Taking the meaning ' worthlessness,' we note that the ordinary use of ' Belial ' in the OT suits it very well ; ' sons of Belial ' or ' men of Belial ' means ' worthless or Avicked men,' according to the com- mon Hebrew idiom which substitutes a genitive for an adjective. The word is, however, twice used in the OT as a quasi- proper name. In Ps 18^*' we read of ' the cords of death,' ' the floods of Belial,' ' the cords of Sheol,' ' the snares of death ' ; here Belial = the under world. Again, in Nah 1^^ we read that Belial shall no more pass through Judah ; he is utterly cut off. In this passage Belial almost exactly corresponds to the 'man of lawlessness, the son of perdition ' of St. Paul (2 Th •2^, on which see JNIilligan, Thessalonians, London, 1908).
In 2 Co 6", where the best MSS (B C L P X) and most of the VSS (but not the Vulgate) read ' Beliar ' rather than 'Belial' (Peshitta 'Satan,' but the 5arklensian Syriac ' Beliar '), the word is used as a proper name = Satan, or else Antichrist, Satan's representative. This use of the word is found fre- quently in the literature of the period. In the Test, of the XII Patriarchs (Benj. 3), Belial is the ' aerial spirit ' (see Air), and frequently in this l)Ook (c. a.D. 100 ?) is identified with Satan. In the Sibylline Oracles (iii. 63, 74, where the reference to the ' Augustans ' or 'Le^aarrivol shows the passage to be a later interpolation, probably of 1st cent. A.D. ; see also ii. 167), Belial is Antichrist. In the As- cension of Isaiah (iv. 2), Beliar is 'the great angel, the king of this world.' This work in its present form is probably not later than A.D. 100.
There are many forms of this name, chiefly due to the ])honetic interchange of liquids : Belial, Beliar, Beliam, Belian, Beliab, Bellas, Berial.
Literature.— W. Baudissin in PRE'i ii. [1897] .548, and in ExpT\m. [1896-97] 360, 423, 472, ix. [1897-98] 40 ; T. K. Cheyne in Expositor, 5th ser., i. [1895] 435, in ExpT ix. 91, 332, also in EBi, «.?;.; P. Jensen in ExpT ix. 283 ; F. Hommel in ExpT ix. .'.G7 ; W. Bousset, Der Antichrist, G6ttinp:en, 1895, pp. sfi, 99 ; R. H. Charles, Ascension of Isaiah, London, 1900, pp. Ii, 6; Levi-Kohler in JE ii. 658. A. J. MACLEAN.
BELIEF.— See Faith.
BELOVED {ayair7]T6s, sometimes TjyaTrtj/j.^i'os ; ayair-rjTos is also sometimes translated in EV ' dearly beloved ' [Ro 12'9] or ' well beloved ' [16^, 3 Jn ']).— In the NT outside the Gospels ' beloved ' is found as [a) a description of Christ, {b) a description of Christians.
(a) For the first usage, cf. Eph 1^ (^7a'7r7;Ai^»'os) ; also 2 P 1" ' This is my beloved (a.yair7}T6s) Son, in M'hom I am well pleased.' The latter is a quota- tion from the gospel story (cf. Mt 17^).
[b) As applied to Christians the term is much more frequent. Sometimes it refers to their rela- tion to God. ' ayanr-qTOL dead is applied to Christians as being reconciled to God and judged by Him to be worthy of eternal life' (Grimin-Thayer, s.v. ayaw-nrdi). Cf. Ro V' , 1 Th 1^ Col S'^ (the Gr. in the last two cases is riyain]p.ivos). The commonest usage, however, is in reference to the mutual re- lations of Christians one to another ; cf. Philem '*, 1 Ti 6'^. ' Hence they are often dignified with this ej^ithet in tender address, both indirect (Ro 16^'^, Col 41-') and direct (Ro 12i9, 1 Co 4l^ He &, Ja l'«, 1 P 2", 2P 3i)'(Grimm-Thayer). Particularly noteworthy is the phrase dya-jriqTbs iv Kvplip (Ro 16^). In the sub-apostolic literature we find similar usages. riyaTnjfiivos is used of Christ in Barn. S" 4^* ^ (some place this work in the 1st cent. A.D., though a 2nd cent, date is more usual). In 1 Clem., which is generally admitted to be of the 1st cent., we have dyair-qros of the relation of Christians to God (8') ; while in the same epistle it is also found of the mutual relation of Christians to one another, and was a mode of address : ' beloved ' (l^- ^ etc.). Cf. also Barn. 4^"^
Origin and significance of the above usage. — In reference to Christ the origin of the term a.yair-t)TO's (T]yairr]iJ.ivos) is in Is 42^. As a name of our Lord it is parallel with iKXeKrds : both belong to the original Messianic stratum of early Christian theology, which, when set in opposition to the later developed 'pneumatic' Christology, receives the name of 'adoptianist.' Such opposition is, however, not necessary, as is shown by the occurrence of the term in Ephesians along with a highly developed Christ- ology.
The use of dyairyp-bs to describe Christ is, however, undoubtedly closely associated with the descrip- tion of Christians as -qyairTjixivoi deov. Cf. Harnack, Hist, of Dogma, Eng. tr., London, 1894-99, i. 185, note 4, where it is pointed out that ' Barnabas, who calls Christ the " Beloved," uses the same expres- sion for the Church.'
As regards the usage in reference to the mutual relation of Christians one to another, the only points which need comment are its frequency, and the evidence this attbrds of the spirit of brotherhood which characterized the Primitive Church.