BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
GREEK · G955
Belial — Belial
Βελίαλ, ὁ, indecl. (Heb. בְּלִיַּעַל, worthlessness, but see DB, i, 268), Belial, a name of Satan: 2Co.6:15, Rec. See next word.† Βελιάρ, ὁ, indecl. (another form of previous word, "due to harsh Syriac pronunciation," or else Heb. בֵּל יַעַר, lord of the forest), Beliar, a name of Satan: 2Co.6:15 (see DB, i, 269).† (AS)
1 tagged verse occurrence · see every occurrence →(2 Kings 18:26; Ezra 4:7; Dan. 2:4), more correctly rendered “Aramaic,” including both the Syriac and the Chaldee languages. In the New Testament there are several Syriac words, such as “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” (Mark 15:34; Matt. 27:46 gives the Heb. form, “Eli, Eli”), “Raca” (Matt. 5:22), “Ephphatha” (Mark 7:34), “Maran-atha” (1 Cor. 16:22). A Syriac version of the Old Testament, containing all the canonical books, along with some apocryphal books (called the Peshitto, i.e., simple translation, and not a paraphrase), was made early in the second century, and is therefore the first Christian translation of the Old Testament. It was made directly from the original, and not from the LXX. Version. The New Testament was also translated from Greek into Syriac about the same time. It is noticeable that this version does not contain the Second and Third Epistles of John, 2 Peter, Jude, and the Apocalypse. These were, however, translated subsequently and placed in the version. (See VERSION.)
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.
