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Belial
Belial (/ˈbiːli.əl/; Hebrew: בְּלִיַּעַל, Bəlīyyaʿal) is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which later became personified as the devil in Christian texts of the New Testament. Alternate spellings include Baalial, Balial, Belhor, Beliall, Beliar, Berial, Bylyl and Beliya'al. Early usage of Belial referred to "wickedness" or "worthlessness", occurring several times in the Old Testament. Later, in the Dead Sea Scrolls (c. 300 BCE), Belial was personified as a demon.
In the Secret Book of John, an early Gnostic text, the ruler of the underworld is referred to as Belias.
Belial is a Hebrew word "used to characterize the wicked or worthless". The etymology of the word is often understood as "lacking worth", from two common words: beli- (בְּלִי "without-") and ya'al (יָעַל "to be of value").
Some scholars translate it from Hebrew as "worthless" (Beli yo'il), while others translate it as "yokeless" (Beli ol), "may he have no rising" or "never to rise" (Beli ya'al). Only a few etymologists have believed it to be an invented name from the start.
The word occurs twenty-seven times in the Masoretic Text, in verses such as the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 6:12), where the King James Version (KJV) translates the Hebrew phrase adam beli-yaal as "a naughty person".
In the Hebrew text, the phrase is either "sons of Belial" or simply "sons of worthlessness". Phrases beginning with "sons of" are a common Semitic idiom, such as "sons of destruction" or "sons of lawlessness". In Semetic languages, the term "sons of" (in any context other than preceding the name of an actual human being) is better explained as "people defined by." "Sons of worthlessness/belial" means "people defined by worthlessness." Another common example of this is Aramaic term "Bar Mitzva" (literally "son of the commandment," but better translated as "one defined by the commandment" as it refers to an individual who is obligated to fulfill the commandment of God).
Of these 27 occurrences, the idiom "sons of Belial" (בְּנֵֽי־בְלִיַּעַל beni beliyaal) appears 15 times to indicate worthless people, including idolaters (Deuteronomy 13:13), the men of Gibeah (Judges 19:22, 20:13), the sons of Eli (1 Samuel 2:12), Nabal, and Shimei. The Geneva Bible (1560) uses "wicked", and at the Book of Judges 19:22 has the marginal note "Ebr [Hebrew] men of Belial: that is, given to all wickednes." In the KJV these occurrences are rendered with "Belial" capitalised:
In modern versions these are usually read as a phrase:
Hub AI
Belial AI simulator
(@Belial_simulator)
Belial
Belial (/ˈbiːli.əl/; Hebrew: בְּלִיַּעַל, Bəlīyyaʿal) is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which later became personified as the devil in Christian texts of the New Testament. Alternate spellings include Baalial, Balial, Belhor, Beliall, Beliar, Berial, Bylyl and Beliya'al. Early usage of Belial referred to "wickedness" or "worthlessness", occurring several times in the Old Testament. Later, in the Dead Sea Scrolls (c. 300 BCE), Belial was personified as a demon.
In the Secret Book of John, an early Gnostic text, the ruler of the underworld is referred to as Belias.
Belial is a Hebrew word "used to characterize the wicked or worthless". The etymology of the word is often understood as "lacking worth", from two common words: beli- (בְּלִי "without-") and ya'al (יָעַל "to be of value").
Some scholars translate it from Hebrew as "worthless" (Beli yo'il), while others translate it as "yokeless" (Beli ol), "may he have no rising" or "never to rise" (Beli ya'al). Only a few etymologists have believed it to be an invented name from the start.
The word occurs twenty-seven times in the Masoretic Text, in verses such as the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 6:12), where the King James Version (KJV) translates the Hebrew phrase adam beli-yaal as "a naughty person".
In the Hebrew text, the phrase is either "sons of Belial" or simply "sons of worthlessness". Phrases beginning with "sons of" are a common Semitic idiom, such as "sons of destruction" or "sons of lawlessness". In Semetic languages, the term "sons of" (in any context other than preceding the name of an actual human being) is better explained as "people defined by." "Sons of worthlessness/belial" means "people defined by worthlessness." Another common example of this is Aramaic term "Bar Mitzva" (literally "son of the commandment," but better translated as "one defined by the commandment" as it refers to an individual who is obligated to fulfill the commandment of God).
Of these 27 occurrences, the idiom "sons of Belial" (בְּנֵֽי־בְלִיַּעַל beni beliyaal) appears 15 times to indicate worthless people, including idolaters (Deuteronomy 13:13), the men of Gibeah (Judges 19:22, 20:13), the sons of Eli (1 Samuel 2:12), Nabal, and Shimei. The Geneva Bible (1560) uses "wicked", and at the Book of Judges 19:22 has the marginal note "Ebr [Hebrew] men of Belial: that is, given to all wickednes." In the KJV these occurrences are rendered with "Belial" capitalised:
In modern versions these are usually read as a phrase: