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Belphegor
In demonology, Belphegor (or Beelphegor, Hebrew: פְּ עוֹר-בַּ ﬠַל
baʿal-pə[ġ]ʿōr - 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.
History
Belphegor originated as Baal-Peor, the Moabite the father of god Belphegor illustration from the
to whom the Israelites became attached in Shittim (Numbers Dictionnaire Infernal
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.
Belphegor also figures in John Milton's Paradise Lost and in Victor Hugo's The Toilers of the Sea.
Belfagor arcidiavolo by the Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli was first published in 1549 and
regales how the demon comes to earth to find a mate. This story became the initial source material for
Ottorino Respighi's opera Belfagor which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1923.
References
1. Wendy Doniger (1999). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions (https://books.googl
e.com/books?visbn=0-87779-044-2&id=ZP_f9icf2roC&pg=RA1-PA287&lpg=RA1-PA287&dq=Belp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belphegor 1/2
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