| <p> ' ''''bā´al̀''''' ( בּעל , < i> '''''ba‛al''''' </i> ; Βάαλ , <i> '''''Báal''''' </i> , or Βαάλ , <i> '''''Baál''''' </i> ): The [[Babylonian]] Belu or Bel, " Lord," was the title of the supreme god among the Canaanites. </ p> <p> I. Name and Character of Baal </p> <p> II. [[ Attributes]] of Baal </p> <p> III. Baal-Worship </p> <p> IV. Temples, etc. </p> <p> V. Use of the Name </p> <p> VI. Forms of Baal </p> <p> 1 . Baal-berith </p> <p> 2. Baal-gad </p> <p> 3. Baal-hamon </p> <p> 4 . Baal-hermon </p> <p> 5. Baal-peor </p> <p> 6. Baal-zebub </p> <h4> I. Name and Character of Baal </h4> <p> In [[Babylonia]] it was the title specially applied to [[Merodach]] of Babylon, which in time came to be used in place of his actual name. As the word in [[Hebrew]] also means "possessor," it has been supposed to have originally signified, when used in a religious sense, the god of a particular piece of land or soil. Of this, however, there is no proof, and the sense of "possessor" is derived from that of "lord." The Babylonian Bel-Merodach was a Sun-god, and so too was the Can Baal whose full title was Baal-Shemaim, "lord of heaven." The Phoenician writer Sanchuniathon ( <i> '''''Philo Byblius''''' </i> , Fragmenta II) accordingly says that the children of the first generation of mankind "in time of drought stretched forth their hands to heaven toward the sun; for they regarded him as the sole Lord of heaven, and called him <i> '''''Beel''''' </i> - <i> '''''samēn''''' </i> , which means 'Lord of Heaven' in the Phoenician language and is equivalent to Zeus in Greek" Baal-Shemaim had a temple at Umm el-Awamid between Acre and Tyre, and his name is found in inscriptions from the Phoenician colonies of [[ Sardinia]] and Carthage. </p> <h4> II. Attributes of Baal </h4> <p> As the Sun-god, Baal was worshipped under two aspects, beneficent and destructive. On the one hand he gave light and warmth to his worshippers; on the other hand the fierce heats of summer destroyed the vegetation he had himself brought into being. Hence, human victims were sacrificed to him in order to appease his anger in time of plague or other trouble, the victim being usually the first-born of the sacrificer and being burnt alive. In the Old [[Testament]] this is euphemistically termed "passing" the victim "through the fire" ( 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 21:6 ). The forms under which Baal was worshipped were necessarily as numerous as the communities which worshipped him. Each locality had its own Baal or divine "Lord" who frequently took his name from the city or place to which he belonged. Hence, there was a Baal-Zur, "Baal of Tyre"; Baal-hermon, "Baal of Hermon" ( Judges 3:3 ); Baal-Lebanon, "Baal of Lebanon"; Baal-Tarz, "Baal of Tarsus." At other times the title was attached to the name of an individual god; Thus we have Bel-Merodach, "the Lord Merodach" (or "Bel is Merodach") at Babylon, Baal-Melkarth at Tyre, Baal-gad ( Joshua 11: 17 ) in the north of Palestine. Occasionally the second element was noun as in Baal-Shemaim, "lord of heaven," [[Baalzebub]] ( 2 Kings 1:2 ), "Lord of flies," <i> '''''Baal''''' </i> - <i> '''''Hammān''''' </i > , usually interpreted "Lord of heat," but more probably "Lord of the sunpillar," the tutelary deity of Carthage. All these various forms of the Sun-god were collectively known as the [[Baalim]] or "Baals" who took their place by the side of the female [[Ashtaroth]] and Ashtrim. At [[Carthage]] the female consort of Baal was termed <i> '''''Penē''''' </i> - <i> '''''Baal''''' </i> , " the face" or "reflection of Baal." </p> <h4> III. Baal -Worship </h4> <p> In the earlier days of Hebrew history the title Baal, or " Lord," was applied to the national God of Israel, a usage which was revived in later times, and is familiar to us in the King James Version. Hence both [[ Jonathan]] and [[David]] had sons called Merib-baal ( 1 Chronicles 8:31; 1 Chronicles 9:40 ) and [[Beeliada]] ( 1 Chronicles 14:7 ). After the time of Ahab, however, the name became associated with the worship and rites of the Phoenician deity introduced into [[Samaria]] by Jezebel, and its idolatrous associations accordingly caused it to fall into disrepute. Hosea ( Hosea 2:16 ) declares that henceforth the God of [[Israel]] should no longer be called Baali, "my Baal," and personal names like Esh-baal ( 1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39 ), and Beelinda into which it entered were changed in form, Baal being turned into <i> '''''bōsheth''''' </i> which in Heb at any rate conveyed the sense of "shame." </p> <h4> IV. Temples, Etc </h4> <p> [[Temples]] of Baal at Samaria and [[Jerusalem]] are mentioned in 1 Kings 1:18; where they had been erected at the time when the Ahab dynasty endeavored to fuse [[Israelites]] and Jews and Phoenicians into a single people under the same national Phoenician god. Altars on which incense was burned to Baal were set up in all the streets of Jerusalem according to Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 11:13 ), apparently on the flat roofs of the houses ( Jeremiah 32:29 ); and the temple of Baal contained an image of the god in the shape of a pillar or [[Bethel]] ( 2 Kings 10:26 , 2 Kings 10:27 ). In the reign of Ahab, Baal was served in Israel by 450 priests ( 1 Kings 18:19 ), as well as by prophets ( 2 Kings 10:19 ), and his worshippers wore special vestments when his ritual was performed ( 2 Kings 10:22 ). The ordinary offering made to the god consisted of incense ( Jeremiah 7:9 ) and burnt sacrifices; on extraordinary occasions the victim was human ( Jeremiah 19: 5 ) . At times the priests worked themselves into a state of ecstasy, and dancing round the altar slashed themselves with knives ( 1 Kings 18:26 , 1 Kings 18:28 ), like certain dervish orders in modern Islam. </p> < h4> V. Use of the Name </h4> <p> In accordance with its signification the name of Baal is generally used with the definite art.; in the [[Septuagint]] this often takes the feminine form, ἀισχύνη , <i> '''''aischúnē''''' </i> " shame" being intended to be read. We find the same usage in Romans 11:4 . The feminine counterpart of Baal was [[Baalah]] or [[Baalath]] which is found in a good many of the local names (see Baethgen, <i> Beitrage zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte </i> , 1888). </p> <h4> VI. Forms of Baal </h4> <p> 1. [[Baal-Berith]] </ p> <p> Baal-berith בּעל בּרית , <i> '''''ba‛al berı̄th''''' </i> ; Βααλβερίθ , <i> ''''' Baalberı́th''''' </i> , "Covenant Baal," was worshipped at [[Shechem]] after the death of [[Gideon]] ( Judges 8:33; Judges 9:4 ). In Judges 9: 46 the name is replaced by El-berith, "Covenant-god." The covenant was that made by the god with his worshippers, less probably between the Israelites and the native Canaanites. </p> <p> 2. [[ Baal- Gad]] </p> < p> Baal-gad בּעל גּד , <i> '''''ba‛al gādh''''' </i> ; Βαλαγάδα , <i> '''''Balagáda''''' < /i> , "Baal [lord of good luck" (or "Baal is Gad") was the god of a town called after his name in the north of Palestine, which has often been identified with Baalbek. The god is termed simply Gad in Isaiah 65:11 the Revised Version, margin; where he is associated with Meni, the [[Assyrian]] Manu (King James Version "troop" and " number"). </p> <p> 3. [ [Baal-Hamon]] </ p> <p> Baal-hamon בּעל המון , <i> '''''ba‛al hāmōn''''' </ i> ; Βεελαμών , <i> '''''Beelamō̇n''''' </ i> is known only from the fact that [[Solomon]] had a garden at a place of that name ( Song of Solomon 8:11 ). The name is usually explained to mean "Baal of the multitude," but the cuneiform tablets of the Tell el-Amarna age found in [[Palestine]] show that the [[Egyptian]] god Amon was worshipped in [[Canaan]] and identified there with the native Baal. We are therefore justified in reading the name Baal- Amon, a parallel to the Babylonian Bel- Merodach. The name has no connection with that of the Carthaginian deity Baal- hamman. </ p> <p> 4. [[Baal-Hermon]] </p> <p> Baal-hermon בּעל חרמון , <i> '''''ba‛al ḥermōn''''' </i> ; Βαλαερμών , <i> '''''Balaermō̇n''''' </i> is found in the name of "the mountain of Baal-hermon" ( Judges 3:3 ; compare 1 Chronicles 5:23 ) , which also bore the names of Hermort, [[Sirion]] and [[Shenir]] (Saniru in the Assyrian inscriptions), the second name being applied to it by the Phoenicians and the third by the [[Amorites]] ( Deuteronomy 3:9 ). Baal -hermon will consequently be a formation similar to Baal-Lebanon in an inscription from Cyprus; according to the Phoenician writer Sanchuniathon ( <i> '''''Philo Byblius''''' </ i> , Fragmenta II) the third generation of men " begat sons of surprising size and stature, whose names were given to the mountains of which they had obtained possession." </p> <p> 5. [ [Baal-Peor]] </ p> <p> Baal-peor בּעל פעור , <i> '''''ba‛al pe‛ōr''''' </ i> ; Βεελφεγώρ , <i> '''''Beelphegō̇r''''' </ i> was god of the [[Moabite]] mountains, who took his name from Mount Peor ( Numbers 23:28 ), the modern <i> '''''Fa‛ūr''''' </ i> , and was probably a form of [[Chemosh]] (Jerome, <i> Comm </ i> ., Isaiah 15:1-9 ). The sensual rites with which he was worshipped ( Numbers 25:1-3 ) indicate his connection with the Phoenician Baal . </p> <p> 6. [[Baal-Zebub] ] </p> <p> Baal-zebub בּעל זבוּב , <i> '''''ba‛al zebhūbh''''' </ i> ; Βααλμυία Θεός , <i> '''''Baalmuı́a Theós''''' </i> ("Baal the fly god") was worshipped at [[Ekron]] where he had famous oracle ( 2 Kings 1:2 , 2 Kings 1:3 , 2 Kings 1:16 ). The name is generally translated "the Lord of flies," the Sun-god being associated with the flies which swarm in Palestine during the earlier summer months. It is met with in Assyrian inscriptions. In the New Testament the name assumes the form of [[Beelzebul]] ( Βεελζεβούλ ), in King James Version: [[Beelzebub]] (which see). </ p> | | == Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_34594" /> == |
