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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Beelzebub Biography BEELZEBUB, or BEELZEBUL. The name of the chief of the demons in Matt. x. 25; xii. 24, 27; Mark iii. 22; Luke xi. 15, 18, 19. It seems to be the Aramaic form of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. The alternative form, Beelzebul, though avoided in the Syriac, is well supported in the Greek manuscripts and is supposed to go back to Baal, `lord' and zebul, `habitation,' `temple'; or, less probably, to Baal, `lord,' and zebel,- `dung: A name meaning `Lord of the (heavenly) mansion' might easily take on the meaning `Lord of the (infernal) mansion.' The change of a god into a demon is a common religious phenomenon. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. III (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 56. |