Difference between revisions of "Belial"

The term belial (בְלִיַּעַל‎, bĕli-yaal) with the broader meaning of worthlessness is used through the Old Testament to denote those who are against God or at least against God's order. In Deuteronomy 13:14 those who tempt people into worshiping something other than Yahweh are related to belial. In 1 Samuel 2:12, the sons of Eli are called belial for not recognizing [[Yahweh]] and therefore violating sacrifice rituals. In Psalm 18:4 and Psalm 41:8, belial appears in the context of death and disease. In the Old Testament, both [[Satan]] and Belial make it difficult for men to live in harmony with God's will.

However, the role of Belial is in opposition to that of Satan: while Belial, representing chaos and death, stands outside of God's cosmos, Satan roams the earth, fighting for the maintenance of the divine order and punishing precisely everything Belial stands for. However, in the Old Testament, Belial is merely an abstraction and not considered a real independent entity.