The Meaning of Ba'al in Hebrew

I remember the first time I heard someone use the word "Beelzebub" in a sentence. It was a joke or pun of some sort, and everyone around me was laughing. Only I was not. I was clueless about what that word meant and clueless about why the comment was funny. It is one of those awkward moments many who did not grow up speaking English in America might experience. Language is very cultural, and how people use it is often dictated by their culture. In this case, the culture is the English Bible. Only later did I learn that Beelzebub is a stand-in for the Devil. The words stem from the English translation of Matthew 12:24. It is actually a first-century Hebrew term - Ba'al Zevuv (בַּעַל זְבוּב) which means "Lord of the flies."

People think they know things, especially when they encounter words, they are familiar with, but that could be deceiving when those words originate from languages they do not know. Baal is a Hebrew word, and though most know it as the name of the Canaanite idol, there is much more. Enjoy this informative video!