Belial

Belial - In Jacobus de Teramo, Das Buch Beliel, this great fallen angel, often equated with Satan, is pictured presenting his credentials to Solomon;  also as dancing before the Hebrew king.  Paul, in II Corinthians 6:15, asks "What concord hath Christ with Belial?"  Here, clearly, Paul regards Belial as chief of demons, or as Satan.  In Paradise Lost I, 490-492, "Belial came last; than whom a Spirit more lewd/Fell not from Heav'n, or more gross to love/Vice it self."  Later, in Paradise Lost II, 110-112, Milton speaks of Belial thus: "A fairer person lost not Heav'n; he seemed/For dignity compos'd and high exploit;" but hastens to add: "all was false and hollow." "Possibly an old name for Sheol," says Barton in "Origin of the Names of Angels and Demons."  In The Toilers of the Sea, Victor Hugo, drawing on occult sources, speaks of Belial as Hell's ambassador to Turkey.  [Cf. Mastema.]  as in the case of Bileth, it was "only after infinite research," reports Spence, An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (p.119), that Belial was "proved to have been formerly of the order of virtues."  (a)

Belial was one of Satan's most venerable demons.  In fact, before the New Testament firmly established Satan as the leader of the forces of evil, Belial had filled the position.  In one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness, Belial is the uncontested ruler of the dark side: "But for corruption thou hast made Belial, an angel of hostility.  All his dominion is in darkness, and his purpose is to bring about wickedness and guilt."  Eventually, he moved down in the world, though he still retained his unofficial title as the demon of lies.  It was as such that Milton immortalized him in Paradise Lost (Book II):

"A fairer person lost not Heaven; he seemed

For dignity composed and high exploit:

But all was false and hollow; though his tongue

Dropped manna, and could make the worse appear

The better reason, to perplex and dash

Maturest counsels: for his thoughts were low;

To vice industrious, but to noble deeds

Timorous and slothful."

When the notorious mass murderer Gilles de Rais attempted to raise some demons (using the severed body parts of a child he had killed), it was Beelzebub and Belial he was after.  (c)

Beliall. Some saie that the king Beliall was created immediatlie after Lucifer, and therefore they thinke that he was father and seducer of them which fell being of the orders. For he fell first among the worthier and wiser sort, which went before Michael and other heavenlie angels, which were lacking. Although Beliall went before all them that were throwne downe to the earth, yet he went not before them that tarried in heaven. This Beliall is constrained by divine venue, when he taketh sacrifices, gifts, and offerings, that he againe may give unto the offerers true answers. But he tarrieth not one houre in the truth, except he be constrained by the divine power, as is said. He taketh the forme of a beautifull angell, sitting in a firie chariot; he speaketh faire, he distributeth preferments of senatorship, and the favour of friends, and excellent familiars: he hath rule over eightie legions, partlie of the order of vertues, partlie of angels; he is found in the forme of an exorcist in the bonds of spirits. The exorcist must consider, that this Beliall doth in everie thing assist his subjects. If he will not submit himselfe, let the bond of spirits be read: the spirits chaine is sent for him, wherewith wise Salomon gathered them togither with their legions in a brasen vessell, where were inclosed among all the legions seventie two kings, of whome the cheefe was Bileth, the second was Beliall, the third Asmoday, and above a thousand thousand legions. Without doubt (I must confesse) I learned this of my maister Salomon; but he told me not why he gathered them together, and shut them up so: but I beleeve it was for the pride of this Beliall. Certeine nigromancers doo saie, that Salomon, being on a certeine daie seduced by the craft of a certeine woman, inclined himselfe to praie before the same idoll, Beliall by name: which is not credible. And therefore we must rather thinke (as it is said) that they were gathered together in that great brasen vessell for pride and arrogancie, and throwne into a deepe lake or hole in Babylon. For wise Salomon did accomplish his workes by the divine power, which never forsooke him. and therefore we must thinke he worshipped not the image Beliall; for then he could not have constrained the spirits by divine vertue: for this Beliall, with three kings were in the lake. But the Babylonians woondering at the matter, supposed that they should find therein a great quantitie of treasure, and therefore with one consent went downe into the lake, and uncovered and brake the vessell, out of the which immediatlie flew the capteine divels, and were delivered to their former and proper places. But this Beliall entred into a certeine image, and there gave answer to them that offered and sacrificed unto him: as Tocz. in his sentences reporteth, and the Babylonians did worship and sacrifice thereunto. (g)

BELIAL. - The Sixty-eighth Spirit is Belial. He is a Mighty and a Powerful King, and was created next after LUCIFER. He appeareth in the Form of Two Beautiful Angels sitting in a Chariot of Fire. He speaketh with a Comely Voice, and declareth that he fell first from among the worthier sort, that were before Michael, and other Heavenly Angels. His Office is to distribute Presentations and Senatorships, etc.; and to cause favour of Friends and of Foes. He giveth excellent Familiars, and governeth 50 Legions of Spirits. Note well that this King Belial must have Offerings, Sacrifices and Gifts presented unto him by the Exorcist, or else he will not give True Answers unto his Demands. But then he tarrieth not one hour in the Truth, unless he be constrained by Divine Power. And his Seal is this, which is to be worn as aforesaid, etc.  (h)

BELIAL

By : Morris Jastrow Jr.

Gerson B. Levi

Marcus Jastrow

Kaufmann Kohler

ARTICLE HEADINGS:
—Biblical Data:
In Apocalyptic Literature.
—In Rabbinical and Apocryphal Literature:


—Biblical Data:

A term occurring often in the Old Testament and applied, as would seem from the context in I Sam. x. 27; II Sam. xvi. 7, xx. 1; II Chron. xiii. 7; Job xxxiv. 18, to any one opposing the established authority, whether civil, as in the above passages, or religious, as in Judges xix. 22; I Kings xxi. 10, 13; Prov. xvi. 27, xix. 28; Deut. xiii. 14, xv. 9; II Sam. xxiii. 6. A somewhat weaker sense, that of "wicked" or "worthless," is found in I Sam. i. 16, ii. 12, xxv. 17, xxx. 22. The use of the word in II Sam. xxii. 5 is somewhat puzzling. Cheyne explains it as "rivers of the under world," while more conservative scholars render "destructive rivers."

The etymology of this word has been variously given. The Talmud (Sanh. 111b) regards it as a compound word, made up of "beli" and "'ol" (without a yoke). This derivation is accepted by Rashi (on Deut. xiii. 14). Gesenius ("Dict." s.v.) finds the derivation in "beli" and "yo'il" (without advantage; i.e., worthless). Ibn Ezra (on Deut. xv. 9), without venturing on an etymology, contents himself with the remark that "Belial" is a noun, and quotes the opinion of some one else that it is a verb with a precative force, "May he have no rising." Cheyne ("Expository Times," 1897, pp. 423 et seq.) seeks to identify Belial with the Babylonian goddess Belili (Jastrow, "Religion of Babylonia," pp. 588, 589). Hebrew writers, according to this view, took up "Belili" and scornfully converted it into "Belial" in order to suggest "worthlessness." Hommel ("Expository Times," viii. 472) agrees in the equation Belial = Belili, but argues that the Babylonians borrowed from the western Semites and not vice versa. This derivation, however, is opposed by Baudissin and Jensen ("Expository Times," ix. 40, 283).J. Jr. G. B. L.

In Apocalyptic Literature.

—In Rabbinical and Apocryphal Literature:

In the Hasidic circles from which the apocalyptic literature emanated and where all angelologic and demonologic lore was faithfully preserved, Belial held a very prominent position, being identified altogether with Satan. In the Book of Jubilees (i. 20), Belial is, like Satan, the accuser and father of all idolatrous nations: "Let not the spirit of Belial ["Beliar" corrupted into "Belhor"] rule over them to accuse them before thee." The uncircumcised heathen are "the sons of Belial" (ib. xv. 32). In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Belial is the archfiend from whom emanate the seven spirits of seduction that enter man at his birth (Reuben ii.; Levi iii.; Zebulun ix.; Dan. i.; Naphtali ii.; Benjamin vi., vii.), the source of impurity and lying (Reuben iv., vi.; Simeon v.; Issachar vi.-vii.: Dan. v.; Asher i., iii.), "the spirit of darkness" (Levi xix.; Joseph vii., xx.). He will, like Azazel in Enoch, be opposed and bound by theMessiah (Levi xviii.), "and cast into the fire forever" (Judah xxv.); "and the souls captured by him will then be wrested from his power." In the Ascensio Isaiæ, Belial is identified with Samael (Malkira [Dan. v.]; possibly Malak ra = the Evil Angel [i. 9]), and called "the angel of lawlessness"—"the ruler of this world, whose name is Matanbuchus" (a corrupt form of "Angro-mainyush" or Ahriman?) (ii. 4). In Sibyllines, iv. 2 (which part is of Christian origin) Belial descends from heaven as Antichrist and appears as Nero, the slayer of his mother. In the Sibyllines, iii. 63 (compare ii. 166) Belial is the seducer who, as the pseudo Messiah, will appear among the Samaritans, leading many into error by his miraculous powers, but who "will be burned up by heavenly fire carried along by the sea to the land [an earthquake?] to destroy his followers," "at the time when a woman [Cleopatra] will rule over the world."

In regard to the meaning and etymology of the word "Belial" there has always been a wide difference of opinion. The Septuagint, in translating it "lawlessness"—ἀνόμημα (Deut. xv. 9), ἀνομία (II Sam. xxii. 5), or παράνομος (Deut. xiii. 14; Judges xix. 22; and elsewhere)—follows a rabbinical tradition which interpreted it as "beli 'ol" the one who has thrown off the yoke of heaven (Sifre, Deut. 93; Sanh. 111b; Midr. Sam. vi.; Yalḳ. to II. Sam. xxiii. 6; so also Jerome on Judges xix. 22, "absque jugo." Belial was accordingly considered the opponent of the rule of God; that is, Satan, or the antagonist of God (see Antichrist). Aquilas (LXX., I Kings xxi. 13) translates it ἀποστασία = sedition, in the same manner that the "nahash bariah," or dragon ( = Satan), is described as the apostate. The various modern etymologies, taking the word as a combination of "beli yo'il" (without worth) (Gesenius), or of "beli ya'al" (never to rise)—that is, never to do well (Ibn Ezra, Lagarde, Hupfeld, Fürst)—are alike rejected by Moore as extremely dubious (commentary to Judges, p. 419). Theodotion to Judges xx. 13, Ibn Ezra (Deut. xv. 9), and so Luther and the A. V. occasionally take Belial as a proper noun. It was Bäthgen (commentary to Ps. xviii. 5) who first translated Belial, "the land from which there is no return," and then Cheyne (in "Expositor," 1895, pp. 435-439, and in the "Encyc. Bibl." s. v. "Belial"). They proved it to be the exact equivalent of the Assyrian "matu la tarat" (the land without return). Tiamat, the dragon of the abyss, having been identified with Satan, thus gave rise to the various uses of the word, and the legends of Belial Antichrist. Baudissin, in Hauck-Herzog's "Realencyklopädie," s. v., still takes a skeptical attitude as to the mythical character of Belial in the Old Testament, without, however, explaining the peculiar history of the word. Compare Satan.

Bibliography: T. K. Cheyne, The Development of the Meanings of Belial, in The Expositor, 1895, i. 435-439;
idem, in Encyc. Bibl. s.v.;
Bousset, Antichrist, 1895, pp. 86, 99-101;
Charles, The Ascension of Isaiah, li.-lxxii. and pp. 6-8;
Riehm and Hauck-Herzog's Realencyklopädie, s.v. Belial.

 

Belial - Page 2

Resource List - all entries are taken verbatim from the original source:

(a) "The Dictionary of Angels" by Gustav Davidson, © 1967

(c) "Fallen Angels...and Spirits of the Dark" by Robert Masello ©1994. 

(f) "The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Book I, II, & III." Translated By: S. L. Mac Gregor Mathers.

This Adobe Acrobat edition contains the complete and unaltered text of the corresponding sections in the second (1900) edition published by John M. Watkins, London.  Prepared and typeset by Benjamin Rowe, December 16, 1998.   BEQUEATHED BY ABRAHAM UNTO LAMECH HIS SON.  TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW.  1458.

(g) Pseudomonarchia daemonum - Johann Wier (1583)

(h) The Lesser Key of Solomon.  GOETIA.  Compiled and Translated By S.L. "MacGregor" Mathers.  Editing and Additional Material By Aleister Crowley