“He is possessed by Beelzebul”
And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, 'He is possessed by Beelzebul,' and, 'By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.' (Mark 3:22 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A random demon name.
The cultural key
A stack of insults with history. Baal-zebul, 'Baal the Prince / lord of the lofty dwelling,' was a Canaanite deity title; Hebrew scripture mocked it as Baal-zebub, 'lord of the flies' (2 Kings 1:2). By Jesus' day it named the prince of demons. Jesus' wordplay: zebul echoes 'house/lofty abode,' so when his enemies call him Beelzebul they are literally calling the 'master of the house' (oikodespotēs) by a demonic 'lord of the house' title, and his household should expect the same slur. In Mark the charge comes from an official delegation 'come down from Jerusalem': an early formal verdict from the capital. The same scene carries the warning about the unforgivable sin, defined here as calling the Spirit's work demonic.
Recovered meaning
'They've branded the head of the family a demon lord; you, the household, won't be treated better.' Expect your teacher's reputation, not above it.