– Hebrew word meaning: lord, master. It was the common name that designated the main deity worshiped by all Semitic peoples, which symbolized fertility.
– It is mentioned many times by the authors of the OT books – sometimes in the singular, sometimes in the plural – to designate the false god(s), in opposition to Yahweh, the unique God of the Hebrew people.
– In Judges, in addition to Baal, Astarot appears: plural form of Astarte, deity worshiped by all Semitic peoples. The Hebrews, not having a word meaning goddess, employed the plural form Astarot to designate female deities in general:
Judg 2:13 : They abandoned the Lord to serve Baal and Ashtaroth.
– The prophets urged kings and people to destroy the altars of Baal:
Judges 6,25-32 : Take your father’s bull and a second seven-year-old bull; destroy your father’s altar of Baal.
1Kings 18,25-40 : Elijah said to them: “Take now the prophets of Baal. Don’t let a single one of them escape!”
2Kings 21,1-15 : He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, he erected altars to Baal.
– It was proof of fidelity to the covenant signed with Yahweh:
Judg 2:23 : And the Lord allowed all those nations to remain which he had not given into the hand of Joshua.
Judges 3:7 : They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
Judg 8,33-35 : After his death, the children of Israel again prostituted themselves with the Baals.
Judg 10:10 : We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving Baals.
1Kings 16:30-33 : He even worshiped Baal, prostrating himself before him.
1 Kings 18:18 : Because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.
1 Kings 19:18 : But I will reserve seven thousand men in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
2Kings 10:18-31 : But that was simply a snare, to destroy all the worshipers of Baal.
2Kings 17,13-17 : They worshiped Baal, […] they abandoned themselves entirely to everything that displeased the Lord.
2Kings 23,1-10 : That they should throw out of the Temple of the Lord all the objects manufactured for the cult of Baal.
2Ch 34,1-7 : They tore down the altars of Baals in his presence, and he himself destroyed the obelisks.
Jr 2,23 : How can you say: “I have not profaned myself or gone after the Baals?”.
Jr 7,9-15 : You steal, you kill, you commit adultery, you take false oaths; you offer incense to Baal.
Jer 11:13 : So many altars of infamy have you erected to burn offerings on them in honor of Baal.
Jr 19,4-5 : They stained this place with the blood of the innocent, and raised the high place to Baal.
Jer 23:13 : Among the Samaritan prophets I saw absurdities: they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel astray.
Hos 2,13-15 : I will make her atonement for the days of Baal, when I burned offerings to him.
Hos 11 :2: But the more I called them, the more they turned away; they offered sacrifices to Baals and burned offerings to idols.
Zep 1,4 : I will exterminate from this place all that remains of Baal.
– Paul, reminding the Christians of Rome of the history of salvation, writes that God never rejected his people:
Rom 11:4 : I have reserved seven thousand men for myself, who have not bowed the knee to Baal (1Kings 19:18) .
