Mark 3:22

‘And the Scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzeboul, and by the prince of the devils he casts out devils”.'

Note the immediate parallel with what Jesus' family and friends were saying of Him. They said that He was mad. These said that He was possessed with a powerful devil. The world can never understand those who truly follow Jesus Christ.

‘The scribes who came down from Jerusalem.' It was certainly something pretty important that drew these great teachers to wretched Galilee. As they were not talking in front of Jesus (Mark 3:23) we can assume that they were meeting in a semi-official council, so that their decision was one to be passed on as bearing their seal of approval.

‘He has Beelzeboul.' Their decision was that He Himself was possessed (always the best way to discredit someone), and not just by any evil spirit but by the great Beelzeboul, prince of devils, himself (compare John 7:20; John 8:48; John 8:52; John 10:20). This may well have started the rumours that Jesus was mad (compare John 10:20).

‘Beel' probably represents ‘baal' (‘lord'). Different manuscripts and versions present the full name differently, ‘Beelzebub' (Syriac and Vulgate versions - probably taken from the name of an oracular god in 2 Kings 1:2), ‘Beelzeboul' in most manuscripts, ‘Beezeboul' in a few, but including weighty ones. The latter may have dropped the ‘l' because ‘lz' was difficult to Greek speakers. The original is probably Beelzeboul. ‘Zeboul' may represent ‘zebel' (dung) or ‘zebul' (dwelling). Thus the name may mean ‘lord of the house (or dwelling)' (see Matthew 10:25 b which seems to confirm this). This would explain the stress on ‘house' in Jesus' repudiation. Matthew 10:25 b suggests that Beelzeboul is seen as master over a household of devils.

‘By the prince of devils He casts out devils.' How could a man cast out devils? Why, by being possessed by their prince. This was their explanation of His power. (The irony of this comes out in that He has already appointed twelve Apostles, one of whose two primary tasks was to cast out devils). The only other alternative would have been to acknowledge Him as a prophet of God, and that they would not do. He was not subservient enough to them. In Mark Beelzeboul and the prince of devils might be seen as two separate representations, but Luke 11:15 tells us that ‘Beelzeboul' did in fact represent the prince of devils. So they tried to argue that Jesus was devil possessed.