Sons of Belial
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Lawless, worthless, rebel- lious people. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Sons of Belial” mean?
Lawless, worthless, rebel- lious people. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial.
Is “Sons of Belial” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.