Belial- Hebrew/Jewish DemonDemon"The Worthless One"

From Epithet to Entity

In the Hebrew Bible, beliya'al appears as a common noun meaning "worthless" or "lawless." The "sons of Belial" are the men of Gibeah who raped the Levite's concubine, the corrupt sons of Eli who stole from the offerings, the false witnesses who condemned Naboth to death so Ahab could seize his vineyard. Hebrew beli ya'al parses as "without worth," though some read beli 'ol, "without a yoke": one who submits to no authority.

From this epithet of human wickedness, Second Temple Judaism made a demon.

The Prince of Darkness

The Qumran community transformed Belial into a cosmic antagonist. The Community Rule describes two spirits created by God at the beginning: one of truth and one of deceit. Belial rules the spirit of deceit, and all the spirits of his lot cause the righteous to stumble with error and cruelty. In the War Scroll, he leads the Sons of Darkness against the Sons of Light in the final battle. Seven rounds of combat, evenly matched, until the angels join the Sons of Light and Belial's forces are destroyed forever.

The Spirit Behind Every Sin

In the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, each patriarch warns his sons on his deathbed about the weakness Belial will exploit: Reuben about lust, Dan about anger. Belial does not attack with brute force. He makes the forbidden seem reasonable and the destructive seem pleasurable. The Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah calls him "the angel of lawlessness, the ruler of this world," who works through false prophets speaking smooth words. The defense the patriarchs prescribe is simple: where righteousness dwells, Belial cannot enter.