Baal

Biblical Text

Baal is the name of the foreign god whom Israel repeatedly worshiped after entering Canaan.

• Numbers 25: At Shittim, Israel joined itself to Baal-peor, and a plague broke out; it was stayed by the action of Phinehas.
• Judges 2:11-13; 6:25-32: Israel served Baal and Ashtaroth. Gideon tore down his father's altar to Baal and received the name "Jerubbaal."
• 1 Kings 16:31-33; 18: After Ahab, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, married Jezebel, a princess of Sidon, he built a temple of Baal in Samaria (Ahab and Jezebel). Elijah confronted 450 prophets of Baal in the contest on Mount Carmel.
• 2 Kings 10; 21:3; 23:4-5: Jehu destroyed the worshipers of Baal. In Judah, Manasseh rebuilt altars to Baal, and Josiah removed them.
• Prophetic books such as Hosea 2 and Jeremiah 19:5 also rebuke the worship of Baal.

Background

"Baal" was originally a common noun meaning "lord," "owner," or "husband." In ancient Canaan and the surrounding regions, the name was applied to a god believed to govern rain, storms, and the fertility of the land. Texts excavated in the late 1920s at Ugarit (Ras Shamra) on the Syrian coast contain Baal myths, so his character is also known from sources outside the Bible. In Scripture, Baal appears in combination with place names, as in "Baal-peor" and "Baal-berith" (Judges 8:33), and the various Baals are sometimes grouped together under the plural "Baalim." He is frequently mentioned alongside the goddesses Ashtaroth and Asherah. Because rain determined the success or failure of agriculture in the land, the drought in Elijah's day and the fire on Mount Carmel are read as events that revealed the LORD to be the true God over against Baal, who was believed to control rain and fire.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In the Old Testament, Baal represents idolatry and the syncretism that mixes pagan religion with the worship of the LORD. The prophets portrayed Baal worship as "whoredom" that betrayed the covenant. Hosea 2:16 speaks of a day when Israel will no longer call the LORD "my Baal" but "my husband": "thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali." In the New Testament, Paul cites 1 Kings 19:18 in Romans 11:4—"I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal"—as an example of the remnant that God has preserved. "Beelzebub," called the prince of the devils in the Gospels (Matthew 12:24), is generally regarded as a name related to "Baal-zebub," the god of Ekron mentioned in 2 Kings 1:2.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Altered names: The names "Esh-baal" and "Merib-baal" in 1 Chronicles 8:33-34 appear in 2 Samuel as "Ish-bosheth" and "Mephibosheth." Many scholars regard this as the result of substituting "bosheth," meaning "shame," for "Baal," though other explanations have also been proposed.
• Temple prostitution: Accounts of Baal worship commonly add that "temple prostitution" was widespread. However, the Bible does not describe Baal rituals in detail, and the nature and extent of such practices are disputed among scholars.
• Child sacrifice: Jeremiah 19:5 records that children were burned as offerings to Baal, and Jeremiah 32:35 mentions Baal together with Molech. Interpretations therefore differ regarding the relationship between the two deities.

In the Korean Church

In preaching, Baal is often used as a metaphor for things placed ahead of God, such as material wealth, success, or pleasure, and the expression "the Baal of today" occurs frequently. The contest on Mount Carmel and the "seven thousand" passage are favorite texts for sermons emphasizing decisive faith and the faithfulness of the few.