Beelzebub – What’s in a Name?
The name Beelzebub has an
interesting and somewhat controversial origin story. The name itself is
irregular.
In English, the name Beelzebub
doesn’t seem to have much relation to Baal, but that is because it is not
rendered correctly from the original language. In Hebrew, Beelzebub is not a
proper name, but a description of the God Baal. In Hebrew, it is “Baal-Zevuv”
or “Lord of the Flies.” As I mentioned, Baal means “Lord” and “Master” and “Zevuv”
means “flies.” In Hebrew, it is rendered as בַּעַל זְבוּב. If appropriately spelled in English, it would be BAALZEVUV.
In some cases, it is presented as VAALZEVUV since the “B” sound in
Hebrew can sometimes be rendered as a “V” sound. We will see this rendering
shortly.
Beelzebub
– Baalzebub – In the Old Testament
We see Beelzebub mentioned only
four times in the Old Testament, and in all cases, they are within the same
book.
2 Kings 1: 2-3 “Now Ahaziah had
fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So
he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god
of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”
3 But the angel of the Lord said to
Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and
ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to
consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’”
In Hebrew:
וַיִּפֹּל אֲחַזְיָה
בְּעַד הַשְּׂבָכָה, בַּעֲלִיָּתוֹ אֲשֶׁר בְּשֹׁמְרוֹן–וַיָּחַל; וַיִּשְׁלַח מַלְאָכִים,
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם לְכוּ דִרְשׁוּ בְּבַעַל זְבוּב אֱלֹהֵי עֶקְרוֹן, אִם-אֶחְיֶה, מֵחֳלִי זֶה
וּמַלְאַךְ יְהוָה,
דִּבֶּר אֶל-אֵלִיָּה הַתִּשְׁבִּי, קוּם עֲלֵה, לִקְרַאת מַלְאֲכֵי מֶלֶךְ-שֹׁמְרוֹן;
וְדַבֵּר אֲלֵהֶם–הֲמִבְּלִי אֵין-אֱלֹהִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, אַתֶּם הֹלְכִים לִדְרֹשׁ בְּבַעַל זְבוּב אֱלֹהֵי עֶקְרוֹן
2 Kings 1: 6 “And they said unto
him: ‘There came up a man to meet us, and said unto us: Go, return unto the
king that sent you, and say unto him: Thus saith the LORD: Is it because there
is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god
of Ekron? Therefore, thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art
gone up, but shalt surely die.’”
Hebrew:
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו אִישׁ עָלָה לִקְרָאתֵנוּ, וַיֹּאמֶר
אֵלֵינוּ לְכוּ שׁוּבוּ אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר-שָׁלַח אֶתְכֶם, וְדִבַּרְתֶּם
אֵלָיו כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה, הֲמִבְּלִי אֵין-אֱלֹהִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אַתָּה שֹׁלֵחַ
לִדְרֹשׁ בְּבַעַל
זְבוּב אֱלֹהֵי עֶקְרוֹן; לָכֵן הַמִּטָּה אֲשֶׁר-עָלִיתָ שָּׁם,
לֹא-תֵרֵד מִמֶּנָּה–כִּי-מוֹת תָּמוּת
And finally, in 2 Kings 1: 16:
“And he said unto him: ‘Thus saith
the LORD: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His
word? Therefore, thou shalt not come down from the bed whether thou art gone
up, but shalt surely die.’”
Hebrew:
וַיְדַבֵּר אֵלָיו
כֹּה-אָמַר יְהוָה, יַעַן אֲשֶׁר-שָׁלַחְתָּ מַלְאָכִים לִדְרֹשׁ בְּבַעַל זְבוּב אֱלֹהֵי
עֶקְרוֹן–הֲמִבְּלִי אֵין-אֱלֹהִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, לִדְרֹשׁ בִּדְבָרוֹ; לָכֵן הַמִּטָּה
אֲשֶׁר-עָלִיתָ שָּׁם, לֹא-תֵרֵד מִמֶּנָּה–כִּי-מוֹת תָּמוּת
As you can see, in every instance
it mentions Beelzebub, it also associates him with the town of Ekron. This is because
that form of Baal was worshiped there, just like Baal-Peor was worshiped at Peor,
and Baal- Hermon was worshiped at Mount Hermon, etc. The Baal name is often
suffixed by the location in which the cult is located. However, in the case of Beelzebub,
notice they aren’t calling him Baal-Ekron, as you would expect. I will get into
why that is in a moment.
Let’s move on to the Septuagint and
its translation of Beelzebub.
The Septuagint is the first Greek
translation of the Old Testament commissioned by the Greek, King of Egypt,
Ptolemy the second, Philadelphius, an ancestor to the Greek/Egyptian Queen
Cleopatra. The translation is called the
Septuagint, after the Latin word “Septuaginta,” which means 70. Supposedly, it
took 70 scholars to create this translation, and some say perhaps 72. In either
case, it is a good reference point to see how Jewish scholars in the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. understood the verses of the Old Testament.
As I mentioned before, I feel there are many issues with it. Luckily, for this
book, those issues do not apply.
The Septuagint is mostly in
agreement with the Hebrew Bible as it pertains to Baal’s description as “Lord
of the Flies.” BUT, are they correct in their rendering of Beelzebub? I argue
that they are not. Let us look.
Please note that due to the way the
Septuagint is compiled, the verses below are not aligned the same way as it is
in the Hebrew and English versions. For
example, the verses in 2 Kings 1: 2-3 are in the same location in both the Hebrew
and English versions. However, in the Septuagint, it is 4 Kings 2. I will make
a note of this as I quote them.
Hebrew/English 2 Kings 1: 2-3 – Septuagint 4 Kings 1: 2:
The words in yellow Βάαλ μυῖαν θεὸν ᾿Ακκαρών says, “Baal Fly, God of Ekron.” That is
the literal translation.
This same usage “Βάαλ μυῖαν θεὸν ᾿Ακκαρών” is used in all the other verses as well.
Hebrew/English 2 Kings 1: 3 –
Septuagint 4 Kings 1: 3
Hebrew/English 2 Kings 1: 6 –
Septuagint 4 Kings 1: 6
Hebrew/English 2 Kings 1: 16 –
Septuagint 4 Kings 1: 16
In both the Hebrew and Greek texts,
Zevuv in Hebrew and μυῖαν in Greek
seem suspect. Was there a place in Ekron called “Flies?” No, the term “flies” is not an indicator of
location. Some scholars who take a more literal approach to the name suggest
that this form of Baal was, literally, a repeller of flies. Some say they even
found small statues of flies in archaeological excavations in the region. On
the surface, this seems foolish, but there is some suggestion that they knew even
back then that flies were vectors of disease and associated with death. Perhaps
this form of Baal was a protector against flies, and thus a repeller of
disease. This is not unheard of in ancient history. In Greek lore, one of Zeus’
epithets was Zeus–Apomyius (Ἀπόμυιος) or “Zeus
who drives away flies.” Or the Greek God Myiagrus, whose name means “flycatcher
or one who chases flies.” He is hailed as a hero because he repelled
flies during the festival of Athena.
Despite the historical precedence
for such usage, I don’t agree with it when it comes to Beelzebub. I get into that in the next chapter.
I side with the other camp of
scholars who believe that “Zebub” was a deliberate distortion of the Hebrew
word זְבוּל “Zebul” Or “Zevul” which means “exalted” in Hebrew, and “Prince”
in Canaanite/Ugaritic. This distortion to “Zevuv” or “flies” was a show of contempt
for Baal, making him of no use other than to attract flies. Which by
implication, is stating he was useless or worse, the bringer of disease.
There is another theory that “Zebul”
was just a misspelling for the word for dung or garbage “Zevel.” Essentially “Lord
of Dung or garbage.” I can see why some would think this, but it is hard to prove,
and therefore, I won’t go down that path.
Based on everything I have read, the
original name was Baal-Zebul or Baal-Zevul or “exalted Lord,” and not “Lord of
the Flies” or Beelzebub. It just makes sense. Let me present a few reasons why
I think this.
If you recall the biblical passage
I presented in the last chapter, we see that King Ahaziah falls and is injured.
He requests that Beelzebub should be called upon to divine his fate. It makes
little sense that he would call Baal the “fly Repeller” for help, but rather the
exalted Baal/Lord, “Baal-Zebul” for divinatory purposes. Doesn’t that make more
sense?
In the Ugaritic texts, where we
have most of the references to Baal outside of the Bible, often stated this
when mentioning his name “Baal ZBL.” Do
you see? “ZBL” is “Zebul,” which in Ugaritic and means “Prince.” In essence, “exalted.”
They did this for other Gods as well.
In the book of Kings, we come in
contact with a Princess by the name of Jezebel. She was a Baal worshiper extraordinaire,
and she was very much against the Hebrew god. Her name in Hebrew is אִיזֶבֶל notice
the last three letters זֶבֶל. In the Ugaritic, it means “Prince.”
Her entire name means “Where is the Prince?” Her father’s name was Etbaal; he is named after Baal.
His son’s name is Baal-Eser. As you see, Baal is embedded in all the names, and Jezebel
is also named in honor of him; “Baal the Prince.”
It ran in their family.
And here is the kicker, the
evidence to further bolster this claim that “Zevul” is the correct word. In the
New Testament, they use the “Zebul” suffix when referring to him. As with a previous
point in which he is called a “Prince” in Ugaritic, in Matthew 12:24, it states
that Beelzebul is “Prince of the Demons.” So that makes the argument for Zebul a
more likely one. It is also interesting to note that the New Testament, which
is usually in alignment with the Septuagint, breaks from the notion that it
means “fly.” I will get into the New Testament usage a bit later.
Taking all the above into account,
it makes sense that it is a distortion of Zebul. The evidence is weighted in
that direction. When you look through time, the Zebul appears more prominently
in nearly all texts.
I could leave it at that, but I
also wanted to illustrate that the Israelites did distort the names of people
when they wanted to insult them. Interestingly enough, they do this with two
people that have the name Baal in their name. It’s no coincidence that they do
this to their names and further bolsters why they used “Zebub” as opposed to “Zevul.”
Let’s look.
In my book, about Baal, I mention two
individuals that had the name Baal as a suffix to their name.
Saul’s son was named Esh-Baal (“Man of the Lord,” 1
Chronicles 8:33.)
33 ”And Ner begot Kish, and Kish begot Saul; and Saul begot
Jonathan, and Malchi-Shua, and Abinadab, and Esh-Baal.”
Jonathan’s son bore the name of Meriv-Baal (“The Lord
contends or fights,” 1 Chronicles 8:34.)
34 “And the son of Jonathan was Meriv-Baal, and Meriv-Baal begot
Micah.”
The reason I present this is that
in the book of 2 Samuel, those same names have the “Baal” removed from
them and replaced by the word “Boshet” which means shame.
Here, let’s take a look.
2 Samuel 2:8:
8 “Now Abner the son of Ner, captain ofSaul’s host, had taken Esh-boshet the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim…”
Wait, I thought Saul’s son was named Esh-Baal, but
here is Esh-Boshet. Which means “man of Shame.”
2 Samuel 4:4:
4 “Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son thatwas lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and
Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled; and it came to
pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name
was Mephi-boshet.”
In the previous verse, Jonathan’s son was Meriv-Baal, now his name Mephiboshet,
which means “Out of my mouth is Shame.”
I find this change slightly suspicious. Why the word shame? It
was for two reasons:
names were Baal-centric, AND THEY WERE DISAVOWING THEM.To
degrade and insult those two men, just like they did with Baal by taking away
the “Zevul,” which means “exalted,” and replacing it with “Zebub,” which means
flies. It is an insult.
As you can see, there is a precedent
for the “Zevul” usage. AND, it was not the first time they did this when the
name of Baal was used as you just saw.
Despite the above, I will still
refer to him as Beelzebub or Baalzevuv throughout this text for consistency ONLY.
And, well, Lord of the flies sounds so
much cooler than the milquetoast “Exalted Lord.” Doesn’t it?
In summary, the Old Testament acknowledges
him as an aspect of the god Baal, and that is how I see him. His demonization
comes later. However, for consistency purposes, I will refer to him as a demon,
even if I don’t feel he is one in the real sense of the word.
