Belial

BELIAL. - A term that in the Hebrew Bible (28 times) indicates the hidden wickedness at work in the world, later becoming the name of the supreme genius of evil (Satan).

The Hebrew bēlijā' al is composed of bēli ("not," "without") and a noun of uncertain origin and meaning, probably jā' al (from jā' al, used only in hiph' il), thus b. = "without usefulness" would be a litotes (cf. Lat. nequam, Fr. vaurien); but St. Jerome (in Eph. 4, 27; PL 26, 544) with the ancient rabbis (Sanhedhrin, III b) sees in it 'ōl "yoke," whence his gloss id est absque iugo (= bēli 'ōl) in Iudc. 19, 22 (Vulg.); T. K. Cheyne, H. Gressmann (who adduces the Babylonian gods of the underworld Belili), and others, seeing in II Sam. 22, 5 (= Ps. 17, 5) where B. is in parallelism with "death," an allusion to the subterranean abyss, which does not allow the dead to rise again, derive jā' al from 'ālah "to ascend" and understand b. ("without ascent") as a synonym, originally, of šē'ōl (v.).

It seems that b. was originally an abstract noun ("perdition"), which underwent a semantic evolution similar to that of the rarer abaddon (v.). It is employed in an ethical sense, except perhaps in II Sam. 22, 5 (Ps. 17, 5). In the Old Testament the abstract meaning prevails, especially in expressions in which it is a genitive of qualification or destination: "son of b." (cf. "son of iniquity": II Sam. 3, 34; 7, 10; Ps. 88, 23; "son of death": I Sam. 20, 31; 26, 16; II Sam. 12, 5); Deut. 13, 13 (Heb. 14); Iudc. 19, 22; 20, 13; I Sam. 1, 16; 2, 12; 10, 27; 25, 17; I Reg. 21, 10, 13; II Par. 13, 7, and "man of b." ('īl b. or hab-b. with the article [only 3 times]; cf. "man of death":

I Reg. 2, 26, "of iniquity": Iob. 34, 36); I Sam. 25, 25; 30, 22; II Sam. 16, 7; 20, 1; I Reg. 21, 13; Prov. 6, 12; 16, 27; 19, 28 (Eccli. 11, 32). Alone, used elliptically (for 'īl b.), b. is equivalent to "wicked" (II Sam. 23, 6; Iob. 34, 18) or "destroyer" (Nah. 2, 1), taking on a concrete sense, as a noun or adjective. B. expresses moral evil, and is applied to everything (things, thoughts, actions) that tends toward it or proceeds from it (Deut. 15, 9; Ps. 40, 9; 100, 3; Nah. 1, 11; I Sam. 20, 10 Septuagint; perhaps II Sam. 22, 5 [Vulgate Belial] and Ps. 17[18], 5 Vulgate: torrentes iniquitatis, where many see in b. the šē'ōl. P. Jolion (p. 183) sees in b. "a concrete name, an appellative, employed also as a proper name." The assonance of b. with names of false gods such as bēl and bā' al may have contributed to the formation of the term.

The Septuagint ignores (as do also the Targūnim) b. as a proper name: they did not preserve the term (only cod. A in Iudc. 20, 13; Bēliam) they understand b. confusedly, and translate it as a concrete noun or appellative (παράνομος, ἀσβῆς, ἀμύρωλος, ἄρρων), or as an abstract (ἀνομία, ἀνόμημα, ἀποστασία, often λοιμός "pestilence" παλώσις: Nah. 2, 1). Aquila translates b. as ἀποστάτης, and thus the Suda will interpret it. Theodotion transcribes Bēliam considered a proper name, Iudc. 19, 22.

The Vulgate has an equal variety. St. Jerome often considers b. as a personification of the devil (I Reg. 21, 13 filii diaboli... diabolici; but in Eph., loc. cit.: filii pestilentiae = λοιμός) and preserves B. (considered an appellative, a proper name) only in the phrase "son of B." (and 2 times vir B.: II Sam. 16, 7; 20, 1); elsewhere: praevacicatio (πονηρά): Nah. 1, 11; praevacicatori (ἀπαράνομος): II Sam. 23, 6; iniquus (ὁ λοιμός): I Sam. 25, 25 and 30, 22; apostata: Iob. 34, 18; iniustus (παράνομος): Ps. 100, 3; inquis (ἄρρων): Prov. 16, 27.

B. was identified with Satan in the Hasidean circles of the 2nd century B.C. (K. Kohler). As a personification of the devil, B. is absent from rabbinic-Talmudic literature. Only in the Middle Ages does the Cabala oppose the 'Ādhām B. to the 'Ādhām Qadhmān.

In Jewish apocalyptic literature, B. became the proper name of the "wicked one" par excellence, Satan. The elliptical and absolute use of b. to designate a malevolent force (Nah. 1, 15; Vulg. Belial) contributes to this personification in the Old Testament. The form that has prevailed is by now Beliar (sometimes Berial), due to euphonic dissimilation, perhaps through Aramaic influence; a confusion with bēl jā'ar "lord of the forest" is possible. In the Testam. XII Patriarch. (2nd century B.C., with touches of a Christian hand), B. continually designates the head of the evil spirits, Satan (Ruben 4, 7, 11; 6, 3; Simeon 5, 3; Levi 3, 3; 18, 12; 19, 1; Isachar 6, 1; 7, 7; Zabulon 9; Dan 1, 4-5; Aser 1, 3; Beniamin 3, 6-7; etc.), as in Iubil. 1, 20; 15, 33, and in the 1st part of the Ascensio Isaiae (1-5), 2, 1-4 ("angel of iniquity," "power of this world"), B. is also called Sammael and Matanbukus); 3, 11, 13; 4, 2-16; 5, 1-4. 15. B. is the antagonist of God, has his kingdom and his court of darkness (Test. Joseph 20, 10; Nephilal 2, 6; Beniamin 9; Dan 6), whose "seven perverse spirits," opposed to the "seven archangels," pour every evil upon the earth (Ruben 2, 1-2). At the end of times B. will fight the Messiah or "new Priest" (Test. Levi 18, 12), who will conquer him and cast him into the fire (Test. Iud. 5, 10 ff.; 25, 3; Ruben 6, 12; cf. Asc. Is. 3, 11-4, 18); cf. Apec. 20, 2-3. B. (Satan) occurs in the Sadoqite document (ca. 200 A.D.) of the Damascus sect (6, 9; 7, 19; 9, 12; 14, 5). Bēliam or Bēliam of Sibyll. III, 63-76 (cf. II, 167) is usually identified with the Antichrist (J. Geffcken, R. H. Charles), and to the passage was prefixed the title (later, but in keeping): περὶ τοῦ ἀπέτεινος δαίμονος τοῦ Ἀντιχριστοῦ. But even here B. is rather a spirit, head of the demons.

St. Paul (II Cor. 6, 15) likewise calls Bēliam (some codd. Bēliam, accus. of Bēliam; Vulg. Belial, but some ancient Latin texts read Beliar or Belial) the head of the perverse spirits manifesting themselves in the life of the pagans, opposed to Christ-God (in the Synoptics he has the name "Beelzebul": Mt. 10, 25; 12, 24, 27; Mc. 3, 22), and the Pēšittā translates

"Satan." The Syrians explained Beliar as "lord of the air," from bél and 'ojar (ἀφρ): cf. Eph. 2, 2; St. Jerome "cocca angustia, sive coecum lumen vel filius praevurications" (Nom. hebr. 76: PL 23, 853 ff.). Wrongly M. Friedländer and R. H. Charles maintain that B. was transformed into the Antichrist (v.); in the time of St. Paul B. was a synonym of Satan, clearly distinct from the Antichrist. W. Bousset and T. K. Cheyne see in ἀνθρώπος τῆς ἀνομίας of II Thess. 2, 3 the equivalent of 'it 6; one could also hold that ὁ ὁίος τῆς ἀπολείας there translates indeed belijd'al; ἀνοίως of II Thess. 2, 8 could translate B. (rendered sometimes by the Septuagint as παράνομος), but it rather reproduces the ἀνοίος of Is. 11, 4 Heb. rāfa). Only to the small Christian apocalypse (ca. 100 A.D.) of Ascensio Is. 2, 13-4, 19 does Charles's hypothesis of a mixture of traditions around Beliar, the Antichrist and Nero redivivus (Asc. Is. 4, 1-14) fit.

Among the Fathers B. remained in use as a synonym of Satan, more often in the form Βελίας (Ps.-Ignatius, Ad Philipp.: PG 5, 933; St. Hippolytus, Horr.; St. Gregory Naz.: PG 37, 996). The Latins used Belia (Tertullian, De habitu mul., 2: "Christo et Beliae"; Prudentius, Hamartig., 5, 20; Psychom., 714 "praeceptor Belia"), Belias (Potamius: PL 8, 1416), sometimes Beliar (Cassian, Coll. 12, 16).

The use of calling B. the prince of demons spread in the Middle Ages. The book composed (1382) by Giacomo da Teramo Consolatio peccatorum or Belial (or Lis Christi et Belial) was very widespread, published at Augusta (Augsburg) in 1472 with interesting woodcuts. Milton calls B. the demon of impurity (Paradise Lost, I, 490-505; Paradise Regained, II, 150).

Antonino Romeo