1 Samuel 10:27

But the children of Belial said.

The sons of Belial

The word Belial is found but once in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:15). In the Hebrew of the Old Testament it is found twenty-seven times. It is several times translated wicked (Deuteronomy 15:9; Job 34:18; Psalms 101:3; Nehemiah 1:11; Neh 1:15). It is also rendered ungodly (Proverbs 16:17; Proverbs 19:28). It is twice rendered ungodly men (2 Samuel 22:5; Psalms 18:4). In Psalms 12:8, it is rendered evil, and in Proverbs 6:12, naughty. In all other places it is simply transferred from the original to the common version; and so we read of a man of Belial, men of Belial, a son of Belial, the sons of Belial, and children of Belial. As a designation of character the word always points to the vile--those who draw iniquity with a cart rope. Indeed, the word Belial itself seems to mean worthlessness, nothingness, or destruction. That vile men are worthless, and can at last be put to no good purpose, but to be burned, is argued at length in Ezekiel 15:1. See Proverbs 10:20; Matthew 25:30; Romans 3:12; Romans 3:16. A man of Belial is one who destroys much good, but he restores nothing; scatters much wretchedness, but makes no one happy, and is dead while he lives, because he lives to himself. He is a vain, naughty, worthless, wretched being. The Anakims are an extinct race; but the sons of Belial live on, and are many. This is strange, for but few of them live out half their days. Their vices are very wasting. But still they are numerous. David speaks of floods of them in his time. Where wicked laws prevail and wicked men are in power, they are spawned by the thousand. When Ahab and Jezebel have sway the dogs will be licking up the blood of innocent men. (W. L. Plumer, D. D.)

The importance of self-command in a leader

Said Napoleon concerning his success as a military leader: “My extreme youth when I took command of the army of Italy made it necessary for me to evince great reserve of manner, and the utmost severity of morals. This was indispensable to enable me to sustain authority over men so greatly superior in age and experience. I pursued a line of conduct in the highest degree irreproachable and exemplary. In spotless morality I was a Cato, and must have appeared such to all. I was a philosopher and a sage. My supremacy could be retained only by proving myself a better man than any other in the army. Had I yielded to human weaknesses, I should have lost my power.”