Yahweh VS. Ba'al

[enki]

Curiously, whilst in the Old Testament the name Baal occurs 58 times
in the singular (always with the article), it also appears 19 times in the
plural, 'the Baals' (habbe'dlim). This latter form is to be found in Judg.
2.11, 13, 3.7, 8.33, 10.6, 10; 1 Sam. 7.4, 12.10; 1 Kgs 18.18; Jer. 2.23,
9.13 (ET 14); Hos. 2.15, 19 (ET 13, 17), 11.2; 2 Chron. 17.3, 24.7, 28.2,
33.3 and 34.4. Prior to the discovery of the Ugaritic texts, as for example
in the work of the great nineteenth-century scholar, W. Robertson
Smith,1 it was sometimes supposed that 'the Baals' referred to quite
distinct Canaanite deities, each Baal having its separate local identity.
The Ugaritic texts revealed, however, that Baal, 'the Lord', was the
epithet (though becoming a personal name) of one great cosmic deity,
Hadad, so that the local Baals were, in fact, simply local manifestations
of this particular deity, analogous to the local manifestations of the
Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. Although on occasion the phrase 'the Baals' might be a way of referring
to Canaanite gods generally (cf. Jer. 2.23, where it is likely that the
cult of Molech is specifically in mind), it seems that more usually it is
indeed a way of referring to different manifestations of the one god,
Baal. Interestingly, in the Ugaritic pantheon list (KTU2 1.47.5-11) the
name Baal is repeated seven times, suggesting that for the Ugaritians he
could appear in various manifestations. In the Old Testament some of
these manifestations are in a particular geographical location. Thus
there is Baal-Gad (Josh. 11.17, 12.7, 13.5), Baal-Hamon (Cant. 8.11),
Baal-Hazor (2 Sam. 13.23), Baal-Hermon (Judg. 3.3; 1 Chron. 5.23),
Baale-Judah (2 Sam. 6.2), also known as Kiriath-Baal (Josh. 15.60,
18.14) or Baalah (Josh. 15.9; 1 Chron. 13.6), that is Kiriath-jearim, Baal-Meon (Num. 32.34; 1 Chron. 5.8) or Beth-Baal-Meon (Josh.
13.17), Baal-Peor (Deut. 4.3; Hos. 9.10; Ps. 106.28; cf. Num. 25.1-5,
31.16; Josh. 22.17), Baal-Perazim (2 Sam. 5.20; 1 Chron. 14.11), Baal-
Shalisha (2 Kgs 4.42), Baal-Tamar (Judg. 20.22), Baalah (Josh. 15.11,
29), Baalath (Josh. 19.44), Baalath-Beer (Josh. 19.8), Bamoth-Baal
(Josh. 13.17), Bealoth (Josh. 15.24), and in Egypt, Baal-Zephon (Exod.
14.2, 9; Num. 33.7). Interestingly, local manifestations of Baal are also
mentioned outside the Bible. For example, Baal-Zaphon, the god of Mt
Zaphon in Syria, is frequently mentioned at Ugarit (see Chapter 4 on
Zaphon). Baal of Lebanon (KAI 31.1, 2) and the place Baal-Meon are
also attested, the latter on the Moabite stone (lines 9, 30). Recent studies
of Palestinian place names with a Baal component suggest that they
arose at about the time of the emergence of the Israelites in Canaan.2
In addition to the above local manifestations, there are also a number
of Baal epithets which are not in themselves limited to a particular
sanctuary. Thus, for example, Baal was sometimes worshipped under
the title Baal-Shamem, 'Baal of the heavens', and it will be seen below
that the Phoenician form of Baal, promoted by Jezebel and opposed by
Elijah, was this deity rather than Melqart, contrary to what is often
asserted. Again, as will also be seen below, the name Baal-zebub
(2 Kgs 1.2, 3, 6, 16) represents a distortion of the name Baal-zebul, a
variant of the name zbl b'l, 'Prince Baal', attested of the universal Baal
in the Ugaritic texts, even though in 2 Kings 1 he is specifically associated
with the sanctuary at Ekron.

A Canaanite god with a temple at Shechem is called Baal-Berith
'Baal of the Covenant' (Judg. 9.4), and the Deuteronomist also represents
him as being worshipped more widely by the Israelites in Judg.
8.33. Curiously, we also find a reference to a temple of El-Berith
'El/God of the Covenant' in Shechem in Judg. 9:46. Sometimes these
have been seen as separate deities,3 but it seems more natural to regard
them as variants of the same name. Granted this, it is debated whether
we have to do with a form of El or Baal. P.M. Cross 4 suggests El-
Berith, regarding Baal 'lord' as an epithet, pointing to a deity named
'ilbrt in a Human text from Ugarit (Ugaritica V, RS 24.278 [= KTU2 1.128]), though it has been queried whether Hurrian 'ilbrt should not
rather be understood as referring to the god Ilabrat, not to El-Berith.5
Significantly, however, the association of the Shechem deity with a wine
festival in Judg. 9.27 suggests the agricultural god Baal rather than El,
and Judg. 8.33 implies that the worship of this deity was a form of
apostasy associated with the Baals, so if only one deity is spoken of it is
surely Baal-Berith, not El-Berith. The reference to El-Berith in Judg.
9.46 might then be attributed to 'scribal orthodoxy',6 or alternatively El
is simply being used in an appellative sense.7 One can only speculate
about the nature of the Covenant referred to in the name, and attempts
to trace influence on Israel's own notion of divine Covenant are probably
over bold.

Baal Worship in Ancient Israel:

When reading the Old Testament it becomes clear that it was the Ba'al
cult that provided the greatest and most enduring threat to the development
of exclusive Yahweh worship within ancient Israel. The fact that
the Israelites were settled among the Canaanites, for whom the worship
of Baal was so important, and that Palestine is a land utterly dependent
for its fertility upon the rain, which was held to be Baal's special realm
of influence, accounts for the tempting nature of this cult as well as the
strength of the Old Testament polemic against it.

At the time of entry into the promised land there appears the temptation
to participate in the cult of Baal-Peor at Mt Peor in the land of
Moab (Num. 25.1-9; Deut. 4.3; Ps. 106.28; Hos. 9.10). Subsequently,
during the period of the judges, Israel worshipped the Baals (Judg. 2.11,
13; 3.7; 10.6; 1 Sam. 7.4; 12.10). The text recounts that Gideon pulled
down an altar of Baal and cut down an Asherah (Judg. 6.25-32). During
the divided monarchy Ahab married Jezebel, daughter of Ittobaal
(Ethbaal), king of the Sidonians, and worshipped Baal. He erected an
altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria, and made
an Asherah (1 Kgs 16.31-33). Ahab's promulgation of the Baal cult

provides the background for the famous confrontation between Elijah
and the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel in 1 Kings 18. Unlike Elijah,
Ahab clearly did not see his promulgation of Baal as being incompatible
with Yahweh worship; in fact, Ahab's sons Ahaziah and Jehoram
bear Yahwistic names. (On the identification of Ahab's Baal, see
below.) Ahaziah is said to have worshipped Baal (1 Kgs 22.53)—
indeed, he consulted Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, when he was ill (2
Kgs 1.2-16), a name (literally, 'Lord of the fly') that looks as though it
is a distortion of Baal-zebul ('Baal the Prince', cf. Ugaritic zbl b'l and
New Testament Beelzebul; see below). Ahab's other son, Jehoram, is
said to have put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made (2 Kgs
3.2), though he is still regarded by the Deuteronomist as an evil king (2
Kgs 3.2-3). It is clear, however, that Baal worship persisted, for Jehu
was later ruthlessly to massacre the Baal priests, prophets and
worshippers in the temple of Baal as well as destroy the temple itself
and the pillar of Baal within it (2 Kgs 10.18-27). This act was later to
receive the condemnation of the prophet Hosea (cf. Hos. 1.4). In addition
to the Northern Kingdom (2 Kgs 17.16), Manasseh is singled out
as worshipping Baal (2 Kgs 21.3), but Josiah, in his great reformation,
put an end to his cult (2 Kgs 23.4-5). Among the canonical prophets it
is Hosea and Jeremiah who seem most exercised by the Baal cult (e.g.
Hos. 2.19 [ET 2.17]; 13.1; Jer. 2.8, 23.13). It is surprising that the other
canonical prophets do not mention the name of Baal, even when they
condemn syncretism, for example, Ezekiel. Perhaps some prophets
were reluctant to mention the names of detested deities (the only one
explicitly mentioned by Ezekiel is Tammuz, Ezek. 8.14).

Zech. 12.11 to the Aramaean cult of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of
Megiddo. Also, it needs to be remembered that Antiochus IV Epiphanes
rededicated the temple in Jerusalem in 168 BCE to Zeus Olympios,who
was a Hellenistic form of Baal-Shamem. 'The abomination of desolation'
(Siqqus Sdmem or Siqqus me$dmeni) in Dan. 9.27, 11.31 and 12.11
is a play on the name of the god Baal-Shamem (see below).
In the early period the Old Testament mentions a number of
In the postexilic period Baal is not heard of, apart from a reference in
Zech. 12.11 to the Aramaean cult of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of
Megiddo. Also, it needs to be remembered that Antiochus IV Epiphanes
rededicated the temple in Jerusalem in 168 BCE to Zeus Olympios,who
was a Hellenistic form of Baal-Shamem. 'The abomination of desolation'
(Siqqus Sdmem or Siqqus me$dmeni) in Dan. 9.27, 11.31 and 12.11
is a play on the name of the god Baal-Shamem

(Yahweh and Gods and Goddesss of Canaan)

[Willum]

Dude, you're post are so long they are difficult to read - make your points, then when poster ask for details provide them...

But the gist of your post can be addressed adroitly with some linguistics.

Ba means lord,
Al is the same as El.

Thus Ba'al means lord god.

So any major deity would/could be addressed Ba'el XXXX. Or Lord God of XXXX.
Clearly this also indicates a merger of two cultures.

I think I can answer the rest of your posts by unfortunately dissing Judaic piety and invoking human nature.

The year is 250 BCE, and the Worshipers of the Canaan/Phoenician/Punic/... pantheon are living peacefully next to folks who are worshiping the war god, of the same pantheon, as the only god it is lawful to worship.

Do the practitioners of Yahweh, or more appropriately Yahu (YHVH), disregard the parent pantheon? No, they just say Yahu is supreme. Their friends and neighbors worship the Ba'als, and they don't want to aggravate them, but obviously there'd be disagreements.

Fortunately, Pompey the Great arrives and displaces one faction over another.

[OnceConvinced]

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