Baalis

Biblical Account

Baalis is named only once in the Bible, in Jeremiah 40:14. After Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, destroyed Jerusalem, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor over the land of Judah. Afterward, Johanan the son of Kareah and the captains of the forces came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and warned him: "Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee?" Gedaliah, however, did not believe them, and he also rejected Johanan's offer to kill Ishmael first (Jeremiah 40:15-16).

According to Jeremiah 41, Ishmael, who was of royal descent, killed Gedaliah and set out to carry his captives over to the children of Ammon. When Johanan pursued him, he escaped with a few men to the Ammonites (Jeremiah 41:1-2, 41:10, 41:15). The text does not describe any direct action on the part of Baalis. His role emerges only through the report of Johanan and his companions and through the record that Ishmael fled to Ammon. The brief account of the same events in 2 Kings 25:22-26 does not mention Baalis by name.

Significance Within Scripture

Baalis is understood as illustrating how Judah's neighbors regarded the land of Judah under Babylonian rule in the early period of the Babylonian exile. After Gedaliah's death, the remnant of Judah feared Babylonian reprisal and eventually went down to Egypt (Jeremiah 41:16-43:7). The name of Baalis stands at the beginning of this sequence of events. The New Testament makes no mention of Baalis.

Interpretation and Debate

The text does not explain why Baalis sought to do away with Gedaliah. Commentators suggest several possibilities: Ammon's political calculations in opposing Babylon, an alliance with Ishmael as a member of Judah's royal house, or an intent to undermine the order Babylon had established. All of these remain conjecture.

Excavations at Tell el-Umeiri in Jordan during the 1980s reportedly uncovered a seal impression inscribed with the phrase "servant of Baalyasha." Some scholars identify this Baalyasha with the biblical Baalis, but the identification has not been settled among scholars.

In the Korean Church

Baalis is rarely treated as a subject in his own right in sermons or Sunday school. He is usually mentioned only briefly, as a background figure, when the death of Gedaliah or the story of the remnant in the time of Jeremiah is discussed.