BEELZEBUB. - Form of the Vulgate based on the reading of a few Greek codices of the New Testament, for which Beelzebul is to be preferred, a form attested by the best manuscripts (Mt. 12:24; Mk. 3:22; Lk. 11:15). This name (from ba'al and zēbhūbh) designates the prince of evil spirits, by whose power Jesus is accused by the Pharisees of having worked wonders. In II Kings 1:2 it is mentioned as the god of the Philistine city of Ekron (v.): it is to this deity that the idolatrous king of Israel Ahaziah (v.) turns.

The Septuagint version interprets it as "god of the flies" (Heb. zēbhūbh = fly), which would have a counterpart in Ζεὺς ἀπέμυτος (Pausanias, V, 14, 2) and in Myiagrus deus (Solinus, 1); he would be worshiped because, as master, he drives away the danger of flies. In rabbinic times this name was interpreted as "Lord of dung" (Aram. zēbhīd' "dung"). Others understood it as "Lord (god) of the dwelling" (zēbhūl). Now the term zbl has been found in the Ugaritic texts of Rās Samrah (v.). It is generally translated as "prince, ruler" (C. H. Gordon, Ugaritic Grammar, Rome 1940, p. 90).

Some have thought of the Assyrian bel dababi (Syriac bē'eldbābā) "adversary in judgment": in our case it would have an eschatological meaning. B. would be the adversary in the final judgment. But it is preferable to consider the term zēbhūl as a phonetic variation of the Canaanite zbl "prince."

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: W. Baudissin, B., in Realenc. für prot. Theol. u. Kirche, 3rd ed., II, Leipzig 1897, pp. 514-16; Ch. Virolleaud, in Syria, 12 (1931), pp. 350-51; W. Foerster, Beelzebul, in Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament, I, Stuttgart 1933, pp. 605-606.

Angelo Penna

@incollection{ec2_beelzebub, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Beelzebub}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {1140--1141}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/beelzebub} }

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