Baal

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Canaanite and Phoenician gods were known as Baals, or Baalim (the plural form of Baal in Hebrew;  Judges 2:11;  Judges 10:10;  1 Kings 16:31). Goddesses were known as Ashtaroth (plural of Ashtoreth;  Judges 2:13;  1 Samuel 7:3-4;  1 Samuel 12:10) or Asherim (plural of Asherah;  1 Kings 15:13;  1 Kings 18:19;  2 Kings 23:4).

The word baal was a common Hebrew word meaning ‘master’, ‘husband’ or ‘owner’. When the Israelites entered Canaan and found that the local people believed every piece of land had a god as its ‘owner’, baal developed a particular use as a proper noun. It became the title or name of the god of the land, whether of the land as a whole or of a particular area of land. In some cases the local Baal took its name from the locality ( Numbers 25:3;  Deuteronomy 4:3), and in other cases a locality was named after the Baal ( Joshua 11:17;  Judges 3:3;  2 Samuel 5:20;  2 Samuel 13:23). A locality may also have been named after the Ashtaroth ( Joshua 12:4).

Characteristics of Baal worship

Baal and his associate goddesses were gods of nature who, according to popular belief, controlled the weather and had power to increase the fertility of soil, animals and humans. Since Israelites knew Yahweh as creator of nature and God of all life, they readily fell to the temptation to combine the Canaanite ideas with their own and so worship Yahweh as another Baal ( Hosea 2:5-10;  Hosea 4:7-10). This identification of Yahweh with Baal was probably also influenced by the fact that Yahweh was Israel’s husband and master (Heb: baal).

The Canaanites liked to carry out their Baal rituals at sacred hilltop sites known as ‘high places’. This name was later applied to all places of Baal worship, not just those in the hills ( 2 Kings 14:4;  2 Kings 17:9;  2 Kings 17:32;  2 Kings 23:13;  Jeremiah 17:2-3;  Jeremiah 32:35). Among the features of these high places were the sacred wooden or stone pillars known as Asherim (plural of Asherah, the goddess they represented) ( Deuteronomy 12:3;  Judges 6:25-26;  1 Kings 14:23;  2 Kings 10:27;  2 Kings 17:10;  2 Kings 21:3;  2 Kings 21:7;  2 Kings 23:6;  Isaiah 27:9).

Israelites had often gone up into the hills to worship God ( Genesis 22:2;  Exodus 17:8-15;  Exodus 24:12-18; cf.  1 Samuel 9:12-14;  1 Samuel 10:5;  1 Samuel 10:13) and in Canaan they easily fell to the temptation to use the local high places in their worship of Yahweh. These disorders would not have arisen if the Israelites had, from the beginning, obeyed God’s command and destroyed all the high places in the land ( Numbers 33:52-53;  Deuteronomy 12:2-3;  1 Kings 3:2;  Jeremiah 2:20;  Jeremiah 3:6;  Hosea 4:13).

Prostitutes, male and female, were available at the high places for fertility rites. These were religious-sexual ceremonies that people believed would persuade the gods to give increase in family, herds, flocks and crops ( 1 Kings 14:23-24;  Jeremiah 13:27;  Hosea 4:10;  Hosea 4:14;  Hosea 9:1-3;  Hosea 9:11-14;  Amos 2:7-8). The people were also guilty of spiritual prostitution. Since the covenant bond between Israel and Yahweh was likened to the marriage bond, Israel’s association with Baal and other gods was a form of spiritual adultery ( Isaiah 1:21;  Jeremiah 13:27;  Hosea 1:2;  Hosea 2:5;  Hosea 2:13;  Hosea 4:12;  Micah 1:7).

God’s judgment on Israel

Baal worship was a problem in Israel throughout most of the nation’s Old Testament history. It began soon after the people entered Canaan ( Judges 2:11-13;  Judges 3:7;  Judges 8:33;  Judges 10:6;  Judges 10:10) and resisted repeated attempts at reform by various leaders. It remained firmly fixed in Israel’s national life up till the captivity, when God’ inevitable judgment fell ( 1 Samuel 7:3-4;  1 Kings 15:9-14;  1 Kings 22:51-53;  2 Kings 17:7-18;  2 Kings 18:1-4;  2 Kings 21:1-3;  2 Kings 23:26-27).

Possibly the most dangerous period during this history was the reign of the Israelite king Ahab and his Phoenician wife Jezebel, who attempted to make Phoenician Baalism the official religion of Israel ( 1 Kings 16:31-33). This form of Baalism, under the lordship of the Phoenician Baal deity Melqart, was a greater threat to Israel than the local Canaanite Baalism. To meet the threat, God raised up the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Their ministry preserved the faithful through the crisis and led to the eventual removal of Phoenician Baalism. It was wiped out by Jehu’s ruthless purge in the north, and by a similar, but less bloody, purge in the south (1 Kings 17; 1 Kings 18; 1 Kings 19; 1 Kings 20; 1 Kings 21; 1 Kings 22; 2 Kings 1; 2 Kings 2; 2 Kings 3; 2 Kings 4; 2 Kings 5; 2 Kings 6; 2 Kings 7; 2 Kings 8; 2 Kings 9; 2 Kings 10; 2 Kings 11; see Elijah ; Elisha ; Jehu ).

Local Canaanite Baalism, however, was not removed. Israel’s persistence in Baal worship was the chief reason for God’s judgment in finally destroying the nation and sending the people into captivity ( 2 Kings 17:7-18;  2 Kings 21:10-15;  Jeremiah 9:12-16;  Jeremiah 11:13-17;  Jeremiah 19:4-9).

The time in captivity broke Israel’s relationship with Baalism. When the nation was later rebuilt, Baalism was no longer a serious problem ( Ezekiel 36:22-29;  Ezekiel 37:23). People were so determined to avoid any link between Baal and Yahweh that they refused to use the word baal when referring to God as their husband or master. They used the alternative word ish ( Hosea 2:16-19). By New Testament times Jews had developed a thorough hatred of idolatry in all its forms (see Idol, Idolatry )

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Baal ( Bâ'Al ), Lord. 1. A Reubenite.  1 Chronicles 5:5. 2. The eon of Jehiel, and grandfather of Saul.  1 Chronicles 8:30;  1 Chronicles 9:36.

Baal. The prevailing worship of the Phœnician and Canaanitish nations, as Ashtoreth was their prominent goddess. There can lie no doubt of the great antiquity of the worship of Baal. It prevailed in the time of Moses among the Moabites and Midianites,  Numbers 22:41, and through them spread to the Israelites.  Numbers 25:3-18;  Deuteronomy 4:3. In the times of the kings it became the religion of the court and people of the ten tribes,  1 Kings 16:31-33;  1 Kings 18:19;  1 Kings 18:22, and appears never to have been wholly abolished among them.  2 Kings 17:16. Temples were erected to Baal in Judah,  1 Kings 16:32, and be was worshipped with much ceremony.  1 Kings 18:19;  1 Kings 18:26-28;  2 Kings 10:22. The religion of the ancient British islands resembled this ancient worship of Baal. The Babylonian Bel,  Isaiah 46:1, or Belus, is supposed to be identical with Baal, though perhaps under some modified form. The plural, Baalim, is found frequently, and the singular, Baal, in different compounds, among which appear—

1. Baal-berith ( Bâ'Al-Bç'Rith ), The Covenant Baal.  Judges 8:33;  Judges 9:4. The God who comes Into covenant with the worshippers.

2. Baal-hanan ( Bâ'Al-Hâ'Nan ). 1. The name of one of the early kings of Edom.  Genesis 36:38-39;  1 Chronicles 1:49-50. 2. The name of one of David's officers, who had the superintendence of his olive and sycamore plantations.  1 Chronicles 27:28.

3. Baal-peor ( Bâ'Al-Pç'Or ), Lord Of The Opening, I.E., for others to join in the worship. The narrative,  Numbers 25:1-18, seems clearly to show that this form of Baal-worship was connected with licentious rites.

4. Baal-zebub ( Bâ'Al-Zç'Bub ), Lord Of The Fly, and worshipped at Ekron.  2 Kings 1:2-3;  2 Kings 1:16.

Baal also occurs as the prefix or suffix to the names of several places in Palestine. Rome of them are—

1. Baal , a town of Simeon, named only fn  1 Chronicles 4:33, which from the parallel list in  Joshua 19:8 seems to have been identical with Baalath-beer .

2. Baalah ( Bâ'Al-Ah ), Mistress. 1. Another name for Kibjath-jearim , or Kirjath-baal , perhaps now Kuriet el Enab (?).  Joshua 15:9-10;  1 Chronicles 13:6. 2. A town in the south of Judah,  Joshua 15:29, which in 19:3 is called Balah , and in the parallel list,  1 Chronicles 4:29, Bilhah .

3. Baalath ( Bâ'Al- Ăth ), Mistress, a town of Dan named with Gibbethon, Gath-rimmon and other Philistine places.  Joshua 19:44.

4. Baalath-beer ( Bâ'Al- Ăth-B Ç'Er ), Lord Of The Well. A town in the south part of Judah, given to Simeon, which also bore the name of Ramath-negeb , or "the height of the south."  Joshua 19:8.

6. Baal-gad ( Bâ'Al-G Ăd ), Lord Of Fortune, used to denote the most northern,  Joshua 11:17;  Joshua 12:7, or perhaps northwestern, 13:6, point to which Joshua's victories extended. Possibly it was a Phœnician or Canaanite sanctuary of Baal under the aspect of Gad, or Fortune.

6. Baal-hamon ( Bâ'Al-Hâ'Mon ), Lord Of A Multitude. A place at which Solomon had a vineyard, evidently of great extent.  Song of Solomon 8:11.

7. Baal-hazor ( Bâ'Al-Hâ'Zor ), Village Of Baal. A place where Absalom appears to have had a sheep-farm, and where Amnon was murdered.  2 Samuel 13:23.

8. Mount Baal-hermon ( Bâ'Al-Hêr'Mon ), Lord Of Hermon,  Judges 3:3, and simply Baal-hermon,  1 Chronicles 5:23. This is usually considered as a distinct place from Mount Hermon; but we know that this mountain had at least three names,  Deuteronomy 8:9, and Baal-hermon may have been a fourth in use among the Phœnician worshippers of Baal.

9. Baal-bieon ( Bâ'Al-Mç'On ), Lord Of The House. One of the towns built by the Reubenites.  Numbers 32:38. It also occurs in  1 Chronicles 5:8, and on each occasion with Nebo. In the time of Ezekiel it was Moabite, one of the cities which were the "glory of the country."  Ezekiel 25:9.

10. Baal-perazim ( Bâ'Al-Pĕr'A-Zĭm, or Perâ'Sim ), Lord Of Divisions. The scene of a victory of David over the Philistines, and of a great destruction of their images.  2 Samuel 5:20;  1 Chronicles 14:11. See  Isaiah 28:21, where it is called Mount Perazim .

11. Baal-shalisha ( Bâ'Al-Sh Ăl'I-Shah ), Lord Of Shalisha. A place named only in  2 Kings 4:42, apparently not far from Gilgal; Comp. 4:38.

12. Baal-tamar ( Bâ'Al-Tâ'Mar ), Lord Of The Palm Tree. A place named only in  Judges 20:33, as near Gibeah of Benjamin. The palm tree ( Tâmâr ) of Deborah,  Judges 4:1-24;  Judges 5:1-31, was situated somewhere in the locality.

13. Baal-zephon ( Bâ'Al-Zç'Phon ), Lord Of The North. A place in Egypt near where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea,  Numbers 33:7;  Exodus 14:2;  Exodus 14:9, probably on the western shore of the Gulf of Suez, a little below its head.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ba'al. (Lord).

1. A Reubenite  1 Chronicles 5:5.

2. The son of Jehiel, and grandfather of Saul.  1 Chronicles 8:30;  1 Chronicles 9:36.

The supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations, as Ashtoreth was their supreme female divinity. Some suppose Baal to correspond to the sun and Ashtoreth to the moon; others that Baal was Jupiter and Ashtoreth Venus. There can be no doubt of the very high antiquity of the worship of Baal. It prevailed in the time of Moses among the Moabites and Midianites,  Numbers 22:41, and through them spread to the Israelites.  Numbers 25:3-18;  Numbers 4:3.

In the times of the kings, it became the religion of the court and people of the ten tribes,  1 Kings 16:31-33;  1 Kings 18:19;  1 Kings 18:22, and appears never to have been permanently abolished among them.  2 Kings 17:16 Temples were erected to Baal in Judah,  1 Kings 16:32 and he was worshipped with much ceremony.  1 Kings 18:19;  1 Kings 26-28;  2 Kings 10:22. The attractiveness of this worship to the Jews undoubtedly grew out of its licentious character. We find this worship also in Phoenician colonies.

The religion of the ancient British islands much resembled this ancient worship of Baal, and may have been derived from it. Nor need we hesitate to regard the Babylonian Bel,  Isaiah 46:1, or Beaus, as essentially identical with Baal, though perhaps under some modified form. The plural, Baalim , is found frequently, showing that he was probably worshipped under different compounds, among which appear -

3. Baal-Berith. (The Covenant Baal),  Judges 8:33;  Judges 9:4, the god who comes into covenant with the worshippers.

4. Baal-Zebub. (Lord Of The Fly), and worshipped at Ekron.  2 Kings 1:2-3;  2 Kings 1:16.

5. Baal-Hanan. a. The name of one of the early kings of Edom.  Genesis 36:38-39;  1 Chronicles 1:49-50.

b. The name of one of David's officers, who had the superintendence of his olive and sycamore plantations.  1 Chronicles 27:28.

6. Baal-Peor. (Lord Of The Opening, that is, For Others To Join In The Worship). We have already referred to the worship of this god. The narrative Numbers 25 seems clearly to show that this form of Baal-worship was connected with licentious rites.

Geographical. This word occurs as the prefix or suffix to the names of several places in Palestine, some of which are as follows:

7. Baal a town of Simeon, named only in  1 Chronicles 4:33 which from the parallel list in  Joshua 19:8 seems to have been identical with Baalath-Beer .

8. Baalah. (Mistress).

a. Another name for Kirjath-Jearim , or Kirjath-Baal , the well-known town now Kuriet el Enab.  Joshua 15:9-10;  1 Chronicles 13:6.

b. A town in the south of Judah,  Joshua 15:29 which in  Joshua 19:3, is called Balah , and in the parallel list,  1 Chronicles 4:29, Bilhah .

9. Baalath. (Mistress), a town of Dan named with Gibbethon, Gath-rim-mon and other Philistine places.  Joshua 19:44.

10. Baalath-Beer. (Lord Of The Well). Baal, 7 , a town among those in the south part of Judah, given to Simeon, which also bore the name of Ramath-Negeb , or "the height of the south."  Joshua 19:8.

11. Baal-Gad. (Lord Of Fortune), used to denote the most northern,  Joshua 11:17;  Joshua 12:7, or perhaps northwestern,  Joshua 13:5, point to which Joshua's victories extended. It was in all probability a Phoenician or Canaanite sanctuary of Baal under the aspect of Gad or Fortune.

12. Baal-Hamon. (Lord Of A Multitude), a place at which Solomon had a vineyard, evidently of great extent.  Song of Solomon 8:11.

13. Baal-Hazor. (Village Of Baal), a place where Absalom appears to have had a sheep-farm, and where Amnon was murdered.  2 Samuel 13:23.

14. Mountain Baal-Hermon. (Lord Of Hermon),  Judges 3:3, and simply Baal-hermon.  1 Chronicles 5:23 This is usually considered as a distinct place from Mount Hermon; but we know that this mountain had at least three names  Deuteronomy 3:9 and Baal-hermon may have been a fourth in use among the Phoenician worshippers.

15. Baal-Meon. (Lord Of The House), one of the towns which were built by the Reubenites.  Numbers 32:38. It also occurs in  1 Chronicles 5:8 and on each occasion with Nebo. In the time of Ezekiel, it was Moabite, one of the cities which were the "glory of the country."  Ezekiel 25:9.

16. Baal-Perazim. (Lord Of Divisions), the scene of a victory of David over the Philistines, and of a great destruction of their images.  2 Samuel 5:20;  1 Chronicles 14:11. See  Isaiah 28:21 where it is called Mountain Perazim .

17. Baal-Shalisha. (Lord Of Shalisha), a place named only in  2 Kings 4:42 apparently not far from Gilgal; Compare  2 Kings 4:38.

18. Baal-Tamar. (Lord Of The Palm Tree), a place named only in  Judges 20:33 as near Gibeah of Benjamin. The palm tree (Hebrew, tamar ) of Deborah,  Judges 4:5, was situated somewhere in the locality, and is possibly alluded to.

19. Baal-Zephon. (Lord Of The North), a place in Egypt near where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea.  Numbers 33:7;  Ezekiel 14:2;  Ezekiel 9. We place Baal-zephon on the western shore of the Gulf of Suez, a little below its head, which at that time was about 30 or 40 miles northward of the Present head.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

BEL, or Belus denoting lord, a divinity among several ancient nations; as the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Sidonians, Carthaginians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians. The term Baal, which is itself an appellative, served at first to denote the true God, among those who adhered to the true religion. Accordingly, the Phoenicians, being originally Canaanites, having once had, as well as the rest of their kindred, the knowledge of the true God, probably called him Baal, or lord. But they, as well as other nations, gradually degenerating into idolatry, applied this appellation, to their respective idols; and thus were introduced a variety of divinities, called Baalim, or Baal, with some epithet annexed to it, as Baal Berith, Baal Gad, Baal Moloch, Baal Peor, Baal Zebub, &c. Some have supposed that the descendants of Ham first worshipped the sun under the title of Baal,   2 Kings 23:5;  2 Kings 23:11; and that they afterward ascribed it to the patriarch who was the head of their line; making the sun only an emblem of his influence or power. It is certain, however, that when the custom prevailed of deifying and worshipping those who were in any respect distinguished among mankind, the appellation of Baal was not restricted to the sun, but extended to those eminent persons who were deified, and who became objects of worship in different nations. The Phoenicians had several divinities of this kind, who were not intended to represent the sun. It is probable that Baal, Belus, or Bel, the great god of the Carthaginians, and also of the Sidonians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, who, from the testimony of Scripture, appears to have been delighted with human sacrifices, was the Moloch of the Ammonites; the Chronus of the Greeks, who was the chief object of adoration in Italy, Crete, Cyprus, and Rhodes, and all other countries where divine honours were paid him; and the Saturn of the Latins. In process of time, many other deities, beside the principal ones just mentioned, were distinguished by the title of Baal among the Phoenicians, particularly those of Tyre, and of course among the Carthaginians, and other nations. Such were Jupiter, Mars, Bacchus, and Apollo, or the sun.

The temples and altars of Baal were generally placed on eminences: they were places inclosed by walls, within which was maintained a perpetual fire; and some of them had statues or images, called in Scripture, "Chamanim." Maundrell, in his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, observed some remains of these enclosures in Syria. Baal had his prophets and his priests in great numbers; accordingly, we read of four hundred and fifty of them that were fed at the table of Jezebel only; and they conducted the worship of this deity, by offering sacrifices, by dancing round his altar with violent gesticulations and exclamations, by cutting their bodies with knives and lancets, and by raving and pretending to prophesy, as if they were possessed by some invisible power.

It is remarkable that we do not find the name Baal so much in popular use east of Babylonia; but it was general west of Babylonia, and to the very extremity of western Europe, including the British isles. The worship of Bel, Belus, Belenus, or Belinus, was general throughout the British islands; and certain of its rites and observances are still maintained among us, notwithstanding the establishment of Christianity during so many ages. A town in Perthshire, on the borders of the Highlands, is called Tilliebeltane or Tulliebeltane; that is, the eminence, or rising ground, of the fire of Baal. In the neighbourhood is a Druidical temple of eight upright stones, where it is supposed the fire was kindled. At some distance from this is another temple of the same kind, but smaller; and near it a well still held in great veneration. On Beltane morning, superstitious people go to this well, and drink of it; then they make a procession round it nine times. After this they in like manner go round the temple. So deep-rooted is this Heathenish superstition in the minds of many who reckon themselves good Protestants, that they will not neglect these rites, even when Beltane falls on the Sabbath.

In Ireland, Bel-tein is celebrated on the twenty-first of June, at the time of the solstice. There, as they make fires on the tops of hills, every member of the family is made to pass though the fire; as they reckon this ceremony necessary to ensure good fortune through the succeeding year. This resembles the rites used by the Romans in the Palilia. Bel-tein is also observed in Lancashire.

In Wales, this annual fire is kindled in autumn, on the first day of November; which being neither at the solstice nor equinox, deserves attention. It may be accounted for by supposing that the lapse of ages has removed it from its ancient station, and that the observance is kept on the same day, nominally, though that be now removed some weeks backward from its true station. However that may be, in North Wales especially, this fire is attended by many ceremonies; such as running through the fire and smoke, each participator casting a stone into the fire.

The Hebrews often imitated the idolatry of the Canaanites in adoring Baal. They offered human sacrifices to him in groves, upon high places, and upon the terraces of houses. Baal had priests and prophets consecrated to his service. All sorts of infamous and immodest actions were committed in the festivals of Baal and Astarte. See  Jeremiah 32:35;  2 Kings 17:16;  2 Kings 23:4-5;  2 Kings 23:12;  1 Kings 18:22;  2 Kings 10:19;  1 Kings 14:24;  1 Kings 15:12;  2 Kings 23:7;  Hosea 4:14 . This false deity is frequently mentioned in Scripture in the plural number, Baalim, which may intimate that the name Baal was given to several different deities.

There were many cities in Palestine, whose names were compounded of Baal and some other word: whether it was that the god Baal was adored in them, or that these places were looked upon as the capital cities,— lords of their respective provinces,—is uncertain.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Lord,

1. In the Old Testament denotes an idol of the Phoenicians, and particularly of the Tyrians, whose worship was also introduced with great solemnities among the Hebrews, and especially at Samaria, along with that of Astarte,  Judges 6:25-32   2 Kings 10:18,28 . See ASHTORETH, plural ASH'TAROTH. The plural, Baalim, signifies images or statues of Baal,  Judges 2:11   10:10 . Of the extent to which the worship of this idol was domesticated among the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, we have an evidence in the proper names of persons; as, among the former, Ethbaal, Jerubbaal; and among the latter, Hannibal, Asdrubal, etc. Among the Babylonians, the same idol was worshipped under the name of  Isaiah 46:1   Jeremiah 50:2   51:44 . The worship of Baal was established in Babylon in the famous tower of Babel, the uppermost room of which served at the same time as an observatory, and as the repository of a collection of astronomical observations.

That in the astronomical, or rather, astrological mythology of the East, we are to look for the origin of this worship in the adoration of the heavenly bodies, is conceded by all critics. The more common opinion has been, that Baal, or Bel, is the sun; and that, under this name, this luminary received divine honors. But the Greek and Roman writers give to the Babylonian Bel the name of Jupiter Belus, meaning the planet Jupiter, which was regarded, along with the planet Venus, as the guardian and giver of all good fortune; and formed, with Venus, the most fortunate of all constellations, under which alone fortunate sovereigns could be born. This planet, therefore, many suppose to have been the object of worship under the name of Baal, as also the planet Venus under that of Astarte. Not that the sun was not an object of idolatrous worship among these nations, but in that case he is represented under his own name; as  2 Kings 23:11 .

The temples and altars of Ball were generally on eminences. Manasseh placed in the two courts of the temple at Jerusalem altars to all the host of heaven, and in particular to Astarte,  2 Kings 21:5,7 . Jeremiah threatens the Jews who had sacrificed to Baal on the house-top,  Jeremiah 32:29; and Josiah destroyed the altars which Ahaz had erected on the terrace of his palace,  2 Kings 23:12 .

Human victims were offered to Baal, as they were also to the sun. Jeremiah reproaches the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem with "building the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal,"  Jeremiah 19:5; an expression which appears to be decisive as to the actual slaying by fire of the unhappy victims to Baal. See MOLOCH.

The children of Israel were prone to serve Baal. See  Numbers 25:3   Judges 2:14   3:7 . Under Samuel they put away their idols,  1 Samuel 7:4 . This continued under David and Solomon; but under Ahab, whose wife Jezebel was a daughter of the Zidonian king Ethbaal, the worship of Baal was restored with great pomp,  1 Kings 16:31 .

Joined with other words, Baal signifies also other false gods. Baal-Berith, or the "lord of the covenant," was a god of the Shechemites,  Judges 8:33   9:4 . Baal-Peor, or "the lord of Peor," was a filthy idol of the Moabites,  Numbers 25:3,5   Hosea 9:10 . Baal-Zebub, "lord of flies," was a god of the Philistines at Ekron. See Beelzebub .

2. The word Baal also occurs in many compound names of places, not always having any reference to the idol.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

A name generally used for an idol. And when more than a single idol is spoken of, the word is made plural, Baalim. The children of Israel, from being surrounded with idolatrous neighbours, too often were led away by their allurements to the same idolatry. (See  Numbers 22:41;  Judges 2:13;  1 Kings 16:31;  2 Kings 10:19;  Hosea 2:8.)

I cannot take a more effectual method to shew the Lord's watchful care over his Israel, to preserve them from this contagion, than what the Lord himself hath manifested in that beautiful chapter, the second of the prophecy of Hosea. If the reader will turn to it, and peruse it from beginning to end, he will observe, that at that time the tribes of the Lord were much disposed to idolatry. The Lord sets himself therefore to bring them back, and in opening to them the prospects of salvation, shews how he will bring them under afflictions, in wilderness dispensations, and then having hedged their way up with thorns, compels them, by his grace, to return to him their first lover. And to keep them from revolting again, he will open to them a new name, whereby they shall know him and delight in him. "And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi, and shalt call me no more Baali. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth." ( Hosea 2:16-17.) In the margin of the Bible, Ishi is rendered my husband. The reader will have a full apprehension of the grace and loving kindness of the Lord in this ordination, when he is told, that as the word Baal, Lord; or Baali, my lord, was a general name to imply lordship, or sovereignty: the Lord Jehovah had been considered as Israel's Baal, to distinguish him from the nations' Baal around. But as there was not distinction enough in those general names, to preserve Israel in a proper sense of reverence between JEHOVAH, and those dunghill gods, being all alike called Baal, or Lord; the Lord graciously saith, in this sweet Scripture, that he will be no more called Baal, but will lose as it were, the name of Lord, in that of husband. Thou shalt call me Ishi; that is, my husband, my man. Was there ever an instance of such rich grace and condescension and love?

I beg the reader to pause over it, and ponder it well. And when he hath duly contemplated the unequalled subject, let him add to it the farther consideration, how the Lord Jesus Christ hath really, and indeed, fulfilled all he here promised, in becoming the Husband of his church and people. Hence the prophet sings, "For thy Maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called." ( Isaiah 54:5.) Surely, nothing can be wanting to give the most finishing testimony to the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Blessed Husband of thy church; be thou my Ishi for ever!

Holman Bible Dictionary

 1 Chronicles 5:5 1 Chronicles 9:35-36

The noun comes from a verb that means to marry or rule over. The verb form occurs in the Hebrew text 29 times, whereas the noun occurs 166 times. The noun appears in a number of compound forms which are proper names for locations where Canaanite deities were worshiped, such as Baal-peor ( Numbers 25:5;  Deuteronomy 4:3;  Psalm 106:28;  Hosea 9:10 ), Baal-hermon ( Judges 3:3;  1 Chronicles 5:23 ), and Baal-gad ( Joshua 11:17;  Joshua 12:7;  Joshua 13:5 ).

Baal Worship in Canaan Baal worship revolved around two themes that represented the conception of Baal his worshipers held. Baal was both the sun-god and storm-god. He was worshiped as sun-god when the people wished to express thanks and gratitude for light and warmth and fertility. Worship of Baal as storm-god took place to appease the destructive nature of Baal, demonstrated by drought and storms that devastated the vegetation of the worshipers. The efforts to appease Baal whenever adverse conditions prevailed culminated in the sacrifice of human beings, usually the firstborn of the one offering the sacrifice. The victims were burnt alive, a practice in the Old Testament termed “to pass through the fire” ( 2 Kings 16:3;  2 Kings 21:6 ). Baal worship was as diverse as the communities in which he was worshiped. Each locality had its own Baal, who was named after the city or place to which he belonged. Baal was considered the owner or possessor of the land on which his followers lived.

Baal Worship in Israel The Northern Kingdom of Israel, under the leadership of Ahab of the household of Omri, was led to worship Baal as the state god ( 1 Kings 16:31 ). The prophets Elijah and Elisha delivered the condemnation of God concerning Baal worship and tried to rid the land of the idolatry ( 1 Kings 18:17-40;  2 Kings 1:9-16 ).

The worship of Baal infiltrated the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The reform movement of Hezekiah was reversed when Manasseh became king ( 2 Kings 21:2-16 ), as he reinstated Baal worship, along with worship of Assyrian gods and other gods.

The conflict between Baal worship and the worship of the Lord God is described in the Book of Hosea. The judgment of the people of God for their idolatry, and their restoration is disclosed in  Hosea 2:1 . The Bible writers affirmed the supremacy of Yahweh and condemned the worship of any other gods beside Yahweh. See Canaan.

James Newell

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

Baal ( Romans 11:4 in a quotation from  1 Kings 19:18) was a generic name for a god among Semitic peoples, the literal meaning being ‘owner’ or ‘lord.’ Attempts have been made to show that this was the original name of the Sun-god, or that it represents the Supreme Being worshipped by the Canaanites. Neither of these contentions can be proved; indeed it is evident that the Baal of one place differed from that of another. Thus the reference in the text is to Melkart, the Baal of Tyre. The feminine article (τῇ Βαάλ) in the Greek of  Romans 11:4 is due to the frequent substitution of bôsheth (in Greek αἰσχύνη), ‘shame,’ for Baal by the Hebrews.*[Note: Hence frequently in LXX ἡ Βαάλ (= ἡ αἰσχύνη), though in  1 Kings 19:18 the reading is τῷ Βαάλ.]

Literature.-A. S. Peake, article‘Baal’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols)  ; G. F. Moore in Encyclopaedia Biblica  ; L. B. Paton in Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics  ; W. R. Smith, RS [Note: S Religion of the Semites (W. Robertson Smith).]2, London, 1894, p. 93ff.

F. W. Worsley.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The name of a place inhabited by the Simeonites, the same probably as Baal-ath-beer ( 1 Chronicles 4:33;  Joshua 19:8 ).

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Baal'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/b/baal.html. 1897.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. City in the tribe of Simeon,  1 Chronicles 4:33 : apparently the same as Baalath-Beer ( q.v. )  Joshua 19:8 .

2. Descendant of Reuben.  1 Chronicles 5:5 .

3. Descendant of Benjamin.  1 Chronicles 8:30;  9:36 .

King James Dictionary

BA'AL, n. An idol among the ancient Chaldeans and Syrians, representing the sun. The word signifies also lord, or commander and the character of the idol was varied by different nations, at different times. Thus Baal Berith is supposed to signify the Lord of the Covenant Baal Peor, or rather Baal Phegor, the Lord of the dead.  Psalms 106Baal Zebub, the god of flies, &c.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

BAAL . 1 . A Reubenite (  1 Chronicles 5:5 ). 2 . A Gibeonite, granduncle of Saul (  1 Chronicles 8:33 =   1 Chronicles 9:36 ).

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) The supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations.

(2): (n.) The whole class of divinities to whom the name Baal was applied.

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

See Pagan Gods And Goddesses

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Ba´al (lord, master). As the idolatrous nations of the Syro-Arabian race had several gods, this word, by means of some accessory distinction, became applicable as a name to many different deities.

Baal, (with the definite article,  Judges 2:13;  Jeremiah 19:5;  Jeremiah 32:35;  Romans 11:4) is appropriated to the chief male divinity of the Phoenicians, the principal seat of whose worship was at Tyre. The idolatrous Israelites adopted the worship of this god (almost always in conjunction with that of Ashtoreth) in the period of the Judges ( Judges 2:13); they continued it in the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh, kings of Judah ( 2 Chronicles 28:2;  2 Kings 21:3); and, among the kings of Israel, especially in the reign of Ahab, who, partly through the influence of his wife, the daughter of the Sidonian king Ethbaal, appears to have made a systematic attempt to suppress the worship of God altogether, and to substitute that of Baal in its stead ( 1 Kings 16:31); and in that of Hosea ( 2 Kings 17:16), although Jehu and Jehoiada once severally destroy ed the temples and priesthood of the idol ( 2 Kings 10:18, sq.; 11:18).

We read of altars, images, and temples erected to Baal ( 1 Kings 16:32;  2 Kings 3:2). The altars were generally on heights, as the summits of hills or the roofs of houses ( Jeremiah 19:5;  Jeremiah 32:29). His priesthood were a very numerous body ( 1 Kings 18:19), and were divided into the two classes of prophets and of priests ( 2 Kings 10:9). As to the rites by which he was worshipped, there is most frequent mention of incense being offered to him ( 2 Kings 23:5), but also of bullocks being sacrificed ( 1 Kings 18:26), and even of children, as to Moloch ( Jeremiah 19:5). According to the description in 1 Kings 18, the priests, during the sacrifice, danced about the altar, and, when their prayers were not answered, cut themselves with knives until the blood flowed. We also read of homage paid to him by bowing the knee, and by kissing his image ( 1 Kings 19:18), and that his worshippers used to swear by his name ( Jeremiah 12:16).

As to the power of nature which was adored under the form of the Tyrian Baal, many of the passages above cited show evidently that it was one of the heavenly bodies; or, if we admit that resemblance between the Babylonian and Persian religions which Munter assumes, not one of the heavenly bodies really, but the astral spirit residing in one of them; and the same line of induction as that which is pursued in the case of Ashtoreth, his female counterpart, leads to the conclusion that it was the sun.

Baal Berith

Ba´al Be´rith, covenant-lord ( Judges 9:4), is the name of a god worshipped by the people of Shechem ( Judges 8:33;  Judges 9:4;  Judges 9:46).

Baal Peor

Baa´l Pe´or appears to have been properly the idol of the Moabites ( Numbers 25:1-9;  Deuteronomy 4:3;  Joshua 22:17;  Psalms 106:28;  Hosea 9:10); but also of the Midianites ( Numbers 31:15-16).

It is the common opinion that this god was worshipped by obscene rites. The utmost, however, that the passages in which this god is named express, is the fact that the Israelites received this idolatry from the women of Moab, and were led away to eat of their sacrifices (cf.  Psalms 106:28); but it is very possible for that sex to have been the means of seducing them into the adoption of their worship, without the idolatry itself being of an obscene kind. It is also remarkable that so few authors are agreed even as to the general character of these rites. Most Jewish authorities represent his worship to have consisted of rites which are filthy in the extreme, but not lascivious. With regard to the origin of the term Peor, it is supposed to have been the original name of the mountain; and Baal Peor to be the designation of the god worshipped there. Some identify this god with Chemosh.

Baalzebub

Ba´alze´bub (fly-lord) occurs in  2 Kings 1:2-16, as the god of the Philistines at Ekron, whose oracle Ahaziah sent to consult. There is much diversity of opinion as to the signification of this name, according as authors consider the title to be one of honor, as used by his worshippers, or one of contempt.

The analogy of classical idolatry would lead us to conclude that all these Baals are only the same god under various modifications of attributes and emblems: but the scanty notices to which we owe all our knowledge of Syro-Arabian idolatry do not furnish data for any decided opinion on this subject.

Baal is often found as the first element of compound names of places. In this case, Gesenius thinks that it seldom, if ever, has any reference to the god of that name; but that it denotes the place which possesses, which is the abode of the thing signified by the latter half of the compound.