BEELZEBUB. — Form of the Vulgate based on the reading of a few Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, though Beelzebul is to be preferred, a form attested by the best codices (Mt 12:24; Mk 3:22; Lk 11:15). This name (from *baʿal* and *zĕbûl*) denotes the prince of evil spirits, by whose power the Pharisees accused Jesus of performing miracles. In 2 Kgs 1:2, he is mentioned as the god of the Philistine city of Ekron (q.v.): to this deity the idolatrous king of Israel, Ahaziah (q.v.), turns.
The Septuagint interprets it as “god of flies” (Heb. *zĕbûl* = fly), which would correspond to *Zeus Azugulus* (Pausanias, V, 14, 2) and *Myiagros deus* (Solinus, 1); he would be worshipped as the lord who drives away the danger of flies. In rabbinic times, this name was interpreted as “Lord of dung” (Aram. *zĕbîḥûl* = dung). Others understood it as “Lord (god) of the dwelling” (*zĕbîḥûl*). The term *zbl* has now been found in the Ugaritic texts of Ras Shamra (q.v.), generally translated as “prince, ruler” (C. H. Gordon, *Ugaritic Grammar*, Rome 1940, p. 90).
Some have suggested a connection with the Assyrian *bel dababi* (Syriac *bêʾeldbâbâ*), “adversary in judgment,” which in this context would carry an eschatological meaning: Beelzebub would be the adversary in the final judgment. However, it is preferable to regard *zĕbûl* as a phonetic variation of the Canaanite *zbl*, “prince.”