BAAL-ZEBUB

Pagan god of the Philistine city of Ekron. After King Ahaziah of Israel fell from his upstairs porch (852 BC), he sent messengers to Baal-zebub to ask about his recovery (2 Kgs 1:2). He was severely rebuked for that by the prophet Elijah, who declared that his affront to Israel’s God would result in the king’s death.

Identification of Baal-zebub (which means “lord of the flies”) is somewhat uncertain. The god may have been thought to give oracles by the flight or buzzing of a fly, or may have protected his worshipers from plagues of flies. Excavations at Philistine sites have uncovered golden images of flies. Most scholars believe that the name is a corruption of Baal-zebul (“Baal the prince”). The distortion was probably a deliberate effort to demean the god.