Baalberith

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Baalberith or Balberith is a Canaanite deity .

Most sources see him as the Lord (Baal) of the treaties, where he, allegedly, testified to the oaths of the Phoenicians and is sometimes equated with Ba'al ; he is also lord of the infernal alliance (probably “adapted” in the course of Christianization ; cf. Baal as a demon ). He commands over 66 legions of demonic spirits and rules over the east. Some see Baalberith as the devil himself or as the god of death, while others want to see him as a demon of blasphemy and death or murder or as a demon of the 2nd order. A general view as Secretary General and custodian of the hellish archives was not uncommon or unusual here.

There are even some sources that equate him with the Archangel Raphael, which can probably be attributed to the fact that both mostly work in secret, in secret.

literature

  • JC DeMoor, בעל, Theological Dictionary to the Old Testament , ed. GJ Botterweck, H. Ringgren, Vol. 1, Col. 706-718.