Bible Person
Meaning: god of the fly · Male · 4 cross references
Baal-zebub is the Philistine deity of Ekron consulted by Ahaziah, and this entry represents a false god rather than a human figure. He is one of the clearest examples of condemned pagan reliance in the monarchy narratives. First appears in 2 Kgs 1:2.1
AI summary: Baal-zebub matters because the cross references present him as the false source to which Ahaziah turns instead of seeking the Lord. Elijah's rebuke makes the theological issue explicit: consulting this deity is not merely diplomatic or cultural, but a direct rejection of God's authority. The name therefore becomes a shorthand for idolatrous misdirected trust. Taken together, the material presents Baal-zebub as a false god whose consultation exposes royal apostasy.1
Central Figure
Baal-zebub
Meaning: god of the fly
Fly-lord, the god of the Philistines at Ekron (2 Kings 1:2, 3, 16).
Fly-lord, the god of the Philistines at Ekron (2 Kings 1:2, 3, 16). This name was given to the god because he was supposed to be able to avert the plague of flies which in that region was to be feared. He was consulted by Ahaziah as to his recovery. 3
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, person metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.