Belial

This is an Hebrew word, signifying somewhat evil. Hence, in Scripture, it is not unfrequently applied to wicked persons. Moses, when charging Israel not to follow vain and ungodly men, calls them sons of Belial. (Deut. 13. 13.) The same by Hannah. (1 Sam. i. 16, ) So Abigail to David. (1 Sam. xxv. 25.) In the language of the New Testament, Belial is another name for Satan. "What concord (saith Paul) hath Christ with Belial?" (2 Cor. vi. 15.)

The phrase, “sons of Belial,” signifies wicked, worthless men. It was given to the inhabitants of Gibeah, who abused the Levite’s wife, Jdg 19:22; and to Hophni and Phineas, the wicked and profane sons of Eli. 1Sa 2:12. In later times the name Belial denoted the devil: “What concord hath Christ with Belial?”

2Co 6:15; for as the word literally imports “one who will do no one good,” the positive sense of a doer of evil was applied to Satan, who is the author of evil, and, eminently, “the Evil One.”

Worthlessness, always so used in a moral sense. A man or son of Belial is a wicked, worthless man; one resolved to endure no subjection; a rebel; a disobedient, uncontrollable fellow, Jdg 19:22 1Sa 2:12 . In later writings, Belial is put for the power or lord of evil, Satan, 2Co 6:15 .\par

Be’lial. The meaning of this word as found in the Scriptures is worthlessness, and hence reckless, lawlessness. The expression, son or man of Belial, must be understood as meaning simply a worthless, lawless fellow. The term as used in 2Co 6:15, is generally understood as an appellative of Satan, as the personification of all that was bad.

("worthlessness": or "recklessness, lawlessness".) Not strictly a proper name, but used so by personification. Beli means "without" and ya’al means "usefulness," i.e. "good for nothing". "A man of Belial" is a worthless, lawless fellow (Deu 13:13; Jdg 19:22; 1Sa 2:12). Latterly "Rake" ("vain fellows" (2Sa 6:20, harekim), and "Fool" were used instead: Mat 5:22. Nabal ("fool") is called "man of Belial" (1Sa 25:25.) In the New Testament, "Beliar" is the form in some oldest manuscripts (2Co 6:15.) As Satan is opposed to God, Antichrist to Christ, so Belial standing here in contrast to Christ must denote all anti-Christian pollutions personified.

Belial (bç’li-al), worthlessness, hence lawlessness, wickedness. This word is properly applied by the sacred writers to such lewd, profligate, and vile persons, as seem to regard neither God nor man. Deu 13:13, A. V., but "base fellows," R. V. Jdg 19:22; 1Sa 2:12. In the New Testament, "Belial" is used as an appellation of Satan, the power or lord of evil: "What concord hath Christ with Belial," the prince of licentiousness and corruption? 2Co 6:15.

[Be’lial]

The Hebrew word signifies ’worthless, lawless,’ and is not a proper name, but is used as a personification of evil; thus we have ’son of Belial, daughter of Belial,’ etc. Deu 13:13; Jdg 19:22; 1Sa 1:16; 1Sa 25:17; 1Sa 25:25; etc. In the N.T. it is put in contradistinction to Christ as if it meant Satan, 2Co 6:15: it is there βελίαρ.

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., Gerson B. Levi, Marcus Jastrow, Kaufmann Kohler

—Biblical Data:

A term occurring often in the Old Testament and applied, as would seem from the context in I Sam. x. 27; II Sam. xvi. 7, xx. 1; II Chron. xiii. 7; Job xxxiv. 18, to any one opposing the established authority, whether civil, as in the above passages, or religious, as in Judges xix. 22; I Kings xxi. 10, 13; Prov. xvi. 27, xix. 28; Deut. xiii. 14, xv. 9; II Sam. xxiii. 6. A somewhat weaker sense, that of "wicked" or "worthless," is found in I Sam. i. 16, ii. 12, xxv. 17, xxx. 22. The use of the word in II Sam. xxii. 5 is somewhat puzzling. Cheyne explains it as "rivers of the under world," while more conservative scholars render "destructive rivers."

The etymology of this word has been variously given. The Talmud (Sanh. 111b) regards it as a compound word, made up of "beli" and "'ol" (without a yoke). This derivation is accepted by Rashi (on Deut. xiii. 14). Gesenius ("Dict." s.v.) finds the derivation in "beli" and "yo'il" (without advantage; i.e., worthless). Ibn Ezra (on Deut. xv. 9), without venturing on an etymology, contents himself with the remark that "Belial" is a noun, and quotes the opinion of some one else that it is a verb with a precative force, "May he have no rising." Cheyne ("Expository Times," 1897, pp. 423 et seq.) seeks to identify Belial with the Babylonian goddess Belili (Jastrow, "Religion of Babylonia," pp. 588, 589). Hebrew writers, according to this view, took up "Belili" and scornfully converted it into "Belial" in order to suggest "worthlessness." Hommel ("Expository Times," viii. 472) agrees in the equation Belial = Belili, but argues that the Babylonians borrowed from the western Semites and not vice versa. This derivation, however, is opposed by Baudissin and Jensen ("Expository Times," ix. 40, 283).

In Apocalyptic Literature.

—In Rabbinical and Apocryphal Literature:

In the Ḥasidic circles from which the apocalyptic literature emanated and where all angelologic and demonologic lore was faithfully preserved, Belial held a very prominent position, being identified altogether with Satan. In the Book of Jubilees (i. 20), Belial is, like Satan, the accuser and father of all idolatrous nations: "Let not the spirit of Belial ["Beliar" corrupted into "Belhor"] rule over them to accuse them before thee." The uncircumcised heathen are "the sons of Belial" (ib. xv. 32). In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Belial is the archfiend from whom emanate the seven spirits of seduction that enter man at his birth (Reuben ii.; Levi iii.; Zebulun ix.; Dan. i.; Naphtali ii.; Benjamin vi., vii.), the source of impurity and lying (Reuben iv., vi.; Simeon v.; Issachar vi.-vii.: Dan. v.; Asher i., iii.), "the spirit of darkness" (Levi xix.; Joseph vii., xx.). He will, like Azazel in Enoch, be opposed and bound by theMessiah (Levi xviii.), "and cast into the fire forever" (Judah xxv.); "and the souls captured by him will then be wrested from his power." In the Ascensio Isaiæ, Belial is identified with Samael (Malkira [Dan. v.]; possibly Malak ra = the Evil Angel [i. 9]), and called "the angel of lawlessness"—"the ruler of this world, whose name is Matanbuchus" (a corrupt form of "Angro-mainyush" or Ahriman?) (ii. 4). In Sibyllines, iv. 2 (which part is of Christian origin) Belial descends from heaven as Antichrist and appears as Nero, the slayer of his mother. In the Sibyllines, iii. 63 (compare ii. 166) Belial is the seducer who, as the pseudo Messiah, will appear among the Samaritans, leading many into error by his miraculous powers, but who "will be burned up by heavenly fire carried along by the sea to the land [an earthquake?] to destroy his followers," "at the time when a woman [Cleopatra] will rule over the world."

In regard to the meaning and etymology of the word "Belial" there has always been a wide difference of opinion. The Septuagint, in translating it "lawlessness"—ἀνόμημα (Deut. xv. 9), ἀνομία (II Sam. xxii. 5), or παράνομος (Deut. xiii. 14; Judges xix. 22; and elsewhere)—follows a rabbinical tradition which interpreted it as "beli 'ol" the one who has thrown off the yoke of heaven (Sifre, Deut. 93; Sanh. 111b; Midr. Sam. vi.; Yalḳ. to II. Sam. xxiii. 6; so also Jerome on Judges xix. 22, "absque jugo." Belial was accordingly considered the opponent of the rule of God; that is, Satan, or the antagonist of God (see Antichrist). Aquilas (LXX., I Kings xxi. 13) translates it ἀποστασία = sedition, in the same manner that the "naḥash bariaḥ," or dragon ( = Satan), is described as the apostate. The various modern etymologies, taking the word as a combination of "beli yo'il" (without worth) (Gesenius), or of "beli ya'al" (never to rise)—that is, never to do well (Ibn Ezra, Lagarde, Hupfeld, Fürst)—are alike rejected by Moore as extremely dubious (commentary to Judges, p. 419). Theodotion to Judges xx. 13, Ibn Ezra (Deut. xv. 9), and so Luther and the A. V. occasionally take Belial as a proper noun. It was Bäthgen (commentary to Ps. xviii. 5) who first translated Belial, "the land from which there is no return," and then Cheyne (in "Expositor," 1895, pp. 435-439, and in the "Encyc. Bibl." s. v. "Belial"). They proved it to be the exact equivalent of the Assyrian "matu la tarat" (the land without return). Tiamat, the dragon of the abyss, having been identified with Satan, thus gave rise to the various uses of the word, and the legends of Belial Antichrist. Baudissin, in Hauck-Herzog's "Realencyklopädie," s. v., still takes a skeptical attitude as to the mythical character of Belial in the Old Testament, without, however, explaining the peculiar history of the word. Compare Satan.

Bibliography:

T. K. Cheyne, The Development of the Meanings of Belial, in The Expositor, 1895, i. 435-439;

idem, in Encyc. Bibl. s.v.;

Bousset, Antichrist, 1895, pp. 86, 99-101;

Charles, The Ascension of Isaiah, li.-lxxii. and pp. 6-8;

Riehm and Hauck-Herzog's Realencyklopädie, s.v. Belial.

(Hebrew: worthlessness; perhaps from Belili, Babylonian goddess of the lower regions)

Used as a name for the demon or devil. In 2 Corinthians 6, it is a designation of Satan.

Found frequently as a personal name in the Vulgate and various English translations of the Bible, is commonly used as a synonym of Satan, or the personification of evil. This sense is derived from II Cor., vi, 15, where Belial (or Beliar) as prince of darkness is contrasted with Christ, the light. It is clear in the Vulgate and Douay translations of III Kings, xxi, 10 and 13, where the same Hebrew word is rendered once as Belial and twice as "the devil". In the other instances, too, the translators understood it as a name for the prince of evil, and so it has passed into English. Milton, however, distinguishes Belial from Satan, regarding him as the demon of impurity. In the Hebrew Bible, nevertheless, the word is not a proper name, but a common noun usually signifying "wickedness" or "extreme wickedness". Thus, Moore renders "sons of Belial" as "vile scoundrels" (Judges 19:22); most prefer "worthless fellows". In some cases belial seems to mean "destruction", "ruin"; thus in Ps. xii, 9 (Heb.), the word is parallel to the thought of utter destruction and seems to mean the same. In Ps., sviii, 5, it is parallel to "death" and "Sheol"; some understand it as "destruction", Cheyne as "the abyss". The etymology of the word is doubtful; it is usually taken to be a compound meaning "worthlessness." Cheyne suggest an alternate that means "that from which no one comes up", namely the abyss, Sheol. St. Jerome’s etymology "without yoke", which he has even inserted as a gloss in the text of Judges, xix, 22, is contrary to Hebrew philology. Belial, from meaning wickedness or Sheol, could develop into a name for the prince of evil or of darkness; and as such was widely used at the beginning of our era. Under the names Beliar, Berial, he plays a very important rôle in apocryphal literature, in the "Ascension of Isaias", the "Sibylline Oracles", and the "Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs". He is the prince of this world and will come as Antichrist; his name is sometimes given also to Nero, returning as Antichrist.-----------------------------------CHEYNE in Encyc. Bib. (New York, 1899); MOORE, Commentary on Judges (New York, 1900), 419; GARVIE in HAST., Dict. of Bible (New York, 1903); DEANE, Pseudepigrapha (Edinburgh, 1891); LESÊTRE in VIG., Dict. de la Bible (Paris, 1894); CHARLES, Ascension of Isaiah (London, 1900); CHARLES, Eschatology, Hebrew, Jewish, and Christian (London, 1899).JOHN F. FENLON Transcribed by WGKofron With thanks to St. Mary’s Church, Akron, Ohio The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York

bē´li-al, bēl´yal (בּליּעל, b^elı̄ya‛al; Βελίαρ, Belı́ar): This name, occurring very frequently in the Old Testament, has the sense of “worthlessness” (compare 2Sa 23:6 margin); accordingly in such phrases as “sons of Belial” (Jdg 20:13; 1Sa 10:27, etc.), “men of Belial” (1Sa 30:22; 1Ki 21:13, etc.), which the English Revised Version usually retains, the American Standard Revised Version more correctly renders, “base fellows” (so “daughter of Belial” 1Sa 1:16, “wicked woman”). There is here no suggestion a proper name. Afterward, however, “Belial” became a proper name for Satan, or for Antichrist (Thus frequently in the Jewish Apocalyptic writings, e.g. in XII the Priestly Code (P), Book Jubilees, Asc Isa, Sib Or). In this sense Paul used the word in 2Co 6:15, “What concord hath Christ with Belial?” (Beliar). Bousset thinks that Paul’s “man of sin” in 2Th 2:3, where some authorities read “man of lawlessness,” is a translation of this term. The sense at least is similar. See ANTICHRIST; MAN OF SIN.