BEE 



fapid; and, iinlefs it be from a very eld animal, k fifenerally 

 to be preferred. The chief difference of aliment in the ox 

 kind is that which appears between the old and younij. This 

 author obferves, that beef, though of a more firm texture," 

 and lefs foliible than mutton, is equally alkalefcent, perfpir- 

 able and nutritious. See Food. 



Beef-eater, in Ornitholoyy, the Englifh name o{ Btiphaga 

 Afrcana, a bird found on the banks of the rivers in Senegal, 

 and the only fpecics of the genus known. See Buphaga. 



BEEF-j/7an^, in Geography, a fmall ifland near the coail of 

 America, in the fouth-eaft angle of the bay of Camptachy, 

 the weft end of which is wafhed by the ealtwa'-d opening of 

 St. Peter and Paul river. It lies clofe to Tricfte ifland, is 

 7 leagues long, and from 3 to 4 broad, and has a fine fandy 

 bay, where (hips mav ride in 7 or 8 fathoms and be well 

 ftieltered. N.lat. 18^ 30'. W.long. 91" 30'. 



'S>i.ZT -ifland is alfo one of the fmaller Virgin iflands in the 

 Weft Indies, fituate between Dog ifland on the weft, and Tor- 

 tola on the eaft, in Sir Francis Drake's bay. It is about five 

 miles long, and one broad. N.lat. 1 3" 23'. W.long. 63^ 2'. 



BEEKMAN, a confiderable townfliip of America in 

 Duchefs county. New York, containing 3,597 inhabitants, 

 including 106 flaves. In the State cenfus of 1796, there 

 appear to be 502 eleftors in this townihip. 



BEELE, in Mining, an inftrument ufed by the work- 

 men to break and pick out the ore from the rocks in which 

 it lies. This inftrument is called by the tinmen in Coruwai! a 

 " tubber." It is an iron inftrument of eight or ten pounds 

 weight, made fliarp, and fteeled at both ends, and having a 

 hole in the middle, where the handle is fixed in. When the 

 ore lies in hard rocks, this inftrument wears out fo faft , that 

 it muft have new points made to it every fortnight. The 

 miners who dig up the ore in the mines, are, from the ufe 

 of this inftrument, called beele-men ; and thole who attend 

 them, and whofe bufinefs it is to take up the matter the 

 others loofen or break up, are, from their inftrument, which 

 is a broad and hollow iron fiiovel, or a wooden one, with a 

 very ftrong iron lip, called the " (hovellers." In Cornwall, 

 when the ore lies in a hard bed, they allow two flioveilers to 

 three beele-men ; and when it lies in a foft and earthy mat- 

 ter, two beelemen and three fhovellers are the proportion. 

 Phil. Tranf. N= 69. p. 2104. 



BEELIKE, in Geography, a town of Germany, in the 

 circle of the Lower Rhine, and duchy of Weftphalia, 4 miles 

 weft of Rhuden, and 10 E.N.E. of Arenlberg. 



BEELZEBUB, or Baalzebub, i.e. ihs lord of a J!y, 

 in Ancient Mythology, was a god of the Philiftines, and had 

 a temple and oracle at Ekron. (2 Kings, i, 2.) From 

 this paflage it appears, that the name was not given to this 

 objeit of idolatrous worlhip by way of contempt ; becaufe 

 it was ufed by Ahaziah at the very time when he was ac- 

 knowledging his divinity, and delirous of conlulting him con- 

 cerning his recovery. This is farther evident, from the 

 meaning of the appellation and the rcafon of its being given. 

 Hiftory informs us, that thofe who lived in hot climates, 

 and where the foil was moift, which was the cafe with the 

 Ekronites, who bordered upon the fea, were exceedingly in- 

 fefted with flies ; add thefe infefts were thought to occa- 

 fion contagious diftempers. Pliny (N. H. 1.x. C.2S. § 40.) 

 mentions a people who ftopped a pellilence which had been 

 thus occafioned by facrificing to the " fly-hunting god." 

 It feems not improbable that forae imagined cure of this 

 kind, or a general perfuafion of his power of driving away 

 flies from the places they frequented, might be the reafon 

 why the god of Ekron was called Beelzebub. For it was 

 cuftomary with the Heathens, to call their gods by the 

 name of thofe infects from which tiiey were believed to de-- 

 liver their worfhippers, The " god of flies," MwaJnj, asd 



BEE 



the " fly-hunter," Mm«-/fc;, were titles afcribed to Jupiter 

 as well as to Hercules. Indeed, fome of the Greek fathers 

 thought, that this " fly-god" was worfliipped under the 

 form of a fly : and it is obferved by Mr. Young (On Ido- 

 latry, vol. ii. p. 91,92.) that it was cuftomary with the 

 Heathens to veprcfent their gods by fome creatures that 

 were facred to them. However, the foppofed power of 

 this god over that noxious infect, the fly, feems to be the 

 moft probable reafon of the name of Beelzebub. Beel- 

 zebub, therefore, being a title of honour, and as fuch ap-- 

 plicd by his worfhippers to the god of Ekron, there is no 

 realon for doubting, that it was in ufe aniong the Phil;f- 

 tines, as well as among the Jews. (Bochart, vol. ii. p. ?^, 

 &c. Op. vol. iii. p. 500. S=lden de Diis. Syr. Syntag.^ii. 

 c. 6. p. 227. cd. Amft. 1680.) Among th.e Jews, the ap- 

 pellation Beelzebub, notwithilanding its feemiug meannefi, 

 could not be ufed as a ter.11 of derifion. For th^ Jews 

 had learned of the heathens to regard a power of drivin-r 

 away flies, as a divine prerogative ; endeavouring to pcr- 

 .fuade men, that the temple of Jerufalem, though fo many 

 facrifices were daily offered there, never had a fly upon it ; 

 thus copying, rather than deriding, what the heathens fa- 

 bled concerning fome of their temples, into which, accord- 

 ing to Pliny, Solinus, and others, no fly could enter. It 

 has been faid, indeed, that the Gre^k word ufed in the New 

 Teftament, is not " Beelzebub," but " Beelzebul," which 

 fignifies the " lord of a dunghill ;" and hence it has been 

 inferred, that this name could not have been ufed by the Hea- 

 thens ; but muft have been given by the Jews in derifion. Jerom, 

 however, not underftandiyig the common reading, changedBs-x- 

 ^!;3aA into BcEXfsSirjS; and this fubftitution has been approved by 

 feveral critics, has beenadoptedin thevulgate,andthence trans- 

 ferred into Luther'i tranflation. In the ancient languages it w.s 

 not uncommon to change b into / (fee letter B ;) and, on this 

 fuppofition, the Greek word wil agree v.ith the Hebrew, 

 (2 Kings, i, 2). But if Beelzebul be ufed as a different 

 name from Beelzebub, there will be no reafon for fjppofing 

 that it was ufed by the Jews as an expreffion of contempt. 

 Tlie Hebrew word *7T2*' zebel, properly fignifies "an 

 habitation," and as Stociiius obferves, is applied to the hea- 

 vens, the maniion of the deity. In this fenfe it will agree 

 with the title of Beelfemin, or Beelfamen, " the lord of hea- 

 ven," which theEkronites, andother Phoenicians, gave to their 

 fupreme numen. Whether, therefore, Beelzebub and Beel- 

 zebul be diff"erent names, or the fame name with different 

 terniinations, they defcribe the pcrfon Avhom the Keatheiis 

 regarded as their chief deity. 



Beelzebub, in the New Teftament, (Matt. sii. 24. Mark, 

 iii. 22.) is called af;j(;m ■zm la,ifiQ;ix'i, the prince of dcm.O!:^ 

 (prince of the devils, Engl. Tranf.) ; and it has been com- 

 monly apprehended, that demons and their prince are the 

 fame fpirits as the devil and his angels. Satan and Beel- 

 zebub, fay thofe that adopt this opinion, (See Doddridge 

 on Matt. xii. 25. Fam. EJcpof. vol. i. p. 391, note _;■. and 

 Pegge's Anfwer to Sykes) are names for tiie fame pcrfon ; 

 for when Chrift was reproached with calling out demons 

 by the aCGflance of the prince of demons, he replied, " How- 

 can Satan caft out Satan ? (Matt. xii. 26. Mark, iii. 23. 

 Luke, xi. 18.) Now if Satan, who is confidered as the 

 fame perfon v/ith the devil (Rev. ix. 12. Matt. iv. 1. com- 

 pared with Mark, i. 12.), was the prince of thofe demon?/ 

 who were caft out by Chrift ; then demons are the fame 

 fpirits as the devil's angels. And on this fuppofition, there 

 can be no other difference between demons and the devil than 

 that which fubfifts between a prince and his fubjctts, who 

 both partake of one common nature, though the prince, as 

 prefiding over the reft, hath a peculiar name of his own. 

 Dr. Lardner (Cafe of Demoniacs, p. 42. Works, vol. i. 



p.448.) 



