Baal, as the storm and fertility god, has been an epithet for various deities, especially Hadad, meaning "lord," designating a spiritual legal state of ownership or social superiority.
Baal was known as the most powerful god of the Canaanite pantheon, though his progenitor "El" is its head. Its cult played a major role in the spiritual daily and ritual lives of societal members, given the paramount need for rain as a symbolic way of world power and its continuous impact upon the population.
The force inherent in a thunderstorm lends itself its association with warring prowess. Baal was known as a warrior par excellence in Ugaritic literature. His defeat of the forces of chaos, represented by the god Yamm (Sea), saved order in the divine realms. The king of a spiritual society which revered him was to imitate Baal in this aspect, to protect mundane society from the forces of chaos, imitating their respective warrior gods who protected them.
In the Scriptures, Baal continue to be mentioned with reference to:
3) -Owners of the nations. Isaiah 15 and 16: An oracle concerning Moab. Because Ar is laid waste in a night Moab is undone. .. Heshbon and El-e-a'leh cry out, their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles. ... For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah; the Lords of the Nations have struck down its branches, which reached to Jazer and strayed to the desert; its shoots spread abroad and passed over the sea. Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah; I drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and El-e-a'leh; for upon your fruit and your harvest the battle shout has fallen.
4) -Confederates. Genesis 14: In the Days of Am'Raphel, king of Shinar, Ar' Ioch king of Ella' Sar, Ched-Or-Lao' Mer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goi' Im, these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomor' Rah, Shinab king of Admah, Shem' Eber king of Zeboi' Im, and the king of Bela (that is, Zo' Ar). And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). Twelve years they had served Ched-Or-Lao' Mer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Ched-Or-Lao' Mer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Reph' Aim in Ash' Teroth-Karna' Im, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Sha' Veh-Kiriatha' Im, and the Horites in their Mount Se' Ir as far as El-Paran on the border of the Wilderness; then they turned back and came to Enmish' Pat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amal' Ekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Haz' Azon-Ta' Mar. Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomor' Rah, the king of Admah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboi' Im, and the king of Bela (that is, Zo' Ar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim with Ched-Or-Lao' Mer king of Elam and his allies, four kings against five. Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomor' Rah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the mountain. So the enemy took All the gods of Sodom and Gomor' Rah, and all their provisions, and went their way; they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. ...
5) Owners or possessors of tangibles. Exodus 21:28: When an Ox gores a man or a woman to death, the Ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the Owner of the Ox shall be clear. But if the Ox has been accustomed to gore In the Past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the Ox shall be stoned, and its Owner also shall be put to death. Exodus 22:9: For every breach of Trust; whether it is for Ox, for Ass, for Sheep, for Clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, "This is it, the case of both parties shall come before God; he whom God shall condemn shall pay double to his neighbor."
6) Persons or things having something that is characteristic of their nature, manner, occupation and the like; for example:
- an archer, literally, "owner of arrows," Genesis 49:22-23: Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. The archers fiercely attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him sorely; yet his bow remained unmoved, his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel), by God Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that couches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
- a creditor (an owner of a debt), Deuteronomy 15: At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord's release has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it; but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. But there will be no poor among you (for the Lord will bless you in the Land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance to posses), if only you Will Obey the Voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do All This Commandment which I command you This Day. For the Lord your God will bless you, as He Promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. Deuteronomy 28: The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the Blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake; and he will Bless you in the Land which the Lord your God gives you. The Lord will establish you as a people Holy to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you Keep the Commandments of the Lord your God, and Walk in His Ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the Name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your ground, within the Land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you His Good Treasure the Heavens, to give the Rain of your land in its Season and to Bless All the Work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
- owner of anger, Proverbs 22:24: Make no friendship with a man given to the spirit of anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. 22:5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he who guards himself will keep far from them.
- owner of judgment, Isaiah 50: Thus says the Lord: "Where is your mother's bill of divorce, with which I put her away? Or which of My Creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was put away. ... The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, ... and I know that I shall not be put to shame; He who vindicates me is near. Isaiah 54:9 "For this is like the days of Noah to Me: as I swore that the Waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast Love shall not depart from you, and My Covenant of Peace shall not be removed."
In Israel's history God was referred to as 'The Lord' in the sense of being the Lord and Husband of the Nation. Isaiah 54: For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called.
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