Baal

Baal , plural Baalim [Semitic,=master, lord], name used throughout the Bible for the chief deity or for deities of Canaan. The term was originally an epithet applied to the storm god Hadad. Technically, Baal was subordinate to El. Baal is attested in the Ebla texts (first half of 2d millennium BC). By the time of the Ugarit tablets (14th cent. BC), Baal had become the ruler of the universe. The Ugarit tablets make him chief of the Canaanite pantheon. He is the source of life and fertility, the mightiest hero, the lord of war, and the defeater of the god Yam. There were many temples of Baal in Canaan, and the name Baal was often added to that of a locality, e.g., Baal-peor, Baal-hazor, Baal-hermon. The Baal cult penetrated Israel and at times led to syncretism. In the Psalms, Yahweh is depicted as Baal and his dwelling is on Mt. Zaphon (Zion), the locale of Baal in Canaanite mythology. The practice of sacred prostitution seems to have been associated with the worship of Baal in Palestine and the cult was vehemently denounced by the prophets, especially Hosea and Jeremiah. The abhorrence in which the cult was held probably explains the substitution of Ish-bosheth for Esh-baal, of Jerubbesheth for Jerubbaal (a name of Gideon), and of Mephibosheth for Merib-baal. The substituted term probably means "shame." The same abhorrence is evident the use of the pejorative name Baal-zebub (see also Satan ). The Baal of 1 Chronicles is probably the same as Ramah 2. As cognates of Baal in other Semitic languages there are Bel (in Babylonian religion) and the last elements in the Tyrian names Jezebel, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal.

Baal a male fertility god whose cult was widespread in ancient Phoenician and Canaanite lands and was strongly resisted by the Hebrew prophets. The name comes from Hebrew ba῾al ‘lord’.

Baal Although the word simply means ‘lord’ or ‘master’, it was used as the proper noun for the principal object of Canaanite worship. Baal was a fertility and agricultural god, and according to the Deuteronomist historian the Israelites were constantly tempted to transfer their religious allegiance from Yahweh, who they believed had led them out of Egypt and through the wilderness, to a god who could perhaps promote good yields of corn and grapes. Some personal names contain the word baal, even a son of David (1 Chron. 14: 7). Baal was also thought to encourage erotic adventures which the prophets condemned, so that the Deuteronomist historian is delighted when a Baal temple is destroyed (2 Kgs. 11: 18) and the followers of Baal routed (1 Kgs. 18: 20–40). However, Baalism survived, and again it was extirpated in the reforms of Josiah (2 Kgs. 23: 4–5).

Much of the available information about Baal arises from the Ras Shamra texts of the 15th cent. BCE, in which he is said to have a consort, Anat. In Palestine the consort was Asherah (Judg. 3: 7) or Astarte (Judg. 10: 6)—distinct beings in the eyes of their worshippers.

The conflict between Yahweh and Baalism was for the people's allegiance: was it to a transcendent God with ethical demands? Or was it to a Canaanite god immanent in nature? But transcendent Yahweh could also be acceptably worshipped as the one who ‘rides on the wings of the wind’ (Ps. 104: 3); and the worship of Baal also had ethical implications.