v. God, Statue, Idol, Image
Jdg 2:13; Jdg 3:7 they forsook the Lord, and worshiped B
Jdg 6:25 knock down the altar of B that your father has
Jdg 8:33 went back to prostitution after the b
Jdg 10:10 we have forsaken .. God, and served the b
1Ki 16:31 Ahab .. went and served B, and worshiped him
1Ki 18:26 called on the name of B from the
1Ki 19:18 whose knees did not bow to B
2Ki 10:18 Ahab served B little, but Jehu
2Ki 17:16 they made images .. and served B
2Ki 23:4 utensils .. made for B, for Asherah
2Ch 34:4 they pulled down .. the altars of the b
Jer 2:23 I am not .. I never walked after the b?
Jer 7:9 swearing falsely, and incensing B, and
Jer 11:13 altars to offer incense to B
Jer 19:5 they built high places to B, to burn
Jer 23:13 they prophesied in the name of B, and did
Hos 2:13 for the days when he incensed the b, and
Hos 11:2 from me; to the b they sacrificed, and to the idols
Hos 13:1 was exalted .. but sinned in B, and died
Zep 1:4 I will exterminate from .. place the remnants of B
Rom 11:4 have not bowed the knee to B
Baal (Heb. Ba’al, “lord”, “owner”, “husband”; Ac. BLlu; Ugar. and Fen. b’l; Eg. b’r; Gr. Báal). Term that in the Hebrew text of the Bible (our translations do not reflect it) is used to indicate the owner of houses (Jdg 19:22), fields (Job 31:39), oxen (Exo 21:28), riches (Ecc 5:13), a woman (Exo 21:3), a place (Jdg 9:2), etc. In extrabiblical mentions, Baal came to be identified with Helios (the sun god), with Hercules, or with the chief god of the Greeks, Zeus* (the Jupiter of the Romans; fig 59). This Dictionary will refer mainly to its religious-pagan application. 58. Baal on a stele from Ugarit. 1. Semitic god. Baal was: a. The name for a local god in the sense of “lord” (as in Baal-gad, Baal-peor, Baal-hermon). b. The name of a Canaanite god of storm and thunder. They believed that the Baals lived in holy places or houses (such as trees, tops of mountains and rocks, springs), and spoke of each of these local gods as Baal, the “lord.” The OT mentions them often, where Baal appears in its plural form: baals (Jdg 2:11; 3:7; 8:33; etc.). They were considered natural deities who took care of the vegetation and the increase of herds and cattle. Generally, when it appears in the singular and with an article, it refers to the main national god of the Canaanites. In the Ras Shamra* texts the word Baal is sometimes applied to a god as owner of specific places and shrines, but more generally it is the name of the most exalted of all deities. His elevation to the head of the Canaanite pantheon appears at a rather late date, since El had been in pre-eminence long before and a temple had been dedicated to Dagon before one was built for Baal. But when he emerged as the victor in the struggle for supremacy among the gods, he held that position for many centuries. He was the god of storms and was therefore frequently identified with Adad (Hadad). As the stormy winter rains were attributed to him, he was held responsible for the country’s fertility. His sister was the virgin Anat, the fierce goddess of bloodshed and war, and his adversary was Mot, the god of drought and scorching heat. When Baal was killed (whether by Mot is unclear, since the text is corrupted). Anat implored him to bring him back to life. But when all of Mot’s efforts failed, she was furious and in her anger she overpowered and killed him. She then took his dead brother from him and took him to the mount of the gods, where he was resurrected. After that, the Canaanites believed that Baal’s death and resurrection occurred annually, resulting in the 2 main seasons of Syria-Palestine: summer and winter. The death of Baal at the hands of the evil Mot at the end of each rainy season was greeted with bitter weeping and wailing; and his annual resurrection, after the long, dry months of summer – when the rainy season began with new life in the fields and vineyards – was celebrated with merry and licentious parties. Baal worship, universal in Syria and Palestine, had great appeal to the Israelites. They repeatedly relapsed into it from the time they entered the land of Canaan, until they were taken into captivity. The first time Baal is mentioned in the history of Israel is shortly after the death of Moses, when the Hebrews encamped in the fields of Moab, near a high place dedicated to the god (Num 22:41, “Bamot-baal ”). The gods then worshiped by the Israelites (Num 25:2) may have included Baal. He was worshiped again in the time of the judges (Jdg 2:13; 6: 28-32) and frequently in the time of the kings of Judah and Israel. He almost replaced Yahweh in the kingdom of Israel in the days of Ahab, when Jezebel, the headstrong Phoenician wife of the king, tried to establish the god’s religion as the only legal one. The story of Elijah’s fight against this cult and his confrontation and challenge to the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel is well known (1Ki 16: 31-33; 18: 17-40). But this victory for Yahweh was short-lived. Even the terrible crushing of that idol worship by King Jehu on his accession to the throne (2Ki 10:18-28) constituted only a temporary reform. Baal worship in the Northern Kingdom is documented by inscribed pottery shards from the 8th century BC, discovered in the Samaria excavations conducted by Harvard University. Among the many personal names of citizens of that kingdom, found in these inscriptions, there are several formed with the word Baal: ‘Abiba’al, “Baal is my father”; Ba’alzamar, “Baal sings”; Ba’ala’zakar, “Baal remembers(?)”; Ba’alma’anT, “Baal is my answer”; Meriba’al, “my lord is Baal” (if the name is Aramaic); and Ba’ala. This shows that there were many followers of Baal among those who lived after Ahab’s reign. In the kingdom of Judah, the cult of Baal was introduced by Athaliah, the wicked daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and especially encouraged by Ahaz who made images to the Baals (2Ch 28:2). These were removed by his good son Hezekiah, but the altars to the god were raised again by Manasseh, the next king (2Ki 21:3). In turn, the good King Josiah destroyed the utensils that had been used in that pagan worship (23:4, 5). Baal worship was one of the main causes of Judah’s captivity (Jer 19:5). 59. Six columns from the temple of Zeus (Jupiter) built in Roman times at Baalbek (the Syrian Heliopolis). The OT also testifies that worship of him was accompanied by the practice of sacrificing children in fire (Jer 32:35) and kissing his image (1Ki 19:18). He was probably also accompanied by gross lewdness. Baal is frequently associated with the goddess Ashtaroth (Jdg 2:13), and an image of Asherah was often found on high places dedicated to the god (Jdg 6:30; 1Ki 16:32, 33), Baal’s female counterpart. the. Bib.: Arvid S. Kapelrud, Baal in the Ras Shamra Texts (Copenhagen, 1952); ARI. 2. Village in Simeon’s territory (1Ch 4:33), also known as Baalat-beer.* 3. Reubenite father of Beera (1Ch 5:5, 6). 4. Benjamite son of Jehiel, ancestor of King Saul (1Ch 8:30; 9:36).
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
phoenician lord Divine masculine principle of fertility, master of the soil, corresponding and associated with the feminine divinity of love and fertility ® Astarte, worshiped by the Canaanites, the primitive Semites. For this reason they are mentioned together in Scripture. Astarte, in certain places, appears as Asherah, Jc 3, 7; 2 R 23, 4; or, in the plural, it is read Baals and Astartes, to refer, in general, to the Canaanite deities. When the Israelites left Egypt, they began to conquer and occupy the Canaanite territory, and fell into the idolatry of this people. This idolatry is figuratively called, in biblical language, prostitution, 2 Cro 21, 11-15; Jer 13, 27; Ez 16, 20; Hos 5, 4; and this was also exercised, by men and women consecrated for that purpose, as part of the worship of the gods, 1 R 14, 24; 15, 12; 22, 47; 2 R 23, 7; children were also burned in honor of B., the prophet Jeremiah denounces this practice, Jr 19, 5; sanctuaries and altars to B., as to foreign gods, were usually built on high places, 2 Cro 28, 25; Jer 7, 31; for the cult, cipos, stelae, gold objects were made, Os 2, 10.
In the time of the judges, the Israelites fell into idolatry of B. and Yahweh delivered them into the hands of their enemies, Jc 2, 11-14; 3, 7-8 and 12; 4, 1; 10, 6-7.
Gideon erected an altar to Yahweh and destroyed B.’s, for which he received the name of Yerubbaal, that is, “Let Baal plead with him, since he destroyed his altar”, Jc 6, 25-32. But after Gideon died, the Israelites returned to the worship of the Baals, Jc 8, 33-35.
In times of the monarchy, idolatry and the cult of B.
Omri king of Israel, 885-874 BC. C., and Ittobaal, king of the Phoenicians, established relationships and family alliance, and as a result Israel fell into idolatry of B. Ajab son and successor of Omrí, 874-853 a. C., he married Jezebel, daughter of Ittobaal, 1 R 16, 29-33. Ajab raised an altar in Samaria and established the cult in honor of B., instigated by his wife, for which Israel was punished by a drought announced by Elijah, 1 R 17, 1. Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, 1 R 18, 4 and 13; and she had brought from Tire those of B. to Israel, whom she supported, 1 Kings 18, 19. Elijah sent for King Ahab through Obadiah.
When they met, Elijah rebuked the king for abandoning Yahweh’s commands and serving the Baals, and had Ahab gather all Israel and the four hundred and fifty prophets of B. on Mount Carmel. There a judgment of God was carried out, because the prophets of B. prepared a bull for the sacrifice on the altar, without setting fire; so did Elijah. After they invoked his god to send fire, nothing happened. Elijah invoked Yahweh and the miracle of fire took place, which consumed the sacrifice. After this, Elijah slaughtered the prophets of B., 1 Kings 18, 20-40. With what Elijah showed that there is no God but Yahweh. Ahaziah, son of Ahab and king of Israel, 853-852 BC. C., also worshiped B., as his father, 1 R 22, 52-54. Joram, son of Ahab and king of Israel, 852-841 BC. C., made the stele that his father had erected for B. disappear, 2 R 3, 1-2. Jehu, king of Israel, carried out a great massacre of the faithful of B., destroyed his temple and pulled down his altar, 2 Kings 10, 18-28. In Judah, too, the people destroyed the temple of B. and his priest Matán killed him in front of the altars, when the priest Yehoyada organized the conspiracy against Athaliah and she was killed, 2 R 11, 18; 2 Chr 23, 16-17. The ruin and deportation of the Israelites is due, according to the Scripture, to the fact that they turned away from Yahweh and worshiped B., 2 Kings 17, 16. Manasseh, king of Judah, 687642 a. C., rebuilt the idolatrous sanctuaries, that his father Hezekiah had…