Beelzebub
In 1863, Collin de Plancy depicted Beelzebub as a large fly, with the poison symbol of a skull and cross bones on each of his wings. This illustration is featured in his book the Dictionnaire Infernal. The origin of this notorious demon, “Lord of Flies” and even synonym for Satan according to some sources, is a little different. Ba‘al Zebûb or Ba‘al Zəvûv has numerous Hebrew variants on the name, however, it is in actuality the name of a minor deity worshipped in the Philistine city of Ekron. Throughout ancient Semitic history, there has been very little difference in the terms for the god Ba’al, a polytheistic deity that may have been the name of one, or several different gods of different Philistine cities, — and Ba‘al Zebûb.
The monotheistic Jewish mentions of Baal usually were used as synonymous with Satan, with Baal being just one of his many different names, and gradually it expanded and grew to include Beelzebub. Ba’al Zebub, when considered that the title Ba’al is included, which means “Lord or “master”, could have either two meanings, although other theories have been developed. “Lord of …” an unknown place called Zebub, that there are no known records of existence is one of the first popular theories. The second is “Lord of Flies” because the old Hebrew word for flies, or at least the collective noun for fly, is “zebûb”.
One of the secondary theories was developed by Thomas Kelly Cheyne, who believed that the Biblical scriptures should be criticised by the same scientific, literary, and historical considerations that all other literature was held to. He believed that Beelzebub was nothing more than a corrupted term, originally a disdainful remark about Ba’al Zebul, which meant “Lord of the High Place” or lord of Heaven. A year before his death, Cheyne converted to the Bahá’í Faith.
Beelzebub or Ba’al Zebub is mentioned Biblically in 2 Kings 1.2-3,6,16. The King Ahaziah of Israel is injured severely in a fall, and sends a messenger quickly to Ba’al Zebub, the god of the city Ekron, to learn whether or not he will die. The prophet Elijah the condemns Ahaziah to die by the words of Yahweh, because the king consulted Beelzebub before he consulted Yahweh. Other mentions of Beelzebub are in Mark 3:22 when the Pharisees accuse Jesus of driving out demons with the help of “Beelzeboul”, –prince of demons. Beelzebub is mentioned later in the Bible and expanded upon in Matthew 12.24,27 and Luke 11.15,18-19.