The meaning of this word is much disputed, some associate it with BAAL-ZEBUB, “lord of the fly,” in the Old Testament, but others believe it to be a term of contempt, signifying “lord of dung.” The Jews, who blasphemously charged the Lord with casting out demons by Beelzebul (as it should be spelled), call him “the prince of the demons,”‘ which sufficiently explains their meaning to be that the one who was the head of those demons enabled the Lord to cast them out (Matt. 10:25; Matt. 12:24, 27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 18-19). The Lord shows the folly of supposing that the same evil one who was seeking to build up a kingdom should be at the same time the means of pulling it down. He also denounces the dreadful blasphemy of saying that the work done by the Holy Spirit was accomplished by the influence of Satan: this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was the sin that should never be forgiven. (Compare also 2 Kings 1:2).