Beelzebul

Concept

Beelzebul (Greek Beelzeboul; KJV "Beelzebub") is a title for a demonic being identified in the New Testament as the ruler of demons and equated with Satan. The name derives from a Canaanite deity — probably Baal-zebul ("prince Baal" or "lord of the exalted abode"), related to but distinct from the mocking form Baal-zebub ("lord of flies") in 2 Kings 1:2–3. In the NT, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons (Matt. 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15). Jesus refutes this by arguing that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, and that his exorcisms instead signal the arrival of the kingdom of God (Matt. 12:25–28). He also predicts that if they called the master of the house Beelzebul, they will call his disciples the same (Matt. 10:25). The identification of Beelzebul with Satan as the supernatural ruler of the opposing spiritual realm reflects the NT's consistent picture of Christ's ministry as a conquest of the demonic order.