Baal Baal (Romans 11:4 in a quotation from 1 K 19:18) was a generic name for a god among Semitic peoples, the literal meaning being ‘owner’ or ‘lord.’ Attempts have been made to show that this was the original name of the Sun-god, or that it represents the Supreme Being worshipped by the Canaanites. Neither of these contentions can be proved; indeed it is evident that the Baal of on e place differed from that of another. Thus the reference in the text is to Melkart, the Baal of Tyre. The feminine article (τ ῇ Βαάλ) in the Greek of Romans 11:4 is due to the frequent substitution of bôsheth (in Greek α ἰ σχύνη), ‘shame,’ for Baal by the Hebrew s.* [Note: Hence frequently in LXX ἡ Βαάλ (= ἡ αἰσχύνη), though in 1 K 19:18 the reading is τῷ Βαάλ.]
Literature.-A. S. Peake, art. [Note: rt. article.] ‘Baal’ in HDB [Note: DB Hastings’ Dict. of the Bible (5 vols.).]; G. F. Moore in EBi [Note: Bi EncyclopAEdia Biblica.]; L. B. Paton in ERE [Note: RE EncyclopAEdia of Religion and Ethics.]; W. R. Smith, RS [Note: S Religion of the Semites (W. Robertson Smith).] 2, London, 1894, p. 93ff.
F. W. Worsley.