beliyaal · worthlessness, wickedness

What it means

beliyaal (בְּלִיַּעַל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “worthlessness, wickedness”.

Worthlessness, a thing of no value: "sons of belial" are worthless people who do evil. Later it was used as a name for the evil one (2 Corinthians 6:15).

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Good-for-nothing evil; vile people.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• wicked ×11
• perverse ×10
• perversity ×3
• wickedness ×1
• worthless fellows ×1
• worthlessness ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Deuteronomy×2
• Judges×2
• 1 Samuel×6
• 2 Samuel×4
• 1 Kings×3
• 2 Chronicles×1
• Job×1
• Psalms×3
• Proverbs×3
• Nahum×2

• Deuteronomy 13:13

  “Wicked men have gone out from among you and have dragged away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ whom you have not known,”

• Deuteronomy 15:9

  Guard yourself so that there is not a wicked word in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” and your eye is evil toward your brother, the needy one, and you do not give him anything, and he cries out against you to YHWH, and it becomes sin in you.

• Judges 19:22

  They were making their hearts merry, when the men of the city, perverse men, surrounded the house, beating on the door; and they spoke to the old man, the master of the house, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may know him.”

• Judges 20:13

  Now hand over the perverse men who are in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.

• 1 Samuel 1:16

  Do not regard your servant as a wicked woman, for out of the greatness of my complaint and my grief I have spoken until now.”

• 1 Samuel 2:12

  Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they did not know YHWH.

• 1 Samuel 10:27

  But wicked men said, “How can this one save us?” And they despised him and did not bring him tribute. But he was like one keeping silent.

• 1 Samuel 25:17

  Now, know and consider what you will do, for evil has been determined against our master and against all his house; and he is a man too wicked to speak to.”

• 1 Samuel 25:25

  Please do not let my lord set his heart on this wicked man, on Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and outrage is with him. But I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

• 1 Samuel 30:22

  Every evil and wicked man among the men who had gone with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with me, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have rescued, except to each man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and go.”

• 2 Samuel 16:7

  This is what Shimei said as he cursed: “Get out, get out, you man of blood and wicked man!

• 2 Samuel 20:1

  There happened to be a wicked man whose name was Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjaminite; he blew the horn and said, “We have no portion in David, and no inheritance for us in the son of Jesse! Each man to his tents, Israel!”

• 2 Samuel 22:5

  For the waves of death encompassed me; the torrents of wickedness terrified me.

• 2 Samuel 23:6

  But the wicked are like thorns thrown away, all of them, for they are not taken with the hand.

• 1 Kings 21:10

  and seat two men, perverse men, opposite him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You have cursed Elohim and the king’; then take him out and stone him, and let him die.”

• 1 Kings 21:13

  And the two men, perverse men, came in and sat opposite him; and the perverse men testified against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed Elohim and the king.” So they took him out outside the city and stoned him with stones, and he died.

• 2 Chronicles 13:7

  Empty men, worthless fellows, gathered around him and made themselves strong against Rehoboam son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender of heart, and he did not hold firm before them.

• Job 34:18

  Is it said to a king, ‘Perverse!’ and ‘Wicked!’ to nobles?

• Psalms 18:4

  The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of perversity terrified me.

• Psalms 41:8

  “A thing of perversity has been poured out on him, and he who has lain down will not rise again.”

• Psalms 101:3

  I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness; the doing of those who turn aside I hate; it will not cling to me.

• Proverbs 6:12

  A perverse person, a man of wickedness, goes about with perversity of mouth;

• Proverbs 16:27

  A perverse man digs up evil, and on his lips it is like a scorching fire.

• Proverbs 19:28

  A perverse witness mocks justice, and the mouth of the wicked swallows wickedness.

• Nahum 1:11

  From you has come out one who devises evil against YHWH, a counselor of perversity.

• Nahum 1:15

  Look, on the mountains the feet of the one who brings good news, who makes peace heard! Celebrate, Judah, your festivals; fulfill your vows; for the perverse one will not again pass through you; he is entirely cut off.

And 1 more times.