heaven-dwellMy Baal), i. e. Baal as associated with the hill of Baal or Saturn, supposed to be in the seventh heaven, as the term divine "habitation" ("ir^) often signifies (Deut. xxvi, 15 ; Psa. lxviii, 6), and thus equivalent to the later Baal-Zebul (biat bra, lord of the celestial dwelling, i. e. "prince of the power of the air"), and the Phoenician Beelsamen (BmX<x«/<mi', i. e. D^wd bra, lord of heaven, as interpreted by Sancho- niathon [p. 14, Kvpiog oipavov] and Augustine [in loc. Judg., dominus call]) ; whence the name of the place Bet/i-Baal-Meon (q. v.), in Josh, xiii, 17, or simply Baal-Meon (Num. xxxii, 38; 1 Chron. v, 8), or even abridged into Been (Num. xxxii, 3). See Baal- meon; Beelzebub. (/) Baal-Peratsim (bra d^X^S, q. d. ravine-Baal), so called apparently as the presiding deity of the mountain Perazim (q. v.), an eminence famous for an ancient victory (Isa. xxviii, 21), and probably a seat of his worship ; and hence ap- plied in this form to the place itself (2 Sam. v, 20; 1 Chron. xiv, 11), in the same way as Hermon and Peor above, and at length Lebanon itself, as mountains rep* resenting great natural features. See Baal-pera- zim. (ff) Baal-Tsephon ("J iS2 bra, i. e. Typhon- Baal), the name of Baal as the opposing genius of cosmical order (comp. "*E2J, the north, i. e. the dark, cold quarter), or the ruling spirit of winter. This was an Egyptian phasis of the divinity, and the name wa* transferred to the city^ or locality of Baal-Zephon, ov the route of the Israelites to Canaan (Exod. xiv, 2), See Baal-zepiion. (h) Baal - Shalishah (bra ri'^3"^, q. d. Baal of the third or trinal district), the tutelary deity of the region Shdisha (q. v.), to* a citv of which (1 Sam. ix, 4) his name was thus transferred (1 Kings iv, 20), situated (according to the Onomasti- con) 15 Koman miles north of Diospolis, and called by the Sept. and Eusebius Beth-Shalisha (by a frequent interchange of prefixes). See Baal-Shalisha. (f) Baal-Tamar pOPl h?3,q.d.2mlm-stick-Baal, comp. Jer. x, 5), is Baal the phallus of Bacchus, or the scare- crow Priapus in the melon-patches (see the apocryphal explanation in Baruch vi, 70), and thence assigned to a city in the fertile meadow near Gibeah (Judg. xx, 33), called in the Onomast. Beth-Tamar. See Baal- tamar.
On the subject generally, see (in addition to the works above referred to) Selden, De Bits Syris; Peri- zonius, Orir/ines Babyl. ; Bullmann, Veb. Kronos, in the Abhan'dl. d. Berl. Akad. 1814, 1815; Buttmann, Mythol.; Gesenius, in Ersch's Encycl. viii; Stuhr, £e- Ug. d. heidn. Volker d. Orients; Metzger, in Pauli's ReaUenc. <1. llusmch. Wissensdwft, s. v. Hercules; Movers, in Ersch's Encycl. xxiv. See Baal.
Ba'alis (Heb. Baalis', O^bra, prob. for O^bS"*?, ton of exultation; Sept. BfX/cra v. r. BtXuuaa, and even BaaiXiaaa; Vulg. Baalis), kinij; of the Ammon- ites about the time of the Babylonian captivity, whom Johanan and his fellow-generals reported to Gedaliah, the viceroy, as having sent Ishmael to assassinate him (Jer. xl, 14). B.C. 587. Some MSS. have Baalim (Cnbra), and so Josephus (Baa\ii/i, Ant. x, 9, 3).
Ba'al-me'cn (Heb. Ba'iil Meonf, ""'" bra, lord, of dwelling; Sept. t) BffX/./fwp, but in Chron. B«A- /tatiii> v. r. V,n\jutnrn'ov, and in Ezek. omits ; other- wise Beth-Meon, Jer. xlviii, 23, and Betii-Baal- Meon, Josh, xiii, 17), a town in the tribe of Reuben beyond the Jordan, or at least one of the towns which were " built" by the Ueubenites (Num. xxxii, 38), and to which they "gave other names." Possibly the " Beth-" (q. v.), which is added to the name in its mention elsewhere, and which sometimes superseded the " Baal-" (q, v.) of the original name, is one of the changes referred to. See Baalim. It is also named in 1 Chron. v, 8, and on each occasion with Nebo.
BAAL-PERAZIM
587
BAAL-ZEBUB
In the time of Ezekiel it was in the possession of the Moabites, and under that prosperous dominion had evidently become a place of distinction, being noticed as one of the cities which are the "glory of the coun- try" (Ezek. xxv, 9). In the days of Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast. s. v. BuXfiaovc, Balmen) it was still a very larije village called Balmano, 9 miles distant from Heshbon Qlkjiovq, Esbus), near the "mountain of the hot springs," and reputed to be the native place of Elisha. At the distance of two miles south-east of Heshbon, Burekkardt (ii, 624) found the ruins of a place called Myoun, or (as Dr. Robinson [Researches, iii, Append, p. 170] corrects it) MdVn, which is doubt- less the same; so Sehwarz, Mam {Pahs', p. 227). In Num. xxxii, 3, apparently the same place is called Beon, perhaps by an error of the copyists or by con- traction.— Kitto ; Smith.
Ba'al-pe'or (Heb. Ba'al Peor', *)i"3 ?V2, lord of Peor, or sometimes only "fi"B, Peor, respectively represented in the Sept. by BaX<p£yMp and $oywp) appears to have been properly the idol of the Moabites (Num. xxv, 1-9; Deut. iv, 3; Josh, xxii, 17; Psa. cvi, 28; Hos. ix, 10); but also of the Midianit.es (Num. xxxi, 15, 16). It is the common opinion that this god was worshipped by obscene rites, and from the time of Jerome downward it has been usual to compare him to Pr'mpus (see Sickler, in Augusti's Theol. Blatt. i, 193 sq.). Selden and J. Owen {De Diis Syris, i, 5 ; Theolor/otimena, v, 4) seem to be the only persons who have disputed whether any of the passages in which tins god is named really warrant such a conclusion. The narrative (Num. xxv) seems clearly to show that this form of B.ial-worship was connected with licen- tious rites. The least that the above passages ex- press is the fact that the Israelites received this idola- try from the women of Moab, an 1 ml- re led away to eat of their sacrifices (comp. Psa. cvi, 28); anil it is possible for that sex to have been the mans of seduc- ing them into the adoption of their worship, without the idolatry itself being of an obscene kind. It is also remarkable that so few authors are agreed even as to the general character of these rites. Most Jewish aa- thorities (except the Targum of Jonathan on Num. xxv) represent his worship to have consisted of rites which are filthy in the extreme, but not lascivious (see Braunius, Dz Vestit. Sacerd. i, 7, for one of the fullest collections of Jewish testimonies on this subject). Without laying too much stress on the rabbinical der- ivation of the word "1133, hiatus, i. e. "apcrire hyme- nsm virgineum," we seem to have reason to conclude that this was the nature of the worship. This is, more- over, the view of Creuzer (ii, 411), Winer, Gesenius, Furst, and almost all critics. The reader is referred for more detailed information particularly to Creuzer's Symbolik and Movers' Phijnizier. The identification of Baal with the sun [see Baal] as the generative power of nature confirms the opinion of the lascivious character of this worship. Peor is properly the name of a mountain [see Peor], and Baal-Peor was the name of the god worshipped there. Some identify this god with Ciiemosii (q. v.).— Kitto. See Baalim. Ba'al-per'azim (Ileb. Ba'al Paratdm', hV'Z d^S^S, having rents; Sept. [at the first occurrence in Sim.] BcuiX Qapaotv [v. r. $apa<7fiV]), the scene of a victory of David over the Philistines, and of a great destruction of their images, and so named by him in a characteristic passage of exulting poetry — ""'Jehovah hath burst Cj'^S) upon mine enemies before mo as a burst (""? ;3) of waters.' Therefore he called the name of that place ' Baal-peraziin,' " i. c. hursts or destruc- tions (2 Sam. v, 20 ; 1 Chron. xiv, 1 1). The place and the circumstance appear to be again alluded to in Isa. xxviii, 21, where it is called ^f^^ul! Perazim. Perhaps this may indicate the previous existence of a high- place or sanctuary of Baal at this spot, which would