Beelzebub

In Act II, Scene iii, the Porter responds to the knocking at the gate with, “Knock, knock, knock! Who’s there, i’ th’ name of Beelzebub?” This name first apprears in the Old Testament in 2 KINGS 1:2 as the name of “the god of Ekron,” which was a Philistine city. Extrabiblical Canaanite texts reveal the name of the god to be Baal-Zebul, literally “Baal, the Prince.” Baal-Zebub is likely an Israelite parody and play on words.  Baal-Zebub is translated “Lord of the Flies,” a title which author William Golding took for the name of his most famous work. The term find Jesus, the Pharisees and the scribes all referring to Satan by this name in the New Testament (MATTHEW 10:25; 12:24; MARK 3:22; LUKE 11:15).