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Beelzebub The Shocking Truth About the Demon Behind the 'Lord of the Flies' History, Theology & Horror · Mystery Archives Episodes

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  Jerusalem, 701 BCE, they said. The flies were the first to
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  arrive. Thousands of them.
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  Black, frenzied and humming with unnatural hunger, they poured
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  through the cracks in the walls of Ekran's temple.
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  They descended on the idol, Beel Zebub, Lord of the High Place,
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  until his golden face was crawling with wings and legs,
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  his jeweled eyes lost beneath the writhing filth.
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  The priest choked on incense smoke.
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  The air soured with rot, though no corpse lay nearby.
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  The whispers began that night. The God had spoken.
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  He would not offer healing. He would offer dominion 1000
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  years later. Christ's enemies would call him
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  mad. Possessed, they would claim he
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  cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the Prince of devils,
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  in secret. Some among them knew the name
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  well. It was older than Rome, older
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  than Solomon's ring, older than the world's breath, if the
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  scrolls were true. In the quiet libraries of the
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  Vatican, his name still surfaces in exorcism logs burnt into the
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  air by tongues, not human and psychiatric hospitals.
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  Some patients scream of swarms of voices, of eyes watching from
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  within the walls. He is gone by many names, but
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  always where pestilence and power intertwine, he waits.
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  Beelzebub. The name Beelzebub originates
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  from a Philistine deity worshipped in the city of Ekron.
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  In the Hebrew Bible, this deity is called Beelzebub, meaning
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  Lord of the Flies or Lord of Flies, likely a mocking
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  alteration by Israeli writers. According to Two Kings chapter
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  1-2 and three, King Ahaziya of Israel attempted to consult
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  Beelzebub's Oracle after an injury, an act condemned by the
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  prophet Elijah. The Lord of the Flies title may
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  reflect A patron God invoked to drive away pestilent flies.
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  Some scholars suggest the original name might have been
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  Beelzebul or Lord of the High Abode, later altered to
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  Beelzebub, meaning again Lord of the Flies or Dung.
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  In any case, the Old Testament presents Beelzebub as a foreign
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  idol, mentioned only in the Ekron episode and nowhere else
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  in canonical Jewish scripture. By the time of the Second Temple
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  period, Jewish demonology had begun associating the ichronite
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  Beelzebub with an evil spirit. The Testament of Solomon
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  portrays Beelzebub as the Prince of demons.
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  In this legend, King Solomon, using a magical ring, subdues
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  Beelzebub through his subordinate demon Orneus.
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  Beelzebub boasts to Solomon that he was formerly the highest
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  ranking Angel in heaven before his fall, and once under
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  Solomon's control, all of the demons came under the King's
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  command. This reflects an early extra
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  canonical evolution of Beelzebub's character from a
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  local God to a fallen Angel of prime rank.
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  In the New Testament, Beelzebub appears as the name for the
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  chief demon, or Satan himself. The Synoptic Gospels record
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  opponents of Jesus accusing him of casting out demons by the
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  power of Beelzebub. Jesus, in response, equates
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  Beelzebub with Satan, reasoning that if Satan were casting out
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  his own demons, his Kingdom would not stand.
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  By this period, the term Beelzebub clearly had evolved
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  into a recognized epithet, the devil or a high demon, in Jewish
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  popular belief. Notably, the name does not
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  appear in any other contemporaneous Jewish
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  literature. The Dead Sea Scrolls uses Belial
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  for the devil, for example, indicating it was a known
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  folkloric term rather than a formal theological 1 Early
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  Christians continued this understanding.
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  Some church fathers identified Beelzebub as the leader of the
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  demonic hosts defeated by Christ.
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  For instance, the Gospel of Nicodemus as Satan and Beelzebub
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  as separate infernal figures, with Beelzebub pleading against
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  Christ's entry into Hell, further cementing his status as
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  a distinct demon and Christian lore, though such details are
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  legendary rather than scriptural.
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  In rabbinic literature, Beelzebub is not a prominent
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  figure, but the Rabbi's were aware of the ecronautic idol's
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  infamy. The Babylonian Talmud refers to
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  a Pagan figure called Beelzebub in explaining an idol's
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  impurity. Even an idol the size of a
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  family, like the idol of the Echronites which was called
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  Zebub, meaning the fly, is also prohibited.
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  Equating the Beelberth worshipped in Judges 833, the
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  fly idol of Acron. This passage suggests that
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  Jewish sages remembered Beelzebub as an idol, one that
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  was literally fly sized, kept as a household God.
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  The Talmudic context, however, treats it as a worthless idol
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  rather than an active demon. In Jewish folklore, flies came
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  to symbolize demonic presence or the evil impulse, saying that
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  the evil spirit lies like a family at the doors of the human
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  heart. Thus, while Beelzebub as a named
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  demon is absent, A normative Jewish theology, the concept of
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  a loathsome Lord of the Flies, lived on as a metaphor for
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  impurity and Satanic influence. During the medieval period,
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  Christian demonologists expanded upon Beelzebub's legend,
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  elevating him to one of the highest ranking demons in Hell
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  and famed grim wars. Beelzebub often appears as the
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  Devil's chief Lieutenant. For example, the Grand Grimoire
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  from approximately the 17th to the 18th century lists 3
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  infernal rulers. Lucifer Beelzebub an Astaroth
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  with Beelzeboth titled Prince under Emperor Lucifer.
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  Similarly, the 1863 dictionaire Infernal describes Beelzeboth as
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  the Prince of Demons, the 1st in power and crime after Satan,
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  whose name means Lord of the Flies.
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  Over time, the Elzebub's betrayal shifted from a
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  pestilent fly spirit to towering demon of regal status.
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  Nevertheless, phrases of his verminous origin persisted in
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  art and description. Some medieval illustrations
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  depict Beelzebub as a giant fly or a grotesque creature with
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  wings. By the Renaissance, Beelzebub
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  was firmly entrenched in Christian lore as a major demon.
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  Demonologists like Peter Bensfield in 1589 classified
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  Beelzebub among the Seven Princess of Hell, typically
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  associating him with the sin of gluttony or envy in some
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  variants. Others, such as the 17th century
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  exorcist Sebastian Michaelis, described Beelzebub as a fallen
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  seraphim, or an Angel of the highest angelic order who once
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  LED angels in Heaven and now commands legions of demons as
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  Hell's reputed Lord of the Flyers.
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  Thus, across the medieval and early modern era, Beelzebub
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  evolved into a complex figure, at once the repulsive fly demon
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  of folklore and a mighty Duke of Hell and scholastic demonology.
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  In Christian tradition, Beelzebub's role straddles the
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  line between devil and devil's chief agent.
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  The New Testament usage identifies Beelzebub with Satan,
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  implying that by Jesus time, Jews used Beelzebul as an
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  epithet for the devil or Prince of demons.
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  Later Christian writers ran with the idea, and Beelzebub became
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  known as one of the unholy Trinity of Hell, alongside
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  Lucifer and Leviathan. Medieval Catholic tradition
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  often viewed him as synonymous with Satan, or at least Satan's
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  foremost Lieutenant as well. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes
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  that Beelzebul or Beelzebub is used merely as another name for
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  Satan in the Gospels. However, demonological
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  catalogues distinguish him as a separate entity, the Lord of the
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  Flies, who reigns over lesser demons.
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  In these later sources, Beelzebub's attributes include
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  the power of flight and pestilence, an immense cunning.
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  Colandiplancy's Infernal Dictionary describes Beelzebub
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  as a demon who flies and commands the power of
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  infestation, literally able to send or disperse swarms of
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  demonic flies. Traditionally, Christian
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  demonologists also ascribe to Beelzebub a sinful speciality.
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  By one common classification, he is the demon of gluttony,
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  irresistibly tempting humans to overindulge.
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  Another tradition makes him the demon of envy, perhaps linking
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  to the imagery of buzzing flies coveting nourishment.
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  In either case, Beelzebub's role in Christian thought is as a
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  corrupter and oppressor of mankind, a powerful tempter who,
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  though subordinate to Lucifer, is exceptionally dangerous.
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  Some exorcists have historically feared Beelzebub above others.
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  He was reputed in one legend to be the only demon Lucifer
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  himself feared to confront. In summary, Christian theology,
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  especially the popular and occult variety, cast Beelzebub
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  as Prince of demons. At times interchangeable was
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  Satan and at times a distinct demon who leads Satan's armies
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  and furthers his dark will. In Jewish theology, Beelzebub
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  does not occupy an official role the way Satan or Ashmidai or
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  Asmodius do. The Hebrew Bible remembers
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  Beelzebub only as a foreign idol, and later Jewish writings
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  treat the name as a bygone term. Nonetheless, Jewish interpreters
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  historically understood Beelzebub as a symbol of Pagan
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  corruption and evil. The 1st century Jewish historian
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  Josephus rendered Beelzebub as Lord of the Flies, affirming the
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  derogatory sins. Medieval Jewish commentators and
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  the Jewish Encyclopedia the arise that Israelites altered
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  Beelzebul, Lord of the lofty abode or Lord of the high, into
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  Beelzebub to ridicule that God as Lord of insects or filth.
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  In essence, for Jewish scholars, Beelzebub exemplified the
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  defilement of adultery, an idol so vile that it was linked to
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  flies and dung. This association influenced
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  Jewish folklore. In ethics, flies came to
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  represent the pervasiveness of the yetzahara, or an evil
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  inclination. A Talmudic homily compares the
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  evil impulse to a family that dwells in the human heart,
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  reflecting how the fly God metaphor entered moral teaching.
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  Importantly, mainstream Judaism does not personify peels above
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  as a demon in its own right. In the rabbinic worldview, the
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  fallen Angel Somayil or the accused Angel Satan filled the
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  role of the devil, and foreign gods were sometimes seen as
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  powerless spirits or non entities.
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  When the Babylonian Talmud mentions the echronite fly idol,
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  it is only to emphasize the zeal of idolaters and the impurity of
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  idolatry. There is no Jewish myth of
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  Beelzebub, the demon acting in the world, and later Kabbalistic
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  demonology. Beelzebub might be classified as
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  an impure spirit, but such references are relatively rare.
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  Islamic theology does not recognize Beelzebub as a
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  distinct entity. Neither the Quran or the Hadith
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  literature make mention of a demon or idol by this name.
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  The Quran does refer to an idol called Baal in condemning the
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  idol worship of ancient peoples, but this is a general reference
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  to the Canaanite God Bail, not specifically Beelzebub, an
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  Islamic belief. The chief of devils is eblis,
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  meaning Satan, and evil spirits are generally known as jinn,
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  none of whom who correspond to the Beelzebub of Western lore
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  outside of formal theology. Folklore and occult traditions
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  have kept the legend of Beelzebub alive in vivid ways.
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  In many folk beliefs of Christian Europe, Beelzebub
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  became a byword for the devil in pestilent form.
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  Peasants would invoke Beelzebub to curse a troublesome swarm of
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  flies, or to blame an unusually pestilent summer on demonic
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  influence. In German folklore, for example,
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  the devil sometimes appears as a family, a motif directly tied to
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  the name Lord of the Flies. People took literally the notion
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  that Beelzebub could send flies. One medieval tale claims that an
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  infestation of flies in a church was due to Beelzebub's presence,
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  and only by fumigating with holy incense did the flies or demons
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  be driven out. Such stories reinforced
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  Beelzebub's image as the demon of plagues and filth.
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  In witchcraft and folk magic, Beelzebub is frequently featured
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  as a demon to be both feared and used in the 16th and 17th
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  century witch trials, which accused witches in Europe
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  allegedly named Beelzebub in their Sabbath riots.
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  In witch hunter manuals, it was written that witches would pay
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  homage to Beelzeboth or sign a pact with him as one of the
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  devil's chiefs. For instance, a 17th century
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  French account of a witch's Sabbath lists Beelzeboth among
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  the infernal names chanted in the assembly.
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  Folk magicians also sometimes invoked Beelzebub and spells
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  either to ward off insects and disease, or, in darker
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  practices, to curse an enemy with madness symbolically
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  sending flies to their head. Occult Grim Wars gave
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  instructions for summoning Beelzebub.
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  Those such operations were considered highly dangerous.
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  The Grand Grimoire, as noted, treats Beelzeboth as one of the
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  Big Three demons who must be invoked with utmost caution
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  using special sigils and sacrifices.
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  The text even specifies A sigil or seal of Beelzeboth and
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  requires offerings, sometimes gruesome like blood or entrails.
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  To Curry his favor and these occult traditions, Beelzebub
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  often retains an insect like or bestial characterization.
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  Some Renaissance cold diagrams betray him as a gigantic fly or
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  a composite creature. 118th century grimoire illustration
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  shows Beelzebub as a monstrous being with a fly's head and a
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  humanoid body with huge clawed hands.
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  This reflects the belief that though Beelzebub was high in
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  rank, his true form betrayed his corruption.
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  The once splendid Angel was now degraded into a grotesque fly.
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  In other depictions, especially those influenced by literature,
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  Beelzebub appears as a towering demon with regalia, but folklore
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  tended to emphasize the nasty, verminous aspect.
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  Because of his prominence, Beelzebub also entered folk's
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  speech and literature as an archetype of the Devil, an
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  English lore. Rustic devils or boogeyman were
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  sometimes nicknamed Beelzebub. Even today, the name survives in
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  common parlance. For example, in the phrase
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  Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me a line from a modern
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  song. He is used synonymously with
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  Satan. Such cultural references keep
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  the folklore image of Beelzebub alive, A demon king with swarms
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  of flies about him, forever associated with decay and the
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  underworld. Throughout history, Beelzebub
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  has certainly left his mark on many things.
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  Artistic representations, literature, and ritual
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  practices. His name has been used to invoke
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  fear and drama. All of these threads make
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  Beelzebub A compelling figure, one that spans from biblical
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  times to the present, embodying the enduring human fascination
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  with the personification of evil.
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