January, Dictionary of the Bible.

From: Good News for Young and Old: Volume 14 (1872)

Ba’al (lord, possessor), the name of the principal god of the Zidonians and Phoenicians. His service was always connected with that of Ashtaroth, and the chief seats of worship were Tyre and Sidon. Altars to Baal were commonly built on roofs of houses, tops of mountains, and other raised places; and his priests and prophets were very numerous (1 Kings 18:19-25¹⁹Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. ²⁰So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. ²¹And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. ²²Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. ²³Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: ²⁴And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. ²⁵And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. (1 Kings 18:19‑25); 2 Kings 10:19,¹⁹Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal. (2 Kings 10:19) &c.). Incense was offered to him, and oxen and even poor little children were sacrificed (2 Kings 23:5⁵And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. (2 Kings 23:5); 1 Kings 18:23,²³Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: (1 Kings 18:23) &c.; Jer. 19:5⁵They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: (Jeremiah 19:5)). In 1 Kings 18. we read of his priests cutting themselves with knives and lancets because their prayer’) were not answered. Homage was paid to him by bowing the knee and kissing his image (1 Kings 19:18¹⁸Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:18)), as to kiss was an act of worship (Psa. 2:12¹²Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalm 2:12); comp. Hos. 13:2²And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. (Hosea 13:2)). It was customary also to swear by the name of Baal, just as the Romans used to swear by the name of Jove or Jupiter (Jer. 12:16¹⁶And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. (Jeremiah 12:16).)

From the days of the Judges to the Babylonish captivity, the people of Israel were continually guilty of the worship of this idol, which, together with that of Ash’taroth, seems to have prevailed throughout the world, and exists to this day in China. It is really the idolatry of the sun and moon under these and other names. (See ASH TAROTH.) Baalim is the plural of Baal. On a Cylinder found among the rubbish at the foot of the Great Bulls of Konyunjik, a king is represented worshipping before a sacred tree, over which is the usual figure of Baal with three heads instead of one. This appears to be the “Baalim and Asherah” of the Scriptures.

Ba’al Be’rith (lord of the covenant) was a god of the Canaanites, whom the Israelites wickedly substituted for Jehovah as soon “as Gideon was dead” (Judg. 8:33, 9:4, 46).

Ba’al Pe’or (lord of Mount Peor) seems to have been the chief idol of Moab (Num. 25:1-9¹And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. ²And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. ³And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ⁴And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. ⁵And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor. ⁶And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. ⁷And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; ⁸And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. ⁹And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. (Numbers 25:1‑9); Deut. 4:3³Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. (Deuteronomy 4:3) Josh. 22:17¹⁷Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, (Joshua 22:17); Psalm 106:28²⁸They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. (Psalm 106:28); Hos. 9:10¹⁰I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baal-peor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved. (Hosea 9:10)), and also of the Midianites (Num. 31:15, 16¹⁵And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? ¹⁶Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. (Numbers 31:15‑16)).

Ba’al-ze’bub (fly-lord, or, as Josephus renders it, “the god-fly”) was the idol of the Philistines of Ekron (2 Kings 1). It is said that the Hottentots of South Africa pay homage to a similar god, a kind of fly peculiar to the regions in which they live. It is described as being about the size of a child’s little finger; the back is green, and the belly sprinkled with white and red. It has two wings, and on its head a pair of horns. Whenever they see this fly, they gather round it, singing and dancing, sacrifice two sheep, and sprinkle the powder of Bachu over everything around the spot where it has alighted, even on the tops of the houses, fully believing that its visit brings prosperity to the inhabitants of the kraal or village. The name of Baal is frequently found as a kind of prefix to the names of places, as Baal-zephon, Baal-hermon, Baal-gad. In these cases it is supposed to mean the place which possesses, which is the abode of the thing signified, as Baal-zephon, the place of Zephon, &c.

Ba’alah, (mistress), called Baale (2 Sam. 6:2²And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. (2 Samuel 6:2)), and Kirjath-Baal (city of Baal, Josh. 15:60⁶⁰Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, and Rabbah; two cities with their villages: (Joshua 15:60)), a city in the tribe of Judah. Baalah is also the name of a town called elsewhere Balah and Bilhah, once situated in the tribe of Simeon, but the site of which is now unknown (Josh. 15:29, 19:3; 1 Chron. 4:29²⁹And at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad, (1 Chronicles 4:29)).

Ba’alath, a town in the tribe of Dan (Josh. 19:41⁴¹And the coast of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, (Joshua 19:41); 1 Kings 9:18¹⁸And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, (1 Kings 9:18)).

Ba’alath-be’er (mistress of, or having a well), supposed to be the same as the Baal of 1 Chronicles 4:33³³And all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and their genealogy. (1 Chronicles 4:33); a city of Simeon called Ramoth-nigel, or South Ramoth (Josh. 19:8⁸And all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramath of the south. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. (Joshua 19:8); 1 Sam. 30:27²⁷To them which were in Beth-el, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir, (1 Samuel 30:27)). The site is unknown.

Ba’al-gad (possessor of fortunes, or of the idol Gad), a very old city situated under Mount Hermon, in Coele-Syria (Hollow Syria), or in the valley of Lebanon (Josh. 11:17, 12:7; 13:5⁵And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baal-gad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath. (Joshua 13:5)). Coele-Syria is that great plain enclosed between Lebanon and Anti-lebanon, and now commonly known as the plain or valley of Baalbek, and supposed to be the same as “the plain of wen” (Amos 1:5⁵I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the Lord. (Amos 1:5)), which derived its name from the worship of idols (see AVEN and COELE-SYRIA). Ruins of ancient heathen temples abound on the slopes of Anti-lebanon, and just where a small valley opens on to the plain are found the ruins of an ancient city, which the natives call Baalbec, said to be the same in meaning as the Heliopolis, or Sun city of the Greeks, and once famous for a splendid temple to the Sun, some fragments of which still remain. In all these ruins a silent testimony is borne to the terrible apostacy of Israel, to the long-suffering of Jehovah, and the truth of the Scriptures.

Ba’al-Gur (2 Chron. 26:7⁷And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims. (2 Chronicles 26:7)), supposed to have been situated in Arabia Petraea.

Ba’al-Ham’on on, (Song of Sol. 8:11¹¹Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. (Song of Solomon 8:11)). — There was a Hamon in Asher, which is supposed to have been the Baal-Hamon of Solomon’s Song (Josh. 19:28²⁸And Hebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, even unto great Zidon; (Joshua 19:28)).

Ba’al-Hazor, where Absalom kept his flocks (2 Sam.’ 13:23). — It was near a city called Ephraim in the tribe of Judah (2 Chron. 13:19¹⁹And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof. (2 Chronicles 13:19); John 11:54⁵⁴Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. (John 11:54)).

Ba’al-Hermon (1 Chron. 5:23²³And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baal-hermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon. (1 Chronicles 5:23); Judg. 3:3³Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamath. (Judges 3:3)) seems to have been near Baal-gad, if not the same city.

Ba’al-Me’on, or Beth-Meon, and Beth-Baal-Meon (Num. 32:38³⁸And Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded. (Numbers 32:38); 1 Chron. 5:8⁸And Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, even unto Nebo and Baal-meon: (1 Chronicles 5:8); Jer. 48:23²³And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon, (Jeremiah 48:23)), a town in the tribe of Reuben, beyond Jordan, but possessed by the Moabites in the days of Ezekiel (25:9).

Ba’al-Pe’razim (place of breaches), a name given by David to a place in the valley of Rephaim, or near it (2 Sam. 5:20²⁰And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there, and said, The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal-perazim. (2 Samuel 5:20); 1 Chron. 14:11¹¹So they came up to Baal-perazim; and David smote them there. Then David said, God hath broken in upon mine enemies by mine hand like the breaking forth of waters: therefore they called the name of that place Baal-perazim. (1 Chronicles 14:11).

Ba’al-Shal’isha (2 Kings 4:42⁴²And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. (2 Kings 4:42)), in the district of Shalisha (1 Sam. 9:4⁴And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. (1 Samuel 9:4)).

Click here to show subject links in the text for more information.