BELIAL. – A term in the Hebrew Bible (28 times) denoting the hidden evil operating in the world, later becoming the name of the supreme genius of evil (Satan).
The Hebrew *bĕlīyyaʿal* is composed of *bĕlī* (= not, without) and a name of uncertain origin and meaning, probably *yaʿal* (from *yaʿal*, used only in the *hiphʿil* form), hence *bĕlī* = *without* utility would be a folk etymology (cf. Latin *nequam*, French *varium*); but St. Jerome (on *Eph. 4, 27*; PL 26, 54), following the ancient rabbis (*Sanhedrin*, 111 b), sees in it *dāl* = *yoke*, whence his gloss *id est absque iugo* (= *bĕlī dāl*) in *Judg. 19, 22* (Vulg.). T. K. Cheyne, H. Gressmann (who adduces the Babylonian underworld goddess *Belili*), and others, seeing in *2 Sam. 22, 5* (= *Ps. 17, 5*), where *B.* is in parallelism with *death*, an allusion to the subterranean abyss that does not allow the dead to ascend, derive *yaʿal* from *dālâ* = *to ascend* and understand *bĕlī* (= *without ascent*) as a synonym, originally, of *šeʾōl* (q.v.).
It seems that *bĕlīyyaʿal* was originally an abstract noun (= perdition), which underwent a semantic evolution similar to that of the rarer *Abaddon* (q.v.). It is used in an ethical sense, except perhaps in *2 Sam. 22, 5* (*Ps. 17, 5*). In the Old Testament, the abstract sense prevails, especially in expressions where it is a genitive of qualification or destination: *son of B.* = (cf. *son of iniquity*); *2 Sam. 3, 34*; 7, 10; *Ps. 88, 23*; and *son of death*: *1 Sam. 20, 31*; 26, 16; *2 Sam. 12, 5*; *Deut. 13, 13* (cf. 14); *Judg. 19, 22*; 20, 13; *1 Sam. 1, 16*; 2, 12; 10, 27; 25, 17; *1 Kings 21, 10, 13*; *2 Chron. 13, 7*, and *man of B.* = (the *ʾîš bĕlīyyaʿal* or *hab-bĕlīyyaʿal* with the article [only 3 times]; cf. *man of death*: *1 Sam. 22, 5*).
*2 Kings 2, 26*, and *of iniquity*: *Job 34, 36*; *1 Sam. 25, 25*; 30, 22; *2 Sam. 16, 7*; 20, 1; *1 Kings 21, 13*; *Prov. 6, 12*; 16, 27; 19, 28 (*Ecclus. 11, 32*). Alone, used elliptically (for *the ʾîš bĕlīyyaʿal*), it is equivalent to *wicked* (*2 Sam. 23, 6*; *Job 34, 18*) or *destroyer* (*Nah. 2, 1*), taking on a concrete sense as a noun or adjective. *B.* expresses moral evil and applies to all things (objects, thoughts, actions) that tend toward it or proceed from it (*Deut. 15, 9*; *Ps. 40, 9*; 100, 3; *Nah. 1, 11*; *1 Sam. 29, 10* LXX; perhaps *2 Sam. 22, 5* [Vulgate *Belial*] and *Ps. 17[18], 5* [Vulgate: *torrents of iniquity*, where many see in *B.* the *šeʾōl*]). P. Jodon (p. 183) sees in *B.* a concrete name, an appellative also used as a proper name. The assonance of *B.* with names of false gods such as *Bēl* and *Báʿal* may have contributed to the formation of the term.
The LXX ignore (as do the Targums) *B.* as a proper name: they did not preserve the term (only codex A in *Judg. 20, 13*; *Bĕlīyyaʿal*), understanding *B.* vaguely and translating it as a concrete noun or appellative (*πονηρός, ἀσεβής, ἁμαρτωλός, ἄνομος*), or as an abstract (*χόλασις, ἀνόμημα, ἀποστασία, often λοιμός* = *pestilence* = *ταλαιπωρία*: *Nah. 2, 1*). Aquila translates *B.* as *ἀποστασία*, and this is how the Suda will interpret II. Theodotion writes *Bēlial*, considering it a proper name, in *Judg. 19, 22*.
The Vulgate shows similar variety. St. Jerome often considers *B.* as a personification of the devil (*1 Kings 21, 13* *filii diaboli... diabolici*; but in *Eph.*, loc. cit.: *filii petitionis* = *λοιμός* and preserves *B.* (considered an appellative, proper name) only in the phrase *son of B.* = (and *vir Belial*: *2 Sam. 16, 7*; 20, 1); elsewhere: *praevaricator* (*πονηρά*): *Nah. 1, 11*; *prevaricators* (*παράνομος*): *2 Sam. 23, 6*; *iniquus* (*λοιμός*): *1 Sam. 25, 25* and 30, 22; *apostate*: *Job 34, 18*; *iniquus* (*παράνομος*): *Ps. 100, 3*; *iniquus* (*ἄφρων*): *Prov. 16, 27*).
*B.* was identified with Satan in the Essene circles of the 2nd–1st century B.C. (K. Kohler). As a personification of the devil, *B.* is absent from rabbinic-Talmudic literature. Only in the Middle Ages did the Kabbalah oppose the *Ādhām B.* to the *Ādhām Qadhmōn*.
In Jewish apocalyptic literature, *B.* became the proper name of the “wicked one” par excellence, Satan. This personification was foreshadowed in the Old Testament by the elliptical and absolute use of *B.* to denote an evil force (*Nah. 1, 15*; Vulg. *Belial*). The form *Beliar* (sometimes *Belial*), due to euphonic dissimilation, perhaps under Aramaic influence, became prevalent; a confusion with *bēl yaʿar* = *lord of the forest* is possible. In the *Testament of the XII Patriarchs* (2nd century B.C., with Christian interpolations), *B.* constantly designates the head of the evil spirits, Satan (Reuben 4, 7, 11; 6, 3; Simeon 5, 3; Levi 3, 3; 18, 12; 19, 1; Issachar 6, 1; 7, 7; Zebulun 9; Dan 1, 4–5; Asher 1, 3; Benjamin 3, 6–7; etc.), as in *Jubilees* 1, 20; 15, 33, and in the *Ascension of Isaiah* (1–5), 2, 1–4 (= angel of iniquity), *power of this world*. *B.* is also called Sammael and Mastema; 3, 11; 13; 4, 2–16; 5, 1–4. *B.* is the antagonist of God, has his kingdom and his court of darkness (*Test. Joseph 20, 10*; *Nephthal 2, 6*; *Benjamin 9*; *Dan 6*), whose “seven evil spirits,” opposed to the “seven archangels,” pour every evil upon the earth (*Reuben 2, 1–2*). At the end of time, *B.* will fight the Messiah or the “new Priest” (*Test. Levi 18, 12*), who will conquer and cast him into the fire (*Test. Jud. 5, 10 sqq.; 25, 3*; *Reuben 6, 12*; cf. *Asc. Is. 3, 11–4, 18*); cf. *Rev. 20, 2–3*. *B.* (Satan) appears in the Sadducee document (c. 200 A.D.) of the Qumran sect (6, 9; 7, 19; 9, 12; 14, 5). *Bĕlīyyaʿal* in *Sibyll. III*, 63–76 (cf. II, 167) is usually identified with the Antichrist (J. Geffcken, R. H. Charles), and the passage is prefaced by the (later but fitting) title: *παρά τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου*. But here too *B.* is rather a single spirit, the head of the demons.
St. Paul (*2 Cor. 6, 15*) likewise calls *Bĕlīyyaʿal* (some mss. *Bĕlīyyaʿ*, accusative of *Bĕlīyyaʿ*; Vulg. *Belial*, but some ancient Latin texts read *Beliar* or *Beliah*) the head of the evil spirits manifesting itself in the life of the pagans, opposed to Christ-God (in the Synoptics, the name *Beelzebul* is used: *Matt. 10, 25*; 12, 24, 27; *Mark 3, 22*), and the Peshitta translates it as “Satan.” The Syrians explained *Beliar* as “lord of the air,” from *bēl* and *ʿāyar* (ἀήρ): cf. *Eph. 2, 2*; St. Jerome: “coeca angustia, sive coecum lumen vel filius praevaricationis” (Rom. hebr. 76: PL 23, 853 sqq.). M. Friedländer and R. H. Charles are mistaken in claiming that *B.* was transformed into the Antichrist (q.v.); at the time of St. Paul, *B.* was a synonym for Satan, quite distinct from the Antichrist. W. Bousset and T. K. Cheyne see in *ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας* of *2 Thess. 2, 3* the equivalent of *ʾîš bĕlīyyaʿal*; it might also be held that *ἀνομία τῆς ἀπολείας* there translates *bĕlīyyaʿal*; *ἀνομία* in *2 Thess. 2, 8* might translate *B.* (sometimes rendered by the LXX as *παράνομος*), but rather reproduces the *rāšāʿ* of *Isa. 11, 4* Heb. Only in the small Christian apocalypse (c. 100 A.D.) of the *Ascension of Isaiah* 2, 13–4, 19 does Charles’ hypothesis of a blending of traditions about Beliar, the Antichrist, and the revived Nero (Asc. Is. 4, 1–14) fit.
Among the Fathers, *B.* remained in use as a synonym for Satan, more often in the form *Belias* (Ps.-Ignatius, *Ad Philipp.*: PG 5, 933; St. Hippolytus, *Haer.*; St. Gregory Nazianzen: PG 37, 996). The Latins used *Belia* (Tertullian, *De habitu mulierum*, 2: “Christo et Beliae”; Prudentius, *Hamartigenia*, 5, 20; *Psychomachia*, 714 “praeceptor Belia”), *Belias* (Potamius: PL 8, 1416), sometimes *Beliar* (Cassian, *Coll.* 12, 16).
The use of calling *B.* the prince of demons persisted into the Middle Ages. Widely diffused was the book composed (1382) by Giacomo da Teramo, *Convolutio peccatorum* or *Belial* (or *Lis Christi et Belial*), printed in Augsburg in 1472 with interesting woodcuts. Milton calls *B.* the demon of impurity (*Paradise Lost*, I, 490–505; *Paradise Regained*, II, 150).