BEELZEBUB (be-el'ze but)), (Gr. beh el-zeb-oot I, a heathen deity, believed to be the prince of evil spirits (Matt. x:25; X11:2.1, 27; Mark iii 22; Luke xilr„ so. The name properly should be Beelzebtel in all die N. T. passages.
There is no doubt that the reading Brelzebuf is the one which has the support of almost every critical authority ; and the Beelzebub of the Pcshito (if indeed it is not a corruption, as Nlichaelis thinks), and of the Vulgate, and of sonic modern versions, has probably been accommodated to the name of the Philistine god Baakebub.
B, some Beelzebul is thought to mean tLe theng-god, an expression intended to designate with twilling the prince of all moral impurity. It is supposed, at the same time, that the name Beelzebub, the Philistine god of flies, was changed to 13eelzebu/ t"god of dung"), and employed in a jocular way as a name of the devil. Others pre fer to derive the word from ban'al-ze-bool', the lord of the dwelling in which evil spirits dwell. BEER (be'er), (Heb.; be-ayr', a well), a lo cal proper name, denoting, whether by itself or in composition, the presence of a well of water. There
were two places so called.
1. A place in the land of Moab, which was one of the encampments of the Israelites (Num. xxi:16), beyond the Amon, and so called because of the "well" dug by the princes and nobles of the people. This is probably the Beer-Ellin ("well of heroes") of Is. xv :8.
2. A town in the tribe of Judah. It is men tioned only once in Scripture (Judg. ix:21) as the place to which Jotham fled. It is supposed to be the modern Bireh, a large village situated on the ridge, running from east to west, which bounds the northern prospect, as beheld from Jerusalem and its vicinity, and may be seen from a great distance north and south. It is now a large vil lage, with a population of 70o Moslems. The houses are low, and many of them half under ground. Many large stones and various substruc tions evince the antiquity of the site: and there are remains of a fine old church of the time of the Crusades.