Matthew 12:24

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons.

Regarding the meaning of "Beelzebub," see under Matthew 10:25. Charges of the Pharisees were not honest. They would have denied the miracles if possible; but, unable to do that, they spoke maliciously about the source of his power. "Beelzebub" was a combination of two ancient words, "Baal," the name of the old god of the Canaanites, and [~zebul], meaning "dunghill." In the lore of the Pharisees, "Baal-zebul," or Beelzebub, as he came to be called, was said to be the prince of devils, or demons. How shameful it was that they linked the name of the Saviour with that false god. In spite of those vile charges having been initiated in deceit and malice on the part of their progenitors, the widening river of sin carried those slanders far from their source; and thus it is found that Celsus repeated them, with embellishments of his own, more than a century later, in 170 A.D., as did also the later Jewish Talmudists.