Belial

Belial

Belial (/ˈbiːli.əl/;[1] Hebrew: בְּלִיַּעַל‎, Bəlīyyaʿal) is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which later became personified as the devil[2] in Christian texts of the New Testament.[3] Alternate spellings include Baalial, Balial, Belhor, Beliall, Beliar, Berial, Bylyl and Beliya'al. Early usage of Belial referred to "wickedness" or "worthlessness", occurring several times in the Old Testament. Later, in the Dead Sea Scrolls (c. 300 BCE), Belial was personified as a demon.

In the Secret Book of John, an early Gnostic text, the ruler of the underworld is referred to as Belias.[4]

Belial is a Hebrew word "used to characterize the wicked or worthless". The etymology of the word is often understood as "lacking worth",[5] from two common words: beli- (בְּלִי "without-") and ya'al (יָעַל "to be of value").

The word occurs twenty-seven times in the Masoretic Text, in verses such as the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 6:12), where the King James Version (KJV) translates the Hebrew phrase adam beli-yaal as "a naughty person".[7]

In the Hebrew text, the phrase is either "sons of Belial" or simply "sons of worthlessness".[8][9] Phrases beginning with "sons of" are a common Semitic idiom, such as "sons of destruction" or "sons of lawlessness".[10] In Semetic languages, the term "sons of" (in any context other than preceding the name of an actual human being) is better explained as "people defined by." "Sons of worthlessness/belial" means "people defined by worthlessness."

Of these 27 occurrences, the idiom "sons of Belial" (בְּנֵֽי־בְלִיַּעַל beni beliyaal) appears 15 times

In The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness[11] one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Belial is the leader of the Sons of Darkness:

You made Belial for the pit, angel of enmity; in darkness is his domain, his counsel is to bring about wickedness and guilt. All the spirits of his lot are angels of destruction, they walk in the laws of darkness; towards it goes their only desire.

In the Rules of the Community, God is depicted as saying, "I shall not comfort the oppressed until their path is perfect. I shall not retain Belial within my heart." Belial controls all demons, which are specifically allotted to him by God for the purpose of performing evil.[13] 

Belial, despite his malevolent disposition, is considered an angel.

Belial's presence is found throughout the War Scrolls and is established as the force occupying the opposite end of the spectrum of God. In Col. I, verse 1, the first line of the document, it is stated that "the first attack of the Sons of Light shall be undertaken against the forces of the Sons of Darkness, the army of Belial.”

The War Scroll and the Thanksgiving hymns both delve into the idea that Belial is accursed by God and his people, and shows how the existence of Belial in this world can be attributed to the mysteries of God since we can not know why he permits the dealings of Belial to persist.

In the Dead Sea Scrolls, Belial is further contrasted with God. These are the Angel of Light and the Angel of Darkness. The Manual of Discipline identifies the Angel of Light as God himself. The Angel of Darkness is identified in the same scroll as Belial.[

In the Ascension of Isaiah, Belial is the angel of lawlessness and "the ruler of this world", and identified as Samael and Satan.

And Manasseh turned aside his heart to serve Belial; for the angel of lawlessness, who is the ruler of this world, is Belial, whose name is Matanbuchus.

— (Ascension of Isaiah 2:4)[2]

John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I:

BELIAL came last, than whom a Spirit more lewd

Fell not from Heaven, or more gross to love

Vice for it self: To him no Temple stood

Or Altar smoak'd; yet who more oft then hee

In Temples and at Altars, when the Priest

Turns Atheist, as did ELY'S Sons, who fill'd

With lust and violence the house of God.

In Courts and Palaces he also Reigns

And in luxurious Cities, where the noyse

Of riot ascends above thir loftiest Towrs,

And injury and outrage: And when Night

Darkens the Streets, then wander forth the Sons

Of BELIAL, flown with insolence and wine.

Witness the Streets of SODOM, and that night

In GIBEAH, when hospitable Dores

Yielded thir Matrons to prevent worse rape.

John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 2:

... On th' other side up rose

BELIAL, in act more graceful and humane;

A fairer person lost not Heav'n; he seemd

For dignity compos'd and high exploit:

But all was false and hollow; though his Tongue

Dropt Manna, and could make the worse appear

The better reason, to perplex and dash

Maturest Counsels: for his thoughts were low;

To vice industrious, but to Nobler deeds

Timorous and slothful: yet he pleas'd the eare...

Sons of Belial

In 1937, Edgar Cayce used the term "sons of belial" and (in opposition to) the "sons of the law of one" for the first time in one of his deep trance readings given between 1923 and 1945. While his definition of the sons of belial was consistent with the Hebrew meaning of "worthless" individuals focused on self-gratification, Cayce went on to use the term frequently to compare opposing human forces at work in pre-historical times related to the early development of Atlantis.

According to Edgar Cayce, the "Sons of Belial" were a group in ancient Atlantis characterized by self-aggrandizement, self-gratification, and the use of material things for personal gain without regard for the sources of such resources or the hardships of others. They lacked a moral standard, focusing solely on themselves, which Cayce described as being without a standard of morality. This group opposed the "Children of the Law of One," who sought spiritual stewardship of the land based on natural laws and a belief in a single Creator.

The conflict between these two groups intensified over a third class of beings—dull, half-awake sub-humans created from spirit and material form, who had lost their connection to spirit and were used as slave labor by the Sons of Belial. The Children of the Law of One sought to enlighten and free these beings, while the Sons of Belial exploited them, leading to a civil war that preceded the final destruction of Atlantis.

Cayce attributed the downfall of Atlantis to the greed and lust of the Sons of Belial, who misused advanced technology, including crystal-based energy systems and weapons derived from solar and volcanic forces, to gain power and control. These actions triggered a series of cataclysms: the first around 50,000 BC destroyed their power source, the second around 28,500 BC split the continent into smaller islands, and the third, around 10,500 BC, caused the final sinking of the land. Cayce also linked the Biblical Great Flood to the final destruction of Atlantis.