Belial - Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The term belial (בליעל bĕli-yaal) is a Hebrew adjective meaning "worthless" from two common words beli- (בְּלִי "without-") and ya'al ( יָעַל "value") It occurs twenty-seven times in the Masoretic Text in verses such as the following:

• "A worthless man (Hebrew adam beli-yaal)" Book of Proverbs 6:12

Of these 27 occurences the idiom "sons of Belial" (בְּנֵֽי־בְלִיַּעַל beni beliyaal) appears 15 times to indicate worthless people, including; idolators (Deuteronomy 13:13), the men of Gibeah (Judges 19:22, 20:13), and the sons of Eli (1 Samuel 2:12, Nabal and Shimei) and so on. In the King James Version these occurences are rendered with "Belial" capitalised:

• "the sons of Eli were sons of Belial " (KJV)

In modern versions these are usually read as a phrase:

• "the sons of Eli were worthless men " (NRSV, NIV)

In the Hebrew text the phrase is either "sons of Belial," or simply "sons of worthlessness." However "sons of" phrases are a common semitic idiom such as "sons of destruction" "sons of lawlessness"

The etymology of the word is traditionally understood as "lacking worth". Some scholars translate it from Hebrew as "worthless" (Beli yo'il), while others translate it as "yokeless" (Beli ol), "may have no rising" (Belial) or "never to rise" (Beli ya'al). Only a few etymologists have assumed it to be an invented name from the start. (Be′li·al) . The quality or state of being useless, base, good for naught. The Hebrew term beli·ya′‛al is applied to ideas, words, and counsel, to calamitous circumstances, and most frequently, to good-for-nothing men of the lowest sort—for example, men who would induce worship of other gods; those of Benjamin who committed the sex crime at Gibeah; the wicked sons of Eli; insolent Nabal; opposers of God’s anointed, David; Rehoboam’s unsteady associates; Jezebel's conspirators against Naboth; and men in general who stir up contention. Indicating that the enemy power would no longer interfere with the carrying out of true worship by his people in their land, Jehovah declared through his prophet: "No more will any good-for-nothing person pass again through you. In his entirety he will certainly be cut off."