Belial

Belial
Belial
Found frequently as a personal name in the Vulgate and various English translations of the Bible, is commonly used as a synonym of Satan, or the personification of evil

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

Belial
    Belial
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Belial
    Found frequently as a personal name in the Vulgate and various English translations of the Bible, is commonly used as a synonym of Satan, or the personification of evil. This sense is derived from II Cor., vi, 15, where Belial (or Beliar) as prince of darkness is contrasted with Christ, the light. It is clear in the Vulgate and Douay translations of III Kings, xxi, 10 and 13, where the same Hebrew word is rendered once as Belial and twice as "the devil". In the other instances, too, the translators understood it as a name for the prince of evil, and so it has passed into English. Milton, however, distinguishes Belial from Satan, regarding him as the demon of impurity. In the Hebrew Bible, nevertheless, the word is not a proper name, but a common noun usually signifying "wickedness" or "extreme wickedness". Thus, Moore renders "sons of Belial" as "vile scoundrels" (Judges, xix, 22); most prefer "worthless fellows". In some cases belial seems to mean "destruction", "ruin"; thus in Ps. xii, 9 (Heb.), the word is parallel to the thought of utter destruction and seems to mean the same. In Ps., sviii, 5, it is parallel to "death" and "Sheol"; some understand it as "destruction", Cheyne as "the abyss". The etymology of the word is doubtful; it is usually taken to be a compound meaning "worthlessness." Cheyne suggest an alternate that means "that from which no one comes up", namely the abyss, Sheol. St. Jerome's etymology "without yoke", which he has even inserted as a gloss in the text of Judges, xix, 22, is contrary to Hebrew philology. Belial, from meaning wickedness or Sheol, could develop into a name for the prince of evil or of darkness; and as such was widely used at the beginning of our era. Under the names Beliar, Berial, he plays a very important rôle in apocryphal literature, in the "Ascension of Isaias", the "Sibylline Oracles", and the "Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs". He is the prince of this world and will come as Antichrist; his name is sometimes given also to Nero, returning as Antichrist.
    CHEYNE in Encyc. Bib. (New York, 1899); MOORE, Commentary on Judges (New York, 1900), 419; GARVIE in HAST., Dict. of Bible (New York, 1903); DEANE, Pseudepigrapha (Edinburgh, 1891); LESÊTRE in VIG., Dict. de la Bible (Paris, 1894); CHARLES, Ascension of Isaiah (London, 1900); CHARLES, Eschatology, Hebrew, Jewish, and Christian (London, 1899).
    JOHN F. FENLON
    Transcribed by WGKofron With thanks to St. Mary's Church, Akron, Ohio

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


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  • Bélial — Belial est un démon cité dans la Bible et régnant sur l Orient. Il tire son nom de l hébreu signifiant sans utilité, vaurien. Ce roi de l Enfer, à l aspect extérieur séduisant et au maintien gracieux, passe pour l esprit le plus dissolu, le plus… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Belial — Bélial Belial est un démon régnant sur l Orient. Il tire son nom de l hébreu signifiant sans utilité, vaurien. Ce roi de l Enfer, à l aspect extérieur séduisant et au maintien gracieux, passe pour l esprit le plus dissolu, le plus crapuleux, le… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Belial — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Belial y algunos seguidores Jacobo de Teramo Belial (del hebreo beli•yá•, inútil, de belí, no, y ya• ál, ser provechoso), también llamado Belhor, Baalial, Beliar, Beliall, Beliel, es un demonio que aparece en el… …   Wikipedia Español

  • BELIAL — (Heb. בְּלִיַּעַל; lit. worthlessness ). In the Bible a common noun characterizing persons who behave in a dissolute manner, give false testimony, or hatch infamous plots. It is used in apposition to such words as son (Deut. 13:14; I Sam. 2:12),… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • BELIAL — Nonnulli volentes hoc nomen hominem inutilem significare, derivant a absque et profuit. Alii contendentes eôdem Daemonem intelligi, derivant a absque et altissmo. Aquila vertit Apostatam. Sane B. Paulus Satanam Belial vocat. 2 Corinth. c. 6. v.… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Belial — Be li*al, n. [Heb. beli ya al; beli without + ya al profit.] An evil spirit; a wicked and unprincipled person; the personification of evil. [1913 Webster] What concord hath Christ with Belia ? 2 Cor. vi. 15. [1913 Webster] {A son} (or man) {of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Belial — Belial, betyder slethed, fordærvelse; sammensætninger som Belials mænd eller sønner betyder ifølge hebraisk sprogbrug fordærvede, uværdige personer . I den jødiske litteratur f.Kr. opfattedes belial, også i formen Beliar, som et egennavn, der… …   Danske encyklopædi

  • Belĭal — (v. hebr.), 1) im. A. T. das Schädliche, Verderbliche, Böse., Schlechte; 2) im N. T. Bezeichnung des Teufels …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Belĭal — (Belijaal, hebr., »Nichtsnutzigkeit, Bosheit«), in der spätern jüdischen und christlichen Literatur soviel wie Sakan im Sinn: »der Verderber« …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Belial — Belĭal (hebr., »Nichtswürdigkeit«, »Verderben«), der Teufel …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

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