Category:Baal

Ba"al, n.; Heb. pl. Baalim (. Etym: [Heb. ba'al lord.]

1. (Myth.)

Defn: The supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations.

Note: The name of this god occurs in the Old Testament and elsewhere with qualifying epithets subjoined, answering to the different ideas of his character; as, Baal-berith (the Covenant Baal), Baal-zebub (Baal of the fly).

2. pl.

Defn: The whole class of divinities to whom the name Baal was applied. Judges x. 6.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Baal - Lord. (1.) The name appropriated to the principal male god of the Phoenicians. It is found in several places in the plural BAALIM (Judges 2:11; Judges 10:10; 1 Kings 18:18; Jeremiah 2:23; Hosea 2:17). Baal is identified with Molech (Jeremiah 19:5). It was known to the Israelites as Baal-peor (Numbers 25:3; Deuteronomy 4:3), was worshipped till the time of Samuel (1 Samuel 7:4), and was afterwards the religion of the ten tribes in the time of Ahab (1 Kings 16:31; 1 Kings 18:19, 1 Kings 18:22). It prevailed also for a time in the kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 8:27; compare 2 Kings 11:18; 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chronicles 28:2). till finally put an end to by the severe discipline of the Captivity (Zephaniah 1:4). 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. 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 Chronicles 8:30; 1 Chronicles 9:36). (3.) The name of a place inhabited by the Simeonites, the same probably as Baal-ath-beer (1 Chronicles 4:33; Joshua 19:8).