Baal (Deity)

Baal (Deity)

1:

BAAL (DEITY) [Heb ba˓al  (בַּעַל )]. Canaanite storm and fertility god. The name, which means “lord, ” is an epithet of the god Hadad (lit. “thunderer” ). Well-known from the OT, he is now extremely well-attested in the Ugaritic texts, in addition to being mentioned in other ancient texts.

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A. Baal in Extrabiblical Texts

1. The Ugaritic Texts

2. Later Phoenician Sources

B. Baal in the OT

1. Israelite Worship of Baal

2. OT Use of Baal Motifs

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A. Baal in Extrabiblical Texts

1. The Ugaritic Texts. This deity is first attested in the Ebla texts from the second half of the 2d millennium b.c., where he appears as ˒a-da, and in the Egyptian Execration Texts of about 1800 b.c., but it is the Ug mythological texts from Ras Shamra on the Syrian coast which shed the most light on him. He is clearly the most active and prominent of all the Canaanite deities, even though El is technically the supreme god, to whose ultimate authority Baal is subordinate. The Ug texts depict him primarily as the great storm god:the fertility of the land depends on the rain this god supplies. His character is well-represented on a famous stele discovered at Ugarit, which shows him standing (on mountains or clouds?) brandishing a club in his right hand and a lance in his left, the upper part having the form of a tree or stylized lightning (cf. ANEP pl. 490). In one of the Baal myths, the god uses 2 clubs, clearly symbolizing thunder and lightning, to defeat Yam.

While Baal is regularly spoken of in the Ug texts as the son of Dagon, a god who otherwise is only rarely mentioned there (e.g., KTU 1.2.I.19; 1.5.VI.23–24 = CTA 2.I.19; 5.IV.23–24), he is also referred to as the son of the supreme god Il (cf. KTU 1.3.V.35; 1.4.1V.47 = CTA 3.VE.43; 4.IV.47). How these statements are to be reconciled is not completely certain. They could reflect divergent traditions, but it is more likely that Dagon is understood to be literally his father, and that Baal was also the “son” of El in the sense that he was a descendant of El (his grandson?), a member of the pantheon of gods which had its ultimate origin in El.

We come now to Baal’s consorts. In the Ug texts it is the goddess Anath who appears as Baal’s primary consort. It is she who goes searching for him after his descent into the underworld and participates in his conflict with Mot, for example. Astarte also appears as his consort, though she is not so prominent. As we shall see, the situation is reversed in the OT: Anath appears only as the name of Shamgar’s father and vestigially in place names (Anathoth and Beth-Anath), whereas Astarte, her name distorted to Ashtoreth or often Ashtaroth (the plural form), appears frequently even though we are not told much about her. Moreover, Asherah is often paired with Baal in the OT, suggesting that she too is considered to be Baal’s consort, a point discussed later in greater detail. Returning to Anath, it is curious to note that she is constantly referred to as “the virgin Anath.” It is not to be understood from this that she never had sexual intercourse with Baal; rather, the title appears to be explained by an Egyptian reference to her as the goddess who conceives but never bears (Papyrus Harris).

According to the Ug texts, Baal’s dwelling was on Mt. ṣpn, probably to be vocalized Ṣapān (some scholars call it Zaphon following the Heb vocalization). The mountain in Hittite is called Ḫazzi, whence its classical name Casius. It is located about 40 km N of Ugarit, at Jebel el-Aqra˓, 1, 759 m above sea level—appropriately enough, the highest mountain in Syria. The mountain’s location to the N of Canaan accounts for the apparent derivation of the Heb word for “north” (ṣāpôn) from its name. Echoes of its mythological sense are found in Ps 48:3—Eng 48:2, where the term is applied to Zion, and also in Isa 14:13. There were also various places in Egypt called Baal-zephon, one of which is mentioned in connection with the Exodus deliverance in Exod 14:2.

The god Baal in the Ugaritic texts has a number of epithets. The most frequently occurring are ˒al˒iyn b˓l “the victor Baal, ” rkb ˓rpt “rider of the clouds, ” and zbl b˓l ˒arṣ “the prince lord (Baal) of the earth.” Suggested echoes of the latter 2 expressions in the Bible are discussed below.

Although the god Baal is mentioned in many Ug texts, one work in particular is of central importance, the Baal cycle on 6 tablets in KTU 1.1–6 ( = CTA 1–6). This is broadly divisible into 3 main sections:(i) the conflict between Baal and Yam (“Sea” ) in KTU 1.1–2 ( = CTA 1–2); (ii) the building of Baal’s house (palace/temple) in KTU 1.3–4 ( = CTA 3–4); and (iii) the conflict between Baal and Mot (“Death” ) in KTU 1.5–6 ( = CTA 5–6). The following is a summary of the main points made in these 6 tablets concerning Baal.

(i) The god Yam sends messengers to El and the assembly of the gods on Mt. Ll, demanding that Baal be given up to him. Baal refuses to be given up, and eventually a battle takes place between Baal and Yam. Yam at first appears victorious, but in the end Baal defeats Yam with the help of two clubs made by the craftsman god Kothar-and-Ḫasis, and Baal is proclaimed king.

(ii) A king must naturally have a palace, and so the 2d main division is to a considerable degree taken up with the building of Baal’s palace. Anath first demands a palace for her consort from El, using threats, but is unsuccessful. Subsequently, following the urging of Baal and Anath, Athirat requests El to grant Baal a palace; unlike Anath she is successful. Kothar-and-Ḫasis builds the palace, and particular interest centers on the question of constructing a window for the palace, which Kothar-and-Ḫasis urges on Baal. Baal first declines this but eventually comes round to the idea.

(iii) The 3d section concerns the conflict between Baal and Mot. Mot uses threats to bring Baal, together with his accompanying meteorological phenomena, down into the underworld, which is Mot’s realm. This duly takes place and a period of dryness comes over the earth. El and Anath each engage in ritual lamentation over Baal’s disappearance. Athtar is nominated to be king in Baal’s place by Athirat, but he is not tall enough to occupy Baal’s throne, so he descends from it. There is a scene in which Anath destroys Mot, the various verbs employed suggesting that she is treating him as if he were corn. El then has a dream in which he sees the fertility of the earth restored, which gives him confidence that Baal is now alive again. Baal smites the sons of Athirat and ascends his throne. Then we read that in the 7th year Mot complains about his fate at the hands of Baal, and a scene follows in which Baal and Mot struggle with each other. After the intervention of Shapash (the sun goddess), Mot concedes defeat.

One problem concerns the relationship between Baal’s conflict with Yam and the creation of the world. In the OT we find the conflict with the waters associated with the creation of the world on a number of occasions (cf. Pss 74:12–17; 89:10–15—Eng 89:9–14, etc.). Similarly in the Babylonian text Enuma elish, Marduk’s defeat of the sea monster Tiamat is connected with the creation of the world. No such conflict occurs in the Baal-Yam text, but the OT and Babylonian parallels nevertheless cause some scholars to assume this connection. There does not seem to be room in our Ug Baal-Yam text for an account of the creation of the world, although it is possible that there was also a primeval conflict between Baal and Anath, on the one hand, and Yam, Leviathan, etc., on the other, which was a prelude to El’s creation of the world. Various Ug texts may allude to this (KTU 1.3.III.39–46; 1.5.I.1–3; 1.82.1–3; 1.83.3–10 = CTA 3.IIID.36–43; 5.I.1–3; UT 1001.1–3; 1003.3–10; cf. KTU 1.6.VI.51–53 = CTA 6.VI.50–52).

There has been considerable discussion whether the Baal cycle and, in particular, the Baal-Mot cycle reflects the seasonal cycle of an ordinary agricultural year or a 7-year (sabbatical) cycle. The chief proponent of a cyclic seasonal interpretation of the whole of the Baal epic is J. C. de Moor (1971), who compares the allusions in the various sections with current climactic conditions known from Syria today. However, there are a number of objections to the details of de Moor’s thesis, as for example his reordering of the tablets so that the first 3 are to be read in the sequence 3, 1, 2. Thus, tablet 3 is related to the autumn, tablets 1 and 2 to the winter, tablets 4 and 5 to the spring, and tablet 6 to the summer. However, de Moor’s reordering creates a problem in connection with the building of Baal’s house, which de Moor has to suppose was begun, then abandoned, and only later completed. Another problem is that de Moor sometimes advocates novel and debatable translations, e.g. ṣḥrr “be dust colored” instead of “be hot.” 

It would be incorrect, however, to reject all seasonal elements in the work. The crucial passage concerns Anath’s destruction of Mot, where she is clearly treating him like corn. Why would a whole series of agricultural images be used if, as some suppose, we simply have a picture of destruction and nothing more? We read that Anath “seized divine Mot, with a blade she split him, with a sieve she winnowed him, with fire she burnt him, with millstones she ground him, in a field she sowed him . . .” (KTU 1.6.II.30–35 = CTA 6.II.30–35). From this it would appear that Mot symbolizes the corn in some way, clearly indicating a seasonal rather than a sabbatical cycle. There would be no corn to be symbolized in a period of famine as presupposed by the sabbatical-cycle view, and in any case, nothing else in the text suggests a famine. How then are we to understand the reference to “the 7th year” (KTU 1.6.V.8–9 = CTA 6.V.8–9)? This is not entirely clear, but proponents of a sabbatical rather than a seasonal interpretation of the Baal-Mot cycle appear to overlook the fact that the destruction of Mot and the resurrection of Baal take place only after “months” have passed (cf. KTU 1.6.II.26–27 = CTA 6.II.26–27) and that the reference to the 7th year occurs after this. The text clearly is therefore not saying that Baal is in the underworld for 7 years. (Contrast the Hadad text, KTU 1.12.II.44–45 = CTA 12.II.45–46, and the Aqhat text, KTU 1.19.I.42–44 = CTA 19.I.42–44, where Baal does disappear for 7 or 8 years.)

One considerably disputed subject is the relation between Baal and El. Is Baal in conflict with El or are the two gods in harmony? The latter would appear to be nearer the truth, though there are signs of tension. The extreme claim, made, for example, by M. H. Pope (1955:27–32), the Baal deposed El, on the analogy of Zeus’ dethroning of Kronos, and that there may be a reference to this in the fragmentary and obscure KTU 1.1.V (= CTA 1.V) is certainly false. El remains throughout the supreme deity (L’Heureux 1979:1–108) and there are allusions which make it almost certain that Baal was appointed king by El (cf. KTU 1.3.V.35–36 = CTA 3.VE.43–44; 4.IV.47–48) just as other deities were. Moreover, although Mot is called “the beloved of El, ” El does lament when he hears of Baal’s death (KTU 1.5.VI.11–25 = CTA 5.VI.11–25) and rejoices when he has his vision of Baal’s resurrection, following the destruction of Mot (KTU 1.6.III.4–21 = CTA 6.III.4–21). Moreover, Shapash says that El will take away Mot’s throne if he goes on opposing Baal (KTU 1.6.VI.22–29 = CTA 6.VI.22–29). Again, although Yam is called “the beloved of El” and El appears prepared to give up Baal to Yam’s messengers, the context suggests that this was due to fear on El’s part (cf. KTU 1.2.I.21–24 = CTA 2.I.21–24). To be sure, there are signs of tension between El and Baal, and open hostility does seem to be present in KTU 1.12 (= CTA 12), the so-called Hadad text, where El is ultimately responsible for the devouring beasts which lure Baal to his death. This, however, belongs to a work separate from the main Baal cycle:in this latter there are references indicating hostility between Baal and the sons of Athirat (KTU 1.6.I.39–43; 1.6.V.1 = CTA 6.I.39–43; 6.V.1), though not with El himself.

2. Later Phoenician Sources. In the Phoenician inscriptions, various manifestations of the god Baal are attested, e.g., Baal-Shamem (KAI 4.3), Baal of Lebanon (KAI 31.1, 2), Baal of Sidon (KAI 14.18). In Punic inscriptions the leading deity is called Baal-ḥammon (e.g. KAI 102.1; 103.1), and it is widely believed that he is to be equated with El, largely because he was called Kronos by classical writers. However, it seems likely, as the name suggests, that this deity was actually a form of Baal:“Baal of the incense altar” (an incense altar features in a number of depictions of his cult). Sometimes he is simply called Baal in Punic texts (he is never called El), which suggests that Baal is the god’s name and that it is not simply an epithet meaning “lord.” Moreover, in Latin inscriptions he bears the epithets frugifer and deus frugum (e.g. CIL 8.4581), indicating a fertility god, and his consort Tinnit is equated with Astarte (Baal’s wife) in a text from Sarepta in Phoenicia (Pritchard 1978:105). Finally, there is evidence that Kronos could, on occasion, denote Baal as well as El, and in Hannibal’s oath in his treaty with Philip V of Macedon, recorded in Polybius 7.9.2–3, Baal-ḥammon actually appears to be called Zeus. It was probably the fact that Kronos devoured his own children that encouraged his equation with Baal-ḥammon, the god of child sacrifice.

Philo of Byblos in his Phoenician History clearly has knowledge of the god Baal, but what he says is far removed from the authentic Baal of the Ug texts. In addition to Beelsamen (i.e. Baal-Shamem), who is equated with the sun, Baal appears in Philo both under the name of Zeus Belos, who is one of Kronos’ (El’s) children, and also under the name of Demarous (= Zeus = Adodos, i.e., Hadad). We read that “greatest Astarte and Zeus, ” called both Demarous and Adodos, king of gods, were ruling over the land with the consent of Kronos (Attridge and Oden 1981:55). We may compare the picture in the Ug texts, where Baal’s kingship seems to be exercised under the authority of El. It is also stated that “Demarous advanced against Pontos, but Pontos routed him (Attridge and Oden 1981:53). This allusion is possibly a reflection of Baal’s conflict with Yam (Sea), though it should be pointed out that whereas Baal defeated Yam, Pontos routed Demarous! Although Muth (= Mot) is mentioned, Philo of Byblos displays no knowledge of the Baal-Mot cycle with its account of Baal’s death and resurrection.

B. Baal in the OT

1. Israelite Worship of Baal. Prior to the discovery of the Ug texts it was sometimes thought that there were various and quite-separate gods called Baal. This idea was encouraged by the presence in the OT of various compound place names involving Baal, e.g. Baal-peor, Baal-hermon, Baal-meon, Baal-hazor, Baal-gad, etc. However, with the discovery of the Ug texts it became clear that there was one great Canaanite storm-and-fertility deity Baal-Hadad of cosmic stature, so that we must assume that these OT allusions refer to particular local manifestations of this one god. We may compare the variety of local manifestations of the Virgin Mary within Roman Catholicism. The OT itself speaks a number of times of “the Baals” (Judg 2:11; 3:7; etc.). It is not clear whether this is a way of speaking of the different local manifestations of Baal or whether it is speaking of Canaanite deities more generally. We have the same problem over the references to “the Ashtaroth” (Judg 2:13; 1 Sam 7:4; etc.), which could mean local manifestations of Astarte (Ashtoreth) or Canaanite goddesses generally (cf. Akkadian ilāni u ištarāti, “gods and goddesses” ).

Reading the OT, it becomes clear that it was the Baal cult that provided the greatest and most enduring threat to the development of exclusive Yahweh worship within ancient Israel. The fact that the Israelites were settled among the Canaanites, for whom the worship of Baal was so important, and that Palestine is a land utterly dependent for its fertility upon the rain, which was held to be Baal’s special realm of influence, accounts for the tempting nature of this cult as well as the strength of the OT polemic against it.

At the time of the entry into the promised land we hear of the temptation to participate in the cult of Baal-Peor at Mt. Peor in the land of Moab (Num 25:1–9; Deut 4:3; Ps 106:28; Hos 9:10). Subsequently, during the period of the Judges, Israel worshiped the Baals (Judg 2:11, 13; 3:7; 10:6, 10; 1 Sam 7:4; 12:10). The text recounts that Gideon pulled down an altar of Baal and cut down an Asherah (Judg 6:25–32). During the Divided Monarchy Ahab married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and worshiped Baal. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria and made an Asherah (1 Kgs 16:31–33). Ahab’s promulgation of the Baal cult provides the background for the famous confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18. Unlike Elijah, Ahab clearly did not see his promulgation of Baal as being incompatible with Yahweh worship; in fact, Ahab’s sons Ahaziah and Jehoram bear Yahwistic names. (On the identification of Ahab’s Baal, see below.) Ahaziah is said to have worshipped Baal (1 Kgs 22:53)—indeed, we read that he consulted Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, when he was ill (2 Kgs 1:2–16), a name (lit. “lord of the fly” ) which looks as though it is a distortion of Baal-zebul (“Baal the Prince, ” cf. Ug zbl b˓l and NT Beelzebul). Ahab’s other son, Jehoram, is said to have put away the pillar of Baal which his father had made (2 Kgs 3:2), though he is still regarded by the Deuteronomist as an evil king (2 Kgs 3:2–3). It is clear, however, that Baal worship persisted, for Jehu was later ruthlessly to massacre the Baal priests, prophets, and worshipers in the temple of Baal as well as destroy the temple itself and the pillar of Baal within it (2 Kgs 10:18–27). This act was later to receive the condemnation of the prophet Hosea (cf. Hos 1:4). In addition to the N kingdom (2 Kgs 17:16), Manasseh is singled out as worshipping Baal (2 Kgs 21:3), but Josiah in his great reformation put an end to his cult (2 Kgs 23:4–5). Among the canonical prophets it is Hosea and Jeremiah who seem most exercised by the Baal cult (e.g., Hos 2:10—Eng 2:8; 13:1; Jer 2:8; 23:13).

In the postexilic period we do not hear of Baal, apart from a reference in Zech 12:11 to the Aramean cult of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. Also we need to remember that Antiochus IV Epiphanes rededicated the temple in Jerusalem in 168 b.c. to Zeus Olympios, who was a Hellenistic form of Baal-Shamem. “The abomination of desolation” (šiqqûṣ šōmēm or šiqqûṣ měšōmēm) in Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 is a play on the name of the god Baal-Shamem.

Some discussion of the identity of the Baal propagated by Ahab and Jezebel is necessary. It has often been thought that this is a different god from the one presupposed elsewhere in the OT, and is rather to be equated with the Tyrian deity Melqart. This view, however, is to be rejected (Mulder 1979). It is not until a 2d century b.c. inscription from Malta that we find Melqart referred to as Baal (“the Baal [or lord] of Tyre, ” KAI 47:1). There is every reason to believe that Jezebel’s Baal was in fact Baal-Shamem, another Tyrian deity who is in fact identical with the Baal attested elsewhere in the OT. (i) The Baal of 1 Kings 18 is clearly a god who was believed to bring lightning and rain; classical sources, however, reveal that Melqart was thought of as being asleep during the winter months when these phenomena abounded. (ii) The treaty between Baal king of Tyre and Esarhaddon king of Assyria in the 7th century b.c. clearly distinguishes Baal-Shamem and 2 other Baal deities, who manifest themselves in the storm, from the god Melqart (ANET, 534). (iii) The god of Carmel, where the contest takes place in 1 Kings 18, was always equated with Zeus. Now it was Baal-Shamem who was regularly identified with Zeus, Melqart being rather equated with Herakles.

Because the god Baal was so detested by the biblical tradition, the word bōšet “shame” has sometimes been substituted for the god’s name by a scribe. This is the case in Jer 3:24; 11:13; and Hos 9:10. This substitution also occurs in various personal names: cf. Ish-bosheth (2 Sam 2:10) for Eshbaal (1 Chr 8:33; 9:39), Mephibosheth (2 Sam 4:4; 9:6; etc.) for Meribaal (or Meribbaal) (1 Chr 8:34; 9:40), and Jerubbesheth (2 Sam 11:21) for Jerubbaal (Gideon, Judg 6:32). Similarly Astarte (Ashtart) is distorted to Ashtoreth, reflecting the vowels of the word bōšet, and Molech is probably a comparable distortion, the original form perhaps being Melek.

The worship of the Baals in the OT is sometimes associated with that of the Ashtaroth (Judg 2:13; 10:6; 1 Sam 7:4; 12:10), which must reflect the fact that Astarte was one of Baal’s consorts in Canaanite religion. More curious is the repeated pairing of Baal and Asherah (cf. Judg 3:7; 6:25–32; 1 Kgs 16:32–33; 18:19; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3), since in the Ug texts Asherah (Athirat) was the consort of El, not of Baal. Did Baal take over Asherah as his consort? The Hittite-Canaanite Elkunirša myth (ANET, 519), with its evidence of Asherah’s (Ašertu’s) flirting with the storm god and alienation from El (Elkunirša), might possibly lend support to this. Alternatively, the pairing of Baal and Asherah may be a sign of confusion on the part of the OT; or again, perhaps this pairing is not intended to imply that one was the consort of the other. Certainty is not possible. As for Anath, who appears prominently as a consort of Baal in the Ug texts, she appears in the OT only vestigially in the place names Anathoth and Beth-Anath, and as the name of Shamgar’s father.

There is evidence from the OT that Yahweh and Baal could be equated in syncretistic circles. One may compare the personal name Bealiah, lit. “Yahweh is Baal” (1 Chr 12:6—Eng 12:5), and Hosea’s declaration, “And in that day, says the Lord, you will call me ‘My husband, ’and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal’” (2:18—Eng 2:16). This syncretism made the Baal cult all the more insidious from the point of view of the Yahweh purists. The Baal cult or Baalized Yahweh cult is associated in the OT with the high places (bāmôt), whose characteristic appurtenances include pillars (maṣṣēbôt), i.e., symbols of the male deity, Asherim (wooden cult symbols of the goddess Asherah), and altars. These are sometimes spoken of as being situated “on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree” (cf. 1 Kgs 14:23).

Although there are no indications of this in the Ug texts, it seems likely from a number of OT allusions that sacred prostitution formed part of what was involved in the fertility cult of Baal. That sacred prostitutes existed in Israel is clear from a number of allusions, cf. Hos 4:14, where hazzōnôt “the prostitutes” are mentioned parallel with haqqědēšôt (lit. “the holy ones” ) in a cultic context, and Gen 38:21–22, where Tamar is described as a qědēšâ, whereas in v 15 she is called a zōnâ. This makes it clear that the word qědēšâ refers to a sacred prostitute. The masculine form qādēš “male cult prostitute” occurs in 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; 2 Kgs 23:6–7; and Deut 23:17. The fact that “harlotry” and “adultery” constitute such a common metaphor for apostasy to Canaanite worship in the OT is perhaps accountable for in the light of sacred prostitution’s role within the Baal cult—cf. Hos 5:3–5; 6:10; 7:4; Jer 2:20; 3:2–4, 9:1(—Eng 9:2); Ezekiel 16 and 23. In fact it is not always clear whether the terminology is literal or metaphorical.

2. OT Use of Baal Motifs. That Yahweh was seen as Baal in some circles is shown by Hos 2:18—Eng 2:16, which criticizes those who refer him as “my Baal, ” and by the personal name Bealiah (1 Chr 12:6—Eng 12:5), as noted above. However, the OT opposes the equation of Yahweh with Baal (Hos 2:18—Eng 2:16), in contrast with its attitude to El, whose identification with Yahweh is admitted (Exod 6:3). But it is clear that the OT does nevertheless ascribe certain Baalistic functions to Yahweh. For example, there are a number of references in the OT to Yahweh’s conflict with the dragon and the sea (e.g., Ps 74:12–15; Isa 27:1; Job 7:12). As at Ugarit the sea conflict is associated with the deity’s kingship (cf. Ps 74:12–15; Isa 27:1; Job 7:12). Following Baal’s victory over the sea his palace/temple was built for him, and similarly in Exod 15:17 we read of the establishment of Yahweh’s sanctuary, described in terms reminiscent of Baal’s, following his victory at (rather than with) the sea. In Daniel 7 the imagery of the one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, enthroned by the Ancient of Days and victorious over the beasts of the sea, ultimately derives from the figure of Baal, “rider of the clouds, ” whose kingship resulted from his victory over the sea, and was subordinate to the supreme god El, “father of years.” 

Yahweh’s manifestation in the storm is sometimes depicted in terms reminiscent of Baal. Thus, in Psalm 29 we find not only the theme of Yahweh’s kingship and his conflict with the waters (vv 3, 10), reminiscent of Baal, but also a glorious theophany in the thunderstorm, with seven thunders (vv 3a, 4a, 4b, 5, 7, 8, 9) which are doubtless related to Baal’s “seven lightnings . . . eight storehouses of thunder” (KTU 1.101.3–4 = Ugaritica V.3.3–4) (“seven/eight” appears to mean “seven” ). It is doubtful, however, whether the expression rōkēb bā˓ǎrābōt used of Yahweh in Ps 68:5—Eng 68:4 is to be rendered “rider on the clouds” on the analogy of Baal’s Ugaritic epithet rkb ˓rpt, contrary to a widely held view. The expected translation of the Hebrew expression would be “rider through the deserts, ” since ˓ǎrābâ regularly means “desert” in the OT, and it should be noted that this fits the context in the Psalm, dealing as it does with the wilderness wanderings. (Cf. too Isa 40:3, bā˓ǎrābâ měsillâ “a highway in the desert” with Ps 68:5—Eng 68:4, sōllû lārōkēb bā˓ǎbōt “raise a highway for him who rides through the deserts.” ) Probably the Hebrew expression is to be understood as a deliberate distortion of Baal’s epithet rkb ˓rpt.

Various other imagery ultimately related to Baal has also been taken up in the OT. Allusion has already been made to the use of the term ṣāpôn to denote Yahweh’s dwelling place in Ps 48:3—Eng 48:2 and Isa 14:13, though the context of the latter passage possibly indicates mediation of the imagery through the Jebusite cult of El-Elyon (cf. Isa 14:14). The imagery of Baal’s death and resurrection appears to have left its mark on the book of Hosea. It has long been noted that the imagery of the death and resurrection of Israel (a metaphor for its exile and restoration) in Hos 5:12–6:3 appears to reapply the imagery of a dying and rising fertility deity, in view of the reference to the coming of the rain in the context of resurrection in Hos 6:3. What appears not to have been noticed is the relevance of the parallel imagery of death and resurrection applied to Israel in Hosea 13–14, which is introduced with the words “but he (sc. Israel) incurred guilt through Baal and died” (Hos 13:1). This strongly suggests that the imagery of Israel’s death and resurrection has been consciously appropriated from the Baal cult, against which the prophet is clearly polemicizing throughout his preaching. In these and other ways Baalistic imagery is appropriated by the OT. (For further discussion see Mulden and de Moor, baÔal, TDOT 2:181–200).

Bibliography

Attridge, H. W., and Oden, R. A. 1981. Philo of Byblos: the Phoenician History. CBQMS 9. Washington.

Day, J. 1985. God’s Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea: Echoes of a Canaanite Myth in the Old Testament. Cambridge.

Eissfeldt, O. 1932. Baal Zaphon, Zeus Kasios und der Durchzug der Israeliten durchs Meer. Beiträge zur Religionsgeschichte des Altertums 1. Halle.

Habel, N. C. 1964. Yahweh versus Baal: a Conflict of Religious Cultures. New York.

Kapelrud, A. S. 1952. Baal in the Ras Shamra Texts. Copenhagen.

L’Heureux, C. 1979. Rank among the Canaanite Gods: El, Ba‘al, and the Repha’im. HSM 21. Missoula.

Margalit, B. 1980. A Matter of “Life and Death”: A Study of the Baal-Mot Epic (CTA 4-5-6). AOAT 206. Neukirchen-Vluyn.

Moor, J. C. de. 1971. The Seasonal Pattern in the Ugaritic Myth of Ba‘lu. AOAT 16. Neukirchen-Vluyn.

———. 1972. New Year with Canaanites and Israelites. 2 vols. Kamper Cahiers 21–22. Kampen.

Mulder, M. J. 1962. Ba’al in het oude Testament. The Hague.

———. 1979. De naam van de afwezige God op de Karmel. Onderzo ek naar de Baäl van de Karmel in 1 Koningen 18. Leiden.

Pope, M. H. 1955. El in the Ugaritic Texts. VTSup 2. Leiden.

Pritchard, J. B. 1978. Recovering Sarepta, a Phoenician City. Princeton.

Smith, M. S. 1986. Interpreting the Baal Cycle. UF 18:313–39.

Zijl, P. J. van. 1972. Baal. A Study of Texts in Connexion with Baal in the Ugaritic Texts. AOAT 206. Neukirchen-Vluyn.

  John Day

Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1:546). New York: Doubleday.

2:

BAAL  Baal (“Master”) is the name or title of a deity found throughout Semitic literature. Originally there was no single god named Baal and the name was used in conjunction with those of a number of specific deities (e.g., Baal-Peor [Num. 25:3, 5]). When used alone, Baal referred usually to a particular, often local, deity. In Hebrew ba‛al is commonly used to denote “lord” or “possessor,” as in the ba‛al of a house. It is also used in terms denoting a condition or particular attribute, as in ba‛al koaḥ (“man of strength”) or ba‛al shalom (“man of peace”). But the title was most commonly applied to “the fertility god par excellence of Canaan” (J. Gray, IDB 1.328), Hadad, about whom there was a large body of mythic lore, as evidenced in the Ras Shamra texts (ca. 1400 b.c.). Baal’s consort was Astarte (referred to in the OT often in the plural form Ashtaroth (as in Judg. 2:13; 10:6), and the worship of these deities often involved orgiastic rites repugnant to the Israelite prophets and reformers. Jezebel, Ahab’s queen, promoted Baalism in Israel. Ahab is said to have worshiped Baal and set up an altar to him in Samaria (1 Kings 16:31). During his reign the prophet Elijah challenged and defeated the priests of Baal in a contest of fire on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:20–40).

References to Baal are frequent—if often incidental—in English literature. Milton alludes straightforwardly to Baal in connection with the apostasy of ancient Israel in Paradise Regained (3.414–17) and with reference to the defeat of pagan gods at the Incarnation in “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” (197). Swift, in Window Inns (10), uses the conceit of someone being “like Baal, fast asleep” (recalling Elijah’s satiric taunting on Mt. Carmel [1 Kings 18:27]).

Byron makes frequent reference to Baal, especially in the historical tragedy Sardanapalus, where such allusions lend exotic coloring to his sympathetic portrait of pagan culture. Sardanapalus, the king of Assyria, routinely swears oaths “by the god Baal” and speaks reverently of him as guardian of the empire (1.159–60). Baal is spoken of as “father” of Sardanapalus by his subjects (3.28) and by the officer Altada, who remarks that “Baal himself / Ne’er fought more fiercely to win empire, than / His silken son to save it” (3.312–14). Myrrha, a Greek slave and favorite of the king, confesses that she has become “almost a convert to your Baal” (5.48); at the end of the poem she and Sardanapalus immolate themselves on a pyre “before Baal’s shrine” (5.421).

Political self-seekers are satirized in Nahum Tate’s Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel with reference to the apostasy of ancient Israel:

Our Jews their Ark shall undisturb’d retain,

At least while their Religion is their Gain,

Who know by old Experience Baal’s Commands,

Not onely claim’d Their Conscience, but their Lands. (557–60)

Pope likewise attacks dunces, flatterers, pretenders, and tasteless admirers “who, false to Phoebus, bow the knee to Baal” (The Dunciad, 4.93; cf. Byron’s contemptuous reference to his detractors in English Bards and Scotch Reviewers: “Each country book-club bows the knee to Baal”).

Unsurprisingly, the priests of Baal are often recalled in the context of religious polemic. As Carlyle’s Professor Teufelsdröckh suggests, “There are ‘true priests’ as well as Baal-priests in our own day” (Sartor Resartus, 2.9.154). The Puritan leader Governor Endicott in Hawthorne’s The Maypole of Merry Mount denounces an Anglican priest, saying, “Stand off, priest of Baal.” A different note is struck by Tennyson’s Averill in Aylmer’s Field, when he addresses the congregation on the theme of desolation and hopelessness; in despair he says, “Gash thyself, priest, and honour thy brute Baal” (644), but he is sustained by the thought that there is a “lord in no wise like to Baal” (647). In Tennyson’s Becket Thomas à Becket complains to King Henry that the church has been slandered and plundered: “The priests of Baal tread her underfoot” (3.3.179).

Shaw recalls the contest on Mt. Carmel in the preface of Back to Methuselah when advocating confrontation; “Elijah ... confuted the prophets of Baal in precisely that way.” The notorious character of Baal-worship is alluded to by D. H. Lawrence in England, My England; a woman who has become alienated from her husband because of a growing distaste for his sensuality says that she has her “own gods to honour” and asks herself if she could betray them, submitting to “his Baal and Ashtaroth.”

See also ahab; ashtoreth; jezebel.

Bibliography. Albright, W. F. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: An Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths (1968); Habel, N. C. Yahweh Versus Baal: A Conflict of Religious Cultures (1964); Gray, J. The Legacy of Canaan (1965).

Ronald M. Meldrum

Jeffrey, D. L. (1992). A Dictionary of biblical tradition in English literature. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.

3:

Baal —  lord. (1.) The name appropriated to the principal male god of the Phoenicians. It is found in several places in the plural BAALIM (Judg. 2:11; 10:10; 1 Kings 18:18; Jer. 2:23; Hos. 2:17). Baal is identified with Molech (Jer. 19:5). It was known to the Israelites as Baal-peor (Num. 25:3; Deut. 4:3), was worshipped till the time of Samuel (1 Sam 7:4), and was afterwards the religion of the ten tribes in the time of Ahab (1 Kings 16:31–33; 18:19, 22). It prevailed also for a time in the kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 8:27; comp. 11:18; 16:3; 2 Chr. 28:2), till finally put an end to by the severe discipline of the Captivity (Zeph. 1:4–6). The priests of Baal were in great numbers (1 Kings 18:19), and of various classes (2 Kings 10:19). Their mode of offering sacrifices is described in 1 Kings 18:25–29. The sun-god, under the general title of Baal, or “lord,” was the chief object of worship of the Canaanites. Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals were summed up under the name of Baalim, or “lords.” Each Baal had a wife, who was a colourless reflection of himself. 

   (2.) A Benjamite, son of Jehiel, the progenitor of the Gibeonites (1 Chr. 8:30; 9:36). 

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

Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

4:

BAAL (Idol) Name of the most prominent Canaanite deity. As the god of fertility in the Canaanite pantheon (roster of gods), Baal’s sphere of influence included agriculture, animal husbandry, and human sexuality. The word Baal occurs in the OT in combination with other terms, such as place-names (Baal-peor, Hos 9:10; Baal-hermon, Jgs 3:3), or with other adjuncts as in Baal-berith (Baal of the covenant, Jgs 8:33). Use of the name in connection with a local place-name may indicate a local cult of Baal worship.

Baal worship became prominent in the northern kingdom of Israel during the days of King Ahab (ninth century bc) when he married Jezebel of Tyre, a city in Phoenicia (1 Kgs 16:29–33; 18:19–40). It later infiltrated the kingdom of Judah when Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, married King Jehoram of Judah (2 Kgs 8:17–18, 24–26). Places for worship of Baal were often high places in the hills consisting of an altar and a sacred tree, stone, or pillar (2 Kgs 23:5). The predominantly urban Phoenicians built temples to Baal; while Athaliah was queen of Judah, even Jerusalem had one (2 Chr 23:12–17).

In the Ugaritic epic material, Baal is pictured as descending into the netherworld, the domain of the god Mot. That descent was evidently part of a cycle intended to coincide with the cycle of seasons. In order to bring Baal up from the realm of Mot and thus ensure initiation of the fertile rainy season, the Canaanites engaged in orgiastic worship that included human sacrifice as well as sexual rites (Jer 7:31; 19:4–6). Sacred prostitutes evidently participated in the autumnal religious ritual. The worship of Baal was strongly condemned in the OT (Jgs 2:12–14; 3:7–8; Jer 19).

See also Canaanite Deities and Religion.

Calling jesus “beelzebul”

By NT times, the name had changed to Beelzebul (kjv Beelzebub), from the Syriac language meaning “lord of dung.” It was a common practice to apply the names of the gods of enemy nations to the devils of one’s own religion. Thus, the title was applied by the Jews to the devil, or Satan, the prince of demons (Mt 12:24, 27). In their blasphemous criticism, the Pharisees called Jesus by this title to explain his ability to cast out demons (Mk 3:22; Lk 11:15). In Matthew 10:25 Jesus tells the disciples, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household” (rsv). Here Jesus seems to make his point by relying on another possible meaning of the words from rabbinic usage, “lord of the house”—“house” having reference to the temple, the house of the Lord. Thus, in response to the Jewish leaders, a play on words involving contrast may have been employed. They call Jesus “Beelzebul, lord of the dung heap,” and Jesus calls himself “Beelzebul, lord of the house.” By this, Jesus claims lordship over the house of God.

Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (135). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

5:

BA´AL (bāʹal; Heb. ba˓al, “lord, possessor”). 

1. A common name for god among the Phoenicians; also the name of their chief male god. See Gods, False.

2. The word is used of the master of a house (Ex. 22:7; Judg. 19:22), of a landowner (Job 31:39), of an owner of cattle (Ex. 21:28; Isa. 1:3), and so on. The word is often used as a prefix to names of towns and men, e.g., Baal-gad, Baal-hanan.

3. A Reubenite, son of Reaiah. His son Beerah was among the captives carried away by Tiglath-pileser (which see; 1 Chron. 5:5–6), before 740 b.c.

4. The fourth named of the sons of Jeiel, the founder of Gibeon, by his wife Maacah (1 Chron. 8:29–30; 9:35–36).

5. The name of a place (1 Chron. 4:33), elsewhere called Baalath-beer (which see).

bibliography: A. S. Kapelrud, Baal and the Ras Shamra Texts (1952); J. Gray, The Canaanites (1956); W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (1968); G. R. Driver and J. C. L. Gibson, Canaanite Myths and Legends (1978).

Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.

6:

BAAL. The Hebrew noun ba‘al means ‘master’, ‘possessor’ or ‘husband’. Used with suffixes, e.g. Baal-peor or Baal-berith, the word may have retained something of its original sense; but in general Baal is a proper name in the OT, and refers to a specific deity, Hadad, the W Semitic storm-god, the most important deity in the Canaanite pantheon. It is not clear to what extent local Baals were equated with or distinguished from Hadad. The Baal confronted at Mt Carmel (1 Ki. 18) was probably Melqart, the god of Tyre. The OT use of the plural (e.g. 1 Ki. 18:18) may suggest that more Baals than one were clearly distinguished; but in any case there was fluidity in the pagan conception of deities.

The Baal cults affected and challenged the worship of Yahweh throughout Israelite history. The limited OT data about Baal can now be supplemented by the information from the Ras Shamra documents. One of his consorts was *Ashtaroth, another *Asherah; and Baal is called the son of *Dagon. The texts reveal him as a nature deity; myths describe him in conflict with death, infertility and flood waters, emerging victorious as ‘king’ of the gods.

Yahweh was ‘master’ and ‘husband’ to Israel, and therefore they called him ‘Baal’, in all innocence; but naturally this practice led to confusion of the worship of Yahweh with the Baal rituals, and presently it became essential to call him by some different title; Hosea (2:16) proposed ’ı̂š, another word meaning ‘husband’. Once the title ‘Baal’ was no longer applied to Yahweh, personal names incorporating the word were likely to be misunderstood. So bōšeṯ (‘shame’) tended to replace ba’al in such names. Thus Esh-baal and Merib-baal (1 Ch. 8:3f.) are better known as Ishbosheth (2 Sa. 2:8) and Mephibosheth (2 Sa. 9:6).

The word Baal also occurs once or twice as a man’s name and as a place-name (cf. 1 Ch. 5:5; 4:33).

Bibliography. H. Ringgren, Religions of the Ancient Near East, E.T. 1973, ch. 3; A. S. Kapelrud, Baal in the Ras Shamra Texts, 1952; W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan, 1968; N. C. Habel, Yahweh versus Baal, 1964; and see *Canaan.  d.f.p.

Wood, D. R. W., Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary. Includes index. (electronic ed. of 3rd ed.) (108). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.

7:

Baal (bayʹal), a Canaanite god. The Semitic word ‘baal’ means ‘owner,’ ‘husband,’ ‘lord.’ It can be used as a common noun or as a proper noun. In the latter case it refers to the god Baal. In the Bible it is not always clear which use is intended. There is an additional complication in using ‘Baal’ as a proper noun. Baal is, in one sense, a specific deity with characteristic attributes and functions. But gods other than this specific Baal may be called Baal. The Carthaginian god Baal Hamon seems to manifest the character of El. In the Bible, El of the Covenant (Judg. 9:46) and Baal of the Covenant (Judg. 8:33) denote the same deity. 

Canaanite Background: These problems notwithstanding, the identity of Baal is clear. Baal is a weather god associated with thunderstorms. He is best known from the literature of Ras-Shamra (fifteenth century b.c.); Philo of Byblos, a Greek historian (ca. a.d. 63-141), collected additional valuable information about Baal, whom Philo called Zeus. At Ras-Shamra, Baal was called the son of Dagan, a fact not easily harmonized with the more general notion that El was sire of the pantheon. Also known as Hadd (Hadad), Baal was called ‘the Prince,’ ‘the Powerful,’ ‘Rider of the Clouds’ (an epithet once predicated of Yahweh in the Bible, Ps. 68:4). At Ras-Shamra, Baal’s consort, evidently also his sister, was Anat.

The phenomena associated with thunderstorms were closely linked to Baal. Baal was said to appoint the season of rains. Clouds were thought to be part of his entourage. Lightning was his weapon, and it may have been his invention. The windows of Baal’s palace were thought to correspond to openings in the clouds through which rain flowed. Rain was important to Canaanite agriculture, and Baal was consequently a god of fertility—a prodigious lover as well as the giver of abundance. 

The Ugaritic literature preserves a cycle of myths in which Baal is the protagonist. They link Baal to Mount Zaphon. They tell of his battle against Lotan (Leviathan) and of his struggles against other adversaries called Yamm (Sea) and Mot (Death). The struggle between Baal and Yamm has left its mark on Israelite literature in the form of stories about and allusions to Yahweh’s encounters with watery enemies (e.g., Isa. 51:9b-10; Ps. 74:13). Through his struggles, Baal achieves the first rank among the gods. Along the way Baal perishes and revives, providing the Ugaritic literature with stirring themes and dramatic moments. 

The relationship between El and Baal in Canaanite mythology has been a matter of dispute. There is some indirect evidence of antagonism between these important gods, inasmuch as they were competitors for the highest position in the pantheon. Yet there is also evidence of concord between them. Philo of Byblos reported an accommodation whereby Baal ruled on earth with the permission of El; many have seen in this arrangement the pattern of relations between the two most important gods of the Canaanites. 

Baal and Ancient Israel: The cult of Baal was widespread in the Syro-Palestinian world and became the focus of Israelite religious animosity. Baal’s consort in Palestine was not Anat, but Asherah (Judg. 3:7) or Astarte (Judg. 2:13; 10:6). Syncretism had blurred distinctions between Asherah, Astarte, and Anat, while for Israelite writers such distinctions were not of interest. We hear of the cult of Baal in a number of local manifestations: Baal of the Covenant at Shechem (Judg. 9:4); Baal of Peor at Shittim (Num. 25:3); Baal ‘Zebub’ (‘of the flies’; but should Zebul, ‘Prince,’ be read?) of Philistia (2 Kings 1:2-3); and perhaps Baal of Hamon (Song of Sol. 8:11). Jezebel introduced to Samaria the worship of Tyre’s god Baal (1 Kings 18:19). It is not altogether clear whether these local baals were taken to manifest the single great god Baal or whether they were imagined as discrete deities. 

Opposition to the worship of Baal is a persistent theme of the Israelite literature. The Deuteronomic corpus repeatedly condemns the veneration of Baal, speaking sometimes of ‘the Baals.’ The Deuteronomistic historian applauds the destruction of the Baal temple at Jerusalem in the revolution against Athaliah (2 Kings 11:18) and transmits old stories of conflict between the worshipers of Yahweh and the followers of Baal (Judg. 6:25-32; 1 Kings 18:16-40). The struggle against Baal worship was carried on forcefully by Israel’s prophets, especially in the ninth century b.c. and later. There was much at stake. The worship of Baal was popular. Many Israelite names were composed with the element ‘Baal’ (e.g., Beeliada). Although the word ‘Baal’ in such names may refer to Yahweh as ‘lord,’ on the whole such names can be taken as evidence of the erosion of strict devotion to Yahweh. Some Israelite writers changed the name Baal in personal names to the word bosheth (‘shame’), as in the name Ishbosheth. Since Yahweh could be called ‘lord,’ baal, the danger existed that Israel’s God would take on the characteristics of the Canaanite weather god. In part this could occur without compromise to the character of Yahweh. The majesty of a thunderstorm and the gift of fertility in nature could be construed as the evidence of Yahweh’s work. But Baal was a god of sexual congress whose cult sported erotic acts that offended Israelite sensitivities, and the full identification of Yahweh and Baal was not a possibility. Israel’s prophets fought to preserve a vision of transcendent Yahweh over against the Canaanite concept of Baal the nature god. See also Anat; Asherah; Ras-Shamra. R.M.G. 

Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (84). San Francisco: Harper & Row.

8:

Baal (Heb. ba˓al) DEITY

The Canaanite storm- and fertility-god. As an epithet for various West Semitic deities, especially Hadad, the name means “lord,” designating a legal state of ownership or social superiority. With the obvious exception of Yahweh, Baal is the most significant deity in the OT.

In a land dependent upon rain-fed agriculture, the storm-god is the most significant deity in the culture. Baal does serve as the most powerful god of the Canaanite pantheon, though his progenitor El is its head. Further, the cult plays a major role in the daily and ritual lives of societal members, given the paramount need for rain and its continuous impact upon the population.

Various derived epithets and functions of this deity are attested. An extension of the concept of rain is that of fertility. Baal is represented iconographically by a bull, underscoring the fructative powers of the god. Ugaritic myths record at length the struggle of Baal against his nemesis, Mot (“death”). Baal alone among the pantheon is powerful enough to engage Mot, as these two antithetical powers collide mythologically. Baal’s descent into Mot (who swallows him) is representative of the agricultural cycle, as life in a dry-summer subtropical climate entails months of aridity, theologically understood as the absence of the rain-god.

The power inherent in a thunderstorm lends itself to association with warring prowess. Baal is the warrior par excellence in Ugaritic literature. His defeat of the forces of chaos, represented by the god Yamm (“sea”), saved order in the divine realm. The king of a society which revered him was to imitate Baal in this aspect, to protect mundane society from the forces of chaos (as were virtually all ancient Near Eastern kings, imitating their respective warrior gods who defeated forces of chaos). Iconographically, Baal is represented as a warrior clutching lightning as a weapon.

A number of elements of the Baal cult are attested in the OT. Ecstatic prophets are depicted in the confrontation of Elijah with 400 prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel (1 Kgs. 18; cf. also the Egyptian work Wen-amon). The cutting mentioned in the ritual (1 Kgs. 18:28) was probably related to the cult of the dead, as the death of Baal is equated with drought. Baal’s association with this cult is implied in the biblical prohibition against cutting the hair or body in mourning (Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1; cf. Jer. 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; Hos. 7:14).

Baalistic cultic practices deeply affected Israelite and Judahite society on two levels. First, a number of liturgical themes, images, and phrases were adapted by the Israelites. Although actual worship of Baal was completely forbidden, there was naturally theological overlap between Yahweh and deities of other pantheons. That Yahweh and Baal are both pictured as storm-deities (Job 38; Ps. 29) is expected in similar ecological niches, with similar epithets. Both are warriors who “ride the clouds” (Ps. 18:10 [MT 11] = 2 Sam. 22:11; Ps. 77:18 [19]). The two share common enemies, Leviathan (e.g., Job 3:8; 41:1 [40:25]; Ps. 74:14; Isa. 27:1), Tannin (e.g., Job 7:12; Ps. 74:13; Isa. 51:9; Ezek. 29:3), and Yamm (Ps. 89:9). The latter examples best exemplify the Israelite demythologization of the events, as the mythic battle of Baal and Yamm is reduced in an act of creation. Order is a part of creation for the Israelites, as the universe was created and controlled by Yahweh from void to completion. His enemies in the OT are mortals, who reject him or try to thwart his plans in the mundane realm.

Second, the syncretistic tendencies of the Israelites generally focus upon the Baal cult. Again, the rationale for the association stems from the overlapping theological functions within the same ecological niche. These practices begin with the wilderness narrative of events at Baal-peor (Num. 25; the orgiastic nature of Baal worship, not unusual among fertility deities, is probably reflected in Hos. 4:14; 1 Kgs. 14:24; 2 Kgs. 23:6–7). The cycles of foreign political oppression in Judges center upon worship of this deity (e.g., Judg. 2:11, 13). Indeed, Gideon is nearly killed by the village men for destroying the altar of Baal and its accompanying Asherah pole (Judg. 6:25–32; the association of Asherah with Baal in the OT may flesh out a fragmentary myth, in which this goddess, the consort of El, seems to be trying to seduce Baal). The degree of syncretism is underscored by the townspeople’s decision to allow Baal to deal with Gideon (hence the folk etymology of his name, Jerubaal). This syncretistic practice plagued the Israelites to the exile (Jer. 2:8). It may be reflected in Baal names, although ba˓al may simply be interpreted as an epithet of Yahweh. The substitution of bōšeṯ (“shame”) for the Baal element in names is a theological statement by later biblical editors (e.g., 2 Sam. 2:10).

Baal worship was also sponsored by the monarchies of Israel and Judah. Ahab built a temple for Baal (1 Kgs. 16:31–33), and indeed worshipped him (22:53), doubtless spurred on by his Tyrian wife Jezebel. The cultic structure, including the priesthood and temple, was eradicated in Jehu’s bloody coup (2 Kgs. 10:18–27). Official sanction of Baal worship in Judah was credited to Manasseh (2 Kgs. 21:3). Josiah’s reform completely eradicated Baal worship from the land during his reign (2 Kgs. 23:4–5). However, the practice persisted among the masses. It was blamed for Yahweh’s implementation of the covenant curses, in retribution for Israel’s infidelity (cf. Deut. 30:15–20).

Mark Anthony Phelps

Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (134). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.