Baal-Berith: Canaanite God to Demon
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Baal-berith
"berith" redirects here. For other uses, see berith (disambiguation).
Baal-Berith was the god of the Canaanite city, who later came to be viewed as the demon Baalberith by Christian
demonology. According to the Book of Judges, his temple was destroyed when Abimelech quelled the rising of his
subjects. The name denotes a form of Ba'al-worship prevailing in Israel, according to the Book of Judges, and
particularly in Shechem. The term "Ba'al" is shown by the equivalent "El-berith" to mean "the God of the Covenant."
The 'Covenant' (Hebrew: Berith) to which this refers may refer to treaties such as one with the Canaanitic league of
which Shechem was the head, or the covenant between Israel and the people of Shechem. The term is considered by
some to be too abstract to have been occasioned by a single set of conditions. Moreover, the temple of the god in
Shechem implies a permanent establishment. Probably the name and the cult were widespread and ancient (see
Baalim), though it is mentioned only in connection with the affairs of Shechem.
In Rabbinical Literature
The idol Baalberith, which the Jews worshipped after the death of Gideon, was identical, according to the Rabbis,
with Baal-zebub, "the ba'al of flies," the god of Ekron (II Kings i. 2). He was worshipped in the shape of a fly; and
Jewish tradition states that so addicted were the Jews to his cult that they would carry an image of him in their
pockets, producing it, and kissing it from time to time. Baal-zebub is called Baal-berith because such Jews might be
said to make a covenant (Hebrew: "Berit") of devotion with the idol, being unwilling to part with it for a single
moment (Shab. 83b; comp. also Sanh. 63b). According to another conception, Baal-berith was an obscene article of
idolatrous worship, possibly a simulacrum priapi (Yer. Shab. ix. 11d; 'Ab. Zarah iii. 43a). This is evidently based on
the later significance of the word "berit," meaning circumcision.
Baalberith in Christian demonology
Baalberith was the chief secretary of Hell, head of its public archives, and the demon who tempted men to
blasphemy and murder. When seated among the princes of Hell, he was usually seen as a pontiff. He tells things of
the past, present and future with true answers; he can also turn all metals into gold, give dignities to men and confirm
them. He was also quite a voluble sort: according to the Admirable History written by Father Sebastien Michaelis in
1612, Baalberith once possessed a nun in Aix-en-Provence. In the process of the exorcism, Baalberith volunteered
not only his own name and the names of all the other demons possessing her, but the names of the saints who would
be most effective in opposing them.
References
Further reading
J.C. DeMoor, , Theologisches Wrterbuch zum Alten Testament, hrsg. G.J. Botterweck, H. Ringgren, Bd. 1,
Col. 706-718.
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, A. Crowley, The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (1904). 1995 reprint:
ISBN 0-87728-847-X.
"Berith - Goetia, the Lesser Key of Solomon the King: Lemegeton." [Link] - Demonology, Fallen
Angels, and the Philosophy of Good and Evil. 30 Apr. 2009
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Baal-berith
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External links
This articleincorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Baal-berith" (http:/ / www.
jewishencyclopedia. com/ view. jsp?artid=4& letter=B). Jewish Encyclopedia. 19011906.
This articleincorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911).
Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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