Belial

American  

[bee-lee-uhl, beel-yuhl] / ˈbi li əl, ˈbil yəl /

noun

1. Theology. the spirit of evil personified; the devil; Satan.

2. (in Milton'sParadise Lost ) one of the fallen angels.

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Belial British  

/ ˈbiːlɪəl /

noun

1. a demon mentioned frequently in apocalyptic literature: identified in the Christian tradition with the devil or Satan

2. (in the Old Testament and rabbinical literature) worthlessness or wickedness

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Etymology

Origin of Belial

< Hebrew bəliyyaʿal, equivalent to bəlī without + yaʿal, worth, use

Example Sentences

When Milton’s devils can sing so beautifully that their listeners forget they are in hell, when the devil Belial rejects extinction, “for who would lose, / Though full of pain, this intellectual being, / Those thoughts that wander through eternity,” the poet may have in mind the Hebrew merism “good and bad,” which encompasses both and all that lies between, complicating the stark English binary “good and evil.”

From New York Times

The Messiah, the Teacher of Righteousness, is opposed to a Demon of Evil, most frequently known as Belial or Beliar.

From The New Yorker

In this case, it’s 1891 and two bitter rivals, Pen Davenport and the sinisterly named Belial, are vying for a genuine treasure: Robert Louis Stevenson’s final novel.

From Seattle Times

Davenport and Belial insinuate themselves into Stevenson’s circle, disguised respectively as a writer and missionary.

From Seattle Times

It is a significant circumstance that David had been unable to inspire all his followers with his own spirit—that even at the end of his residence in Ziklag there were wicked men and men of Belial among them.

From Project Gutenberg