Baal-zebub
Divided Kingdom
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H1176
Baal-zebub was the god of Ekron whom Ahaziah consulted about his illness.
Baal-zebub ('lord of the flies') was the deity of the Philistine city of Ekron, consulted by King Ahaziah of Israel after he was injured in a fall (2 Kings 1:2). The prophet Elijah intercepted the messengers and announced God's judgment: because Ahaziah had inquired of a foreign god rather than the LORD, he would not recover from his injury. The episode dramatizes the prophetic critique of syncretism and the exclusive claim of Yahweh as the true source of healing and knowledge in Israel.