Belphegor

Belphegor (or Beelphegor, Hebrew: בַּעַל-פְּעוֹר‎ baʿal-pəʿōr - Lord of the Gap) is a demon, and one of the seven princes of Hell, who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to them ingenious inventions that will make them rich. According to some 16th-century demonologists, his power is stronger in April. Belphegor tempts by means of laziness. Belphegor is the chief demon of the deadly sin known as Sloth in Christian tradition.

Belphegor originated as the Assyrian Baal-Peor, the Moabitish god to whom the Israelites became attached in Shittim (Numbers 25:3), which was associated with licentiousness and orgies. It was worshipped in the form of a phallus. As a demon, he is described in Kabbalistic writings as the "disputer", an enemy of the sixth Sephiroth "beauty". When summoned, he can grant riches, the power of discovery and ingenious invention. His role as a demon was to sow discord among men and seduce them to evil through the apportionment of wealth. Legend has it that Belphegor was dispatched from Hell by Lucifer to search for examples of wedded bliss, if any existed, on earth. The demon found none in his travels. This tale has been reworked in many literary works, and the name Belphegor came to signify misanthropy and licentiousness.

Baal-Peor

Lord of the opening, a god of the Moabites (Numbers 25:3; 31:16; Joshua 22:17), worshipped by obscene rites. So called from Mount Peor, where this worship was celebrated, the Baal of Peor. In Rabbinical Literature, Baal-Peor is the name of a Canaanitish god. Peor was a mountain in Moab , whence the special locality Beth-peor (Deut. iii. 29, etc.) was designated. The god is himself also called "Peor" by abbreviation . It is commonly held that this form of Ba'al-worship especially called for sensual indulgence. The context seems to favor his view, on account of the shameful licentiousness into which many of the Israelites were there enticed.

See Also

Sephiroth

Belphegor