“They were black and iridescent green and without number; and in front of Simon, the Lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned. At last Simon gave up and looked back; saw the white teeth and dim eyes, the blood—and his gaze was held by that ancient, inescapable recognition.”
Lord of the Flies, the classic novel by William Golding contains multiple allusions to the bible, including the presence of Baalzebub - the ominous deity that shows up in today’s chapter - the opening story of the second book of Kings.
The Lord of the Flies is at least one plausible translation of this ancient god that has gone through many transformations, translations and mistranslations, still quite feared and known in popular folklore and pop culture today.
At some point in his evolution he becomes the symbol of the Other Side. Who/what is BeelZebub and what’s the secret of his lasting appeal?
Kings 2 begins with an accident. Ahazia, Jezebel and Ahab’s firstborn son and heir to the throne of Israel, falls through the roof of his palace. He sends for healing from the priests of Baalzebub, the Philistine Deity residing in the coastal city of Ekron.
But the prophet Elijah’s back, sent by YHWH, and steps in to demand a second opinion and prevent the first from what is deemed a dubious origin.
Elijah intercepts the messengers to Ekron and demands that they return to the king with an urgent message:
וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ אֵלָ֜יו אִ֣ישׁ ׀ עָלָ֣ה לִקְרָאתֵ֗נוּ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלֵ֘ינוּ֮ לְכ֣וּ שׁ֘וּבוּ֮ אֶל־הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַ֣ח אֶתְכֶם֒ וְדִבַּרְתֶּ֣ם אֵלָ֗יו כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה הֲֽמִבְּלִ֤י אֵין־אֱלֹהִים֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אַתָּ֣ה שֹׁלֵ֔חַ לִדְרֹ֕שׁ בְּבַ֥עַל זְב֖וּב אֱלֹהֵ֣י עֶקְר֑וֹן לָ֠כֵ֠ן הַמִּטָּ֞ה אֲשֶׁר־עָלִ֥יתָ שָּׁ֛ם לֹא־תֵרֵ֥ד מִמֶּ֖נָּה כִּי־מ֥וֹת תָּמֽוּת׃
The messengers told the king, “A man came toward us and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him: Thus said YHWH: Is there no God in Israel that you must send to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Assuredly, you shall not rise from the bed you are lying on, but shall die.’”
When they tell the king that ‘a hairy man with nothing but leather strapped around his waist’ demanded their return, the king recognizes his parents’ long time foe, Elijah, and sends troops to bring the prophet, on top of a hill, to the palace. Eiljah turns into a fire storm and burns to a crisp the first two units of soldiers that come to bring him to the king - 100 soldiers killed in all. The head of the third unit begs for mercy and is rewarded by reprieve - the soldiers are spared Elijah’s fire. But it’s too late for the king - he’ll only rule for a year and never get out of bed. Baalzebub never got a chance to help.
Who is this Baal-Zebub whose supposed medical/miracle powers so angered Elijah and who shows up for the first time in the Bible in today’s chapter?
This elusive god’s career would go a long way into the halls of hell and the underworlds before becoming the infamous Lord of Flies in Golding's book.
For starters, his name may have originally been Ba'al-zəbûl, "Lord of the Heavenly Abode” - dwelling", a local Canaanite deity reviled and renamed by the later Israelites as Baal-Zebub - the God of Flies.
Why flies? He’s usually explained as a god who expels or destroys flies; though it may also mean the patron or controller of flies. The two explanations may be combined in one, or rather the second may include the first; for the god who has power to drive away any plague has also power to send it.
And while not a lot of info is given in these chapters, it would appear that in those days it was a deity associated with some sort of medical care and healing.
By the time this deity migrated to post biblical writings, he’s already much more demonic.
The Testament of Solomon, written in Greek, is assumed to have been written in the 1st century CE although edited much later, and is a mysterious narration of the building of King Solomon’s Temple including the king’s battles with demons, by the use of a magic seal. Beelzebul (not Beelzebub) appears there as the prince of the demons, associated with the star Hesperus - Venus or the Morningstar. At some point he becomes identified with Lucifer. Scholars argue about the Jewish or Christian origins of the text and what’s really interesting is that it seems to contain a strong authoritarian critique: “Beelzebul claims to cause destruction through tyrants, to cause demons to be worshiped among men, to excite priests to lust, to cause jealousies in cities and murders, and to bring about war.”
By the time he shows up in the New Testament BaalZebul is the Chief of Demons, whose sinister role only keeps growing through the years, along with his prominent place in hell, and his connection to demonic possessions. In Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ he’ll become one of the fallen angels, among the top three who run the place.
Perhaps his presence here comes to illustrate how polytheistic the Israelite reality is - and how Elijah - chief among the zealous prophets - fought so hard against the growing trend?
Either way - the young king never heals and dies in bed.
Back in the royal courts of Israel and Judah, succession goes on. Yehoram, Ahab’s younger son, replaces his dead brother. Jezebel stays on as Queen Mother. In Judah, a rival king by the same name replaces Jehoshaphat. The two King Yehorams are about to become related.
Under a new disguise, the elusive lord of flies will buzz his way again into the Hebrew Bible but not for a while. For now, the forces in charge respond to Elijah and his apprentice Elisha who is also about to take over and show up his knowledge of how to handle - and mishandle - the dark arts and the other sides of life and death.
Welcome to Kings, Part Two.
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