The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

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Satan is called Belial (or Beliar) on only one occasion in the New Testament. As Paul instructs the Corinthians to separate themselves from unbelievers, he asks a series of rhetorical questions: “For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols?” (2 Cor. 6:14-16, emphasis added).

The answer to all of these questions, of course, is “none whatsoever.” Paul contrasts the holiness of Christ with the wickedness of Satan. He also draws a sharp distinction between the expected behavior of Christians and followers of the evil one. But does Scripture provide us with other clues as to the identity of Belial?

The Hebrew word beliyya‘al occurs twenty-seven times in the Old Testament – never as a proper name for Satan, although there is an implied connection between beliyya‘al and the underworld. 

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