In Mark 3:22 a distinguished name has been mockingly denoted to Jesus – the name Beelzebul. This is how ESV puts it;
“And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ”
Other biblical references for this name are found at Mt 12.24; Lk 11.15; Mk 3.24; Mt 10.25 Mt 12.24–26; and Lk 11.15, 18–19.
WHO IS BEELZEBUL?
The name Beelzebul (Gk. Bεελζεβούλ, Beelzebub, in older Catholic translations, Latin and the Syriac versions) in the New Testament refers to "the prince of demons". However, the general understanding of this name may refer to Satan or the devil in the sense that the word ‘Satan’ (śātān ) in Hebrew and the devil (διάβολος) in Greek bears the same meaning – adversary, accuser, and slanderer.
On the other hand, the form Beelzebub cannot be disconnected from the Aramaic word b e' el-d ebābā, which has precisely the same meaning as the above-mentioned Hebrew and Greek words (i.e., adversary, accuser, Satan) and is itself a loanword from the Akkadian term bêl dabābi (literally "master of speech," but in usage, "litigant, an adversary in a lawsuit"). Both Beelzebub (Baal-Zebub) and Beelzebul (Baal-Zebul) draw upon divine epithets for non-Israelite deities.
The explanations, in the Masoretic text, of Beelzebub (Baal-Zebub) to mean "lord of the flies" or "lord of the dung" reflect popular etymologies. If they are ancient, they would express Israelite criticism of the Philistine deity of Ekron (2 Kgs 1:2–16) or Satan, the adversary in the heavenly court. Beelzebul probably means "lord of the temple" or "lord of the dwelling." It is likely that ‘z ebûl’ in this term meant "dwelling, temple" (cf. Is 63.15; 1 Kgs 8.13), or it is to be connected with the Ugaritic word ‘zbl’, meaning prince, ruler. The rendering of ‘ba’al z ebûl’ as Bεελζεβούβ (Beelzebub) by the Septuagint and Symmachus was probably due to its phonetic resemblance with the Aramaic word for Satan.
On the other hand, Zeboul might derive from a slurred pronunciation of zebûb; from zebel, a word used to mean "dung" in the Targums; or from Hebrew zebûl found in 1 Kings 8:13 in the phrase bêt-zebûl, "lofty house".
Kaufmann Kohler cited Geiger ("Urschrift," p. 53) who thinks that Baal Zebub, in his capacity as god of the hated Philistines, became the representative of the heathen power and consequently the arch-enemy, the foe par excellence, and therefore the name "Baal debaba" ("debaba" being the Aramaic form corresponding to Hebrew "Zebub") acquired the meaning of "hostility," the verb with the sense of "hostile action" being derived from it.
Sources
Mark 3:22 English Standard Version
J. Schnackenburg, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. J. Hofer and K. Rahner, 10 v. 2d, New ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 2:97. Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible, tr. and adap. by L. Hartman (New York 1963) 218. W. Foerster, in g. kittel, Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament (Stuttgart 1935–) 1:605–606.
Kaufmann Kohler, https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2732-beelzebub
**This article is recently posted on my blog at The Viewpoints