Baal

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

The chief male deity, as Ashtoreth is the chief goddess, of the Canaanites and Phoenicians. Baalim, the plural form, expresses the various aspects of Baal, as different localities viewed him. Baal is also associated with Aaherah, inaccurately translated "The Grove" or "groves" ( Judges 3:7;  2 Chronicles 33:3;  2 Chronicles 34:4;  2 Kings 23:5-6). (See Asherah .) Baal means lord, in the sense of owner, possessor; but Αdown means lord, master. The Hebrew article distinguishes the proper name Baal from the common noun; Bel, the Babylonian idol ( Isaiah 46:1), is related. Midian and Moab, as early as Moses' time, tempted Israel, by Balaam's devilish counsel ( Revelation 2:14;  Joshua 13:22;  Numbers 25:18), to worship the phase of the deity called Baal-peor (Numbers 25), from Peor , " Aperire Hymenem Virgineum " corresponding to the Latin, Ρriapus .

Terrible licentiousness not only was sanctioned, but formed part of the worship. A plague from Jehovah destroyed 24,000 Israelites in consequence, and was only stopped by the zeal of Phinehas. Moses subsequently, when warning the people from this example, notices no circumstance of it but one, which, though in the original narrative not stated, was infinitely the most important to advert to, but which none but spectators of the fact, perfectly acquainted with every individual concerned in it, could possibly feel the truth of. "Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor, for all the men that followed Baal-peor the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day" ( Deuteronomy 4:3). For Moses to have used this argument was extremely natural but if a forger had asserted this at hazard, and put it in Moses' mouth it seems very strange that it is the only circumstance he should forget to notice in the direct narrative, and the only one he should notice in his reference to it (Graves, Pentateuch, 1:4).

Baal worship prevailed much in Israel, except during Gideon's judgeship (hence called Jerubbaal, "let Baal plead"), up to Samuel's time ( Judges 2:10-13;  Judges 6:26-32;  Judges 8:33;  Judges 10:6-10). At Samuel's reproof they put away this worship ( 1 Samuel 7:4). Solomon brought back Ashtoreth worship to please his foreign wives. Ahab, king of Israel, under Jezebel's influence (daughter of Ethbaal, priest of Baal and king of Zidon), established the worship of Baal and Asherah ("the groves"):  1 Kings 16:31-33;  1 Kings 18:19-22. Elijah successfully for a time resisted it. His influence and that of king Jehoshaphat produced its effect in the following reign and that of Jehu. It was laid aside for Jeroboam's calves, under Jehoram, Ahab's son ( 2 Kings 3:2), and under Jehu ( 2 Kings 10:28); but for the most part prevailed until the Lord in vengeance removed the ten tribes from their land ( 2 Kings 17:16).

Baal worship also in Judah found entrance under Ahaz ( 2 Chronicles 28:2-3), but was suppressed by Hezekiah ( 2 Kings 18:4). Manasseh sought to bring Judah to the same state of Baal worship as Israel had been under Ahab ( 2 Kings 21:3; compare  Micah 6:16). Josiah made a thorough eradication of it ( 2 Kings 23:4-14). A remnant of it and an effort to combine idolatry with Jehovah worship still in part survived until the final purgation of all tendency to idols was effected by the severe discipline of the Babylonian captivity ( Zephaniah 1:4-6). The Hebrew for "Sodomites" ( 1 Kings 14:24;  1 Kings 15:12;  1 Kings 22:46;  2 Kings 23:7) is Qideshim , "those consecrated" to the vilest filthiness, which constituted part of the sacred worship! Flat roofs at Jerusalem were often used as altars ( Jeremiah 32:29).

"Standing images," or possibly pillars or obelisks ( Matsebah ) were his symbols ( 1 Kings 14:23;  2 Kings 18:4;  2 Kings 23:14;  Micah 5:13). "Sun images" ( Hammanim ;  Isaiah 17:8;  Isaiah 27:9;  2 Chronicles 34:4) "were on high above the altars" of Baal ( Jeremiah 43:13); "the images of Bethshemesh," literally "the pillars (obelisks) of the house of the sun." At Tyre one title was Malqereth "King of the city." In a Maltese inscription, Melkart, lord of Tyre, is identified with "Hercules, the prince leader" of the Greeks; from Melek "king," and Qereth "of the city." Tyre's colonies (Carthage, etc.) honored Melkart, the god of the mother city; the name appears in Hamilcar. An inscription at Palmyra names him Baal Shemesh, owner of the sun. Philo says his title among the Phoenicians was Beelsamen (shamain), "owner of the heavens."

Plautus also in his Poenulus calls him Bal-samen. Contrast Melchizedek's title for Jehovah, "Possessor Qoneh ; not Βaal of heaven and earth" ( Genesis 14:19). High places were chosen for Baal worship, and human victims were sometimes offered as burnt offerings ( Jeremiah 19:5). The worshippers wore peculiar vestments ( 2 Kings 10:22). They gashed themselves with knives at times to move his pity ( 1 Kings 18:26-28). The name appears in Asdrubal ("help of Baal"), Hannibal ("grace of Baal"), Adherbaal, Ethbaal. His generating, vivifying power is symbolized by the sun ( 2 Kings 23:5), as Ashtoreth is by the moon, Venus, and the heavenly hosts.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Baal (Baali, Baalim ) . Used generally, the word ba’al means ‘possessor,’ ‘inhabitant,’ ‘controller.’ Thus, a married man is called ‘possessor of a woman’ (  2 Samuel 11:26 ), a ram, ‘possessor of horns,’ and even the citizens of a locality are denoted by this word (  Judges 9:2;   Judges 20:5 ,   1 Samuel 23:11 f.,   2 Samuel 21:12 ). With a similar meaning, it is applied to numerous Canaanitish local deities (pl. ba’alim ,   Judges 2:11;   Judges 3:7;   Judges 8:33; Jdg 10:10 ,   1 Samuel 7:1;   1 Samuel 12:10 ,   1 Kings 18:18; coll. sing. ba’al ,   Judges 2:13 ,   Jeremiah 11:13 etc.; cf. Baal-gad, Baalath-beer , and other compounds of this word). These gods were supposed to manifest themselves in the fertility, or in some startling natural formation, of the locality where they were worshipped. Such an animistic conception is evident from the fact that they were worshipped in high places and in groves, where such rites as prophecy (  Jeremiah 22:13 ), fornication (  Jeremiah 7:9 ), self-mutilation (  1 Kings 18:28 ), and child-sacrifice (  Jeremiah 19:5 ) were practised under the guidance of kemârim or idolatrous priests (  Zephaniah 1:4 ). The same idea is also clear from the use of this word among the Arabs, who designate land irrigated by subterranean springs as ‘Ba’l land,’ i.e. land inhabited by a spirit. Gradually, however, some of these gods assimilated more abstract powers (cf. Baal-berith ), and as their votaries extended their powers over a greater area, became the Baal par excellence, i.e. the controller of the destiny of his worshippers (cf.   Judges 6:25 ,   1 Kings 16:31; 1Ki 18:26;   1 Kings 19:18 [in the last three passages, Melkart of Tyre]).

So great a predilection for cults of such a nature was shown by the Israelites, from the time of their entrance into Canaan until the fall of the monarchy, that Jabweh was given this title. Thus Saul, a zealous worshipper of Jahweh, names ( 1 Chronicles 8:33 ) one of his sons Eshbaal , and one of David’s heroes is called (  1 Chronicles 12:5 ) Bealiah (‘J″ [Note: Jahweh.] is Baal’); cf. also Meribbaal (  1 Chronicles 9:40 ), Beeliada (  1 Chronicles 14:7 ), Jerubbaal (  Judges 8:35 ). A confusion, however, of Jahweh and the Canaanitish deities seems to have taken place, to avoid which, Hosea (  Hosea 2:16-17 ) demands that Jahweh be no longer called Ba‘ali (‘my Baal’), but ’Ishi (‘my husband’). Under the influence of such prophecies the Israelites abandoned the use of Baal for Jahweh , and in later times developed so great an antipathy to this word that later revisers substituted bôsheth (‘shameful thing’), not only wherever Ba’al occurred for the Canaanitish deities (  Hosea 9:10 ,   Jeremiah 3:24;   Jeremiah 11:13 ), but also, forgetful of its former application to Jahweh, in some of the above names (see Ishbosheth), supposing them to allude to local gods.

N. Koenig.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bā´al̀ ( בּעל , ba‛al  ; Βάαλ , Báal , or Βαάλ , Baál ): The Babylonian Belu or Bel, "Lord," was the title of the supreme god among the Canaanites.

I. Name and Character of Baal

II. Attributes of Baal

III. Baal-Worship

IV. Temples, etc.

V. Use of the Name

VI. Forms of Baal

1. Baal-berith

2. Baal-gad

3. Baal-hamon

4. Baal-hermon

5. Baal-peor

6. Baal-zebub

I. Name and Character of Baal

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 ( Philo Byblius , 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 Beel - samēn , 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.

II. Attributes of Baal

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," Baal - Hammān , 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 Penē - Baal , "the face" or "reflection of Baal."

III. Baal-Worship

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 bōsheth which in Heb at any rate conveyed the sense of "shame."

IV. Temples, Etc

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.

V. Use of the Name

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 , aischúnē "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, Beitrage zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte , 1888).

VI. Forms of Baal

1. Baal-Berith

Baal-berith בּעל בּרית , ba‛al berı̄th  ; Βααλβερίθ , Baalberı́th , "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.

2. Baal-Gad

Baal-gad בּעל גּד , ba‛al gādh  ; Βαλαγάδα , Balagáda , "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").

3. Baal-Hamon

Baal-hamon בּעל המון , ba‛al hāmōn  ; Βεελαμών , Beelamō̇n 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.

4. Baal-Hermon

Baal-hermon בּעל חרמון , ba‛al ḥermōn  ; Βαλαερμών , Balaermō̇n 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 ( Philo Byblius , 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."

5. Baal-Peor

Baal-peor בּעל פעור , ba‛al pe‛ōr  ; Βεελφεγώρ , Beelphegō̇r was god of the Moabite mountains, who took his name from Mount Peor ( Numbers 23:28 ), the modern Fa‛ūr , and was probably a form of Chemosh (Jerome, Comm .,  Isaiah 15:1-9 ). The sensual rites with which he was worshipped ( Numbers 25:1-3 ) indicate his connection with the Phoenician Baal.

6. Baal-Zebub

Baal-zebub בּעל זבוּב , ba‛al zebhūbh  ; Βααλμυία Θεός , Baalmuı́a Theós ("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).