzebot".
In the manga Sand Land, he appears under the name Beelzeboul and is the son of Satan.
An episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Beelzebub was the one who crafted a sandwich called the broodwich.
In the PC game Total Annihilation, Beelzebub is the name of a popular third party unit.
Beelzebub is depicted as Satan's second-in-command in Eoin Colfer's The Wish List.
Beelzebub appears briefly as a character in the first storyline of Neil Gaiman's graphic novel The Sandman.
Beelzebub also appears briefly near the end of Gaiman's Good Omens novel, in which he fulfills the role of a demonic Metatron.
Beelzebub is a popular boss in the Megami Tensei series of videogames, as Lucifer's second-in-command, and is often an available fusion, especially in the latest MegaTen game, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.
Square Enix's Final Fantasy series of video games also contains a gigantic fly-type boss, found in the last dungeon of Final Fantasy II who goes by the name Beelzebub. The same enemy is also recycled with a palette swap as a boss called Beelzebub Soul in the bonus game, "Soul of Rebirth" for Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls.
The name for the band King Crimson was coined by lyricist Peter Sinfield as a synonym for Beelzebub.
In Dungeons and Dragons, Baalzebul is the lord of the 7th layer of Baator, Maladomini.
In a full-length animated movie under the title Shoujo Kakumei Utena (Girl Revolution Utena or Revolutionary Girl Utena), Adolescence Apocalypse, a phantom character known as Akio is seen as the prince of the world, saving people who need help. The needy people who began demanding his aid eventually overcame him. As he tried to withdrawal from the hoarding throngs that followed him, his twin sister did her best to lock him away in their castle, being condemned as "The Witch" for taking away the prince of the world. Later, his sister discovers that he was only posing as a prince, when he reverted back into a fly; she learned that he was the Lord of the Flies. The castle is seen throughout the movie and called Castle Beelzebub.
In the video game Star Ocean 3: Till The End Of Time, Beelzebub shows up as an enemy boss; a blonde man with a whip. Azazel, Belial and Lucifer are also names of enemies; all human. In the english version of the game, Beelzebub was renamed Belzeber, Azazel became Azazer, Belial became Berial, and Lucifer became Luther.
The Dead Milkmen released their famous single "Punk Rock Girl" on an album entitled "Beelzebubba".
In Ragnarok Online, an item known as the Belzebub(sometimes Berzebub or Beelzebub) Card grants player's 30% faster casting time.