Belphegor

Belphegor (or Baal Peor, Biblical Hebrew: בַּעַל-פְּעוֹר, romanized: baʿal-pəʿōr, lit. 'Lord of the Gap') is, in Christianity, a demon associated with one of the seven deadly sins. According to religious tradition, he helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by proposing incredible inventions that will make them rich. According to some demonologists from the 17th century, his powers are strongest in April. Peter Binsfeld (ca. 1540–ca.1600), the auxiliary bishop of Trier and a witch hunter, wrote that Belphegor tempts through laziness. According to Binsfeld's Classification of Demons, Belphegor is the main demon of sloth in the Christian tradition. The anonymous author of the Lollard work, The Lanterne of Light, however, believed Belphegor to embody gluttony rather than sloth.

Belphegor derives from Baal-Peor, a Baal worshipped at a high place in the Heresy at Peor, to whom the Israelites were associated in Shittim (Numbers 25:3) and who was associated with intemperance and orgies. He was worshiped in the form of a phallus. As a demon, he is described in Kabbalistic writings as "the one who quarrels", an enemy of the sixth sefira, Tiferet "Beauty". In stories where he is invoked, he bestows wealth, power to make discoveries, and the ability to create fantastic inventions. His role as a demon was to sow dispute between people, and to lead them to evil through the distribution of wealth.

The palindromic prime number 1000000000000066600000000000001 is known as Belphegor's prime, due to the superstitious significance of the numbers it contains. Belphegor's prime number consists of the number 666, surrounded on both sides by thirteen zeros and finally one one.

According to De Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, Belphegor was Hell's ambassador to France. As a result, his enemy is Mary Magdalene, one of the patron saints of France.