Figures

Beelzebub

bee-EL-zeh-bub

Demons

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Beelzebub." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/figures/beelzebub.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Beelzebub. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/figures/beelzebub

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-beelzebub,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Beelzebub},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/figures/beelzebub},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Beelzebub is a demonic figure whose name, meaning lord of the flies, is a mocking Hebrew distortion of Baal-zebul, a title of the god worshipped by the Philistines at Ekron. In the Gospels his name is used for the prince of demons, and Jesus is accused of casting out demons by his power. In later Christian demonology he became one of the greatest of the fallen, sometimes ranked second only to Satan and associated with the sin of gluttony or pride. From a pagan deity reduced to a demon, he came to personify the corruption of false worship, and he stands among the chief princes of hell in the medieval imagination.

Facts

Attestation

Historicity

Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1

Historicity Detail

The name likely began as a deliberate mockery: Baal-zebul, exalted lord, a genuine title of the Philistine god at Ekron attested at 2 Kings 1, was altered by Hebrew writers to Baal-zebub, lord of the flies, turning a title of majesty into an insult. 2

Veneration Today

No Cult Attested 1

Status

Status Within the Tradition

Later demonological literature, building on the Gospel accusation, ranked him among the highest of the fallen, in some schemes second only to Satan himself. 1

Scholarship

How Its Legacy Is Contested

Scholars debate whether the New Testament figure represents a genuine title for a Philistine deity, a rabbinic pun on the name Baal-zebul, or an independent demonic name that Christian tradition later fused with the Canaanite god; the Synoptic Gospels' accusation scene is the earliest surviving occurrence. 2

Position Profile

Key Text

The Gospels record religious leaders accusing Jesus of casting out demons by his power, at Matthew 12:24 and Mark 3:22, the New Testament's principal reference to him as prince of demons. 2

Attributions

Mythic Association

The New Testament records Pharisees accusing Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, prince of demons, an accusation Jesus turns back on them by arguing that no kingdom divided against itself, demonic or otherwise, can stand. 2

Identity

Gender

Male 1

Origins

Place of Origin

Ekron, where Baal-zebul was worshipped by the Philistines 1

Origin of the Name

Means lord of the flies, a distortion of Baal-zebul 1

Learn More

Lord of the Flies, Prince of Demons

Beelzebub illustrates how the gods of one people become the demons of their neighbours. The name derives from Baal-zebul, "Baal the prince" or "exalted lord," a title of the storm god worshipped by the Philistines at Ekron, where 2 Kings records the Israelite king Ahaziah sending to consult his oracle. Hebrew scribes appear to have deliberately distorted it to Baal-zebub, "lord of the flies," a mocking pun that reduced a rival deity to a scavenger's master.

By the time of the Gospels the name has completed its descent: opponents accuse Jesus of casting out demons "by Beelzebul, the prince of demons," and the figure is now a name for Satan himself, or a high-ranking demon under him. Later demonological catalogues, from the medieval grimoires to Milton's Paradise Lost, rank Beelzebub among the greatest of the fallen, second only to Lucifer. The whole history is legible in the name: a foreign god, insulted into an insect-lord, promoted into a prince of hell.

A God's Title Turned into an Insult

Most scholars of the Hebrew Bible read the name Beelzebub as a deliberate distortion. Second Kings names a Philistine god of Ekron, Baal-zebub, consulted by an Israelite king, and the title likely began as something closer to Baal Zebul, meaning roughly Lord of the [heavenly] Dwelling or Exalted Lord, a perfectly respectable honorific for a Canaanite storm and fertility deity related to the wider Baal cult. The form that survives, Baal-zebub, replaces zebul with zevuv, the Hebrew word for fly, turning Exalted Lord into something closer to Lord of the Flies, a change generally read as deliberate scribal mockery rather than an honest phonetic rendering, a common technique by which Israelite writers denigrated the gods of neighbouring peoples by altering their names into insults.

By the time the name reaches the New Testament, where religious opponents accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul or Beelzebub, prince of demons, the figure has moved a considerable distance from a specific Philistine deity's title into a generic byword for Satan himself or for a chief demon under him, used interchangeably with other names for the same adversarial role. The whole trajectory, from an exalted title, to a mocking distortion, to a generic name for evil, illustrates how a specific historical polemic against a rival religion's god can outlive the memory of that god entirely.

Cross-Tradition Connections