lend more point to David's exclamation (see Gesenius, Jes. in loc). The Sept. render the name in its two oc- currences respectively 'Eirdvu ciukottCuv and Aiukoiti) (jtapaoiv, the latter an instance of retention of the original word and its explanation side by side; the former uncertain. See Perazim. It is important as being the only one with the prefix Baal [see Baal-] of which we know the circumstances under which it was imposed ; and yet even here it was rather an op- probrious application of a term already in use than a new name. — Smith, s. v. The locality appears to have been near the valley of Kephaim, west of Jeru- salem; perhaps identical with the modem Jebel Aly (Van de Velde, Map). See Perazim.
Ba'al-skal'isha (Heb. Baal Shalishah' b?2 iTIPPEJ, loi\l of Shalishah, or having a third; Sept. BaaXoaXtaa v. r. Baidapiad and BaiSroapiaa), a place named only in 2 Kings iv, 42, as that from which the man came with provisions for Elisha, apparently not far from (the Ephraimite) Gilgal (comp. v, 38). It was doubtless in the district of Shalisha (q. v.) which is mentioned in 1 Sam. ix, 4 ; but whether it took its name thence, or from some modification of the worship of Baal (q. v.), of which it was the seat, is uncertain. See Baalim. Eusebius and Jerome describe it (Ono- mast. BauSoaoicrax, Bethsalisa, where the frequent interchange of " Baal" and " Beth" is observable) as a city 15 R. miles N. of Diospolis, near Mt. Ephraim. These indications correspond to the site of the present ruins Khurbit Hatta, about midway between Yafj, and Sebustieh (Van de Velde, Map).
Ba'al-ta'mar (Heb. Ba'al Tamar', lEFi X'?, place of palm-trees ; Sept. Bc'iaX 9a/.idp), a place near Gibeah, in the tribe of Benjamin, where the other tribes fought with the Benjamites (Judg. xx, 33). It was doubtless so called as being one of the sanctu- aries or groves of Baal. See Baalim. The palm- tree ("ratt) of Deborah (Judg. iv, 5) was situated somewhere in the locality, and is possibly alluded to (Stanley, Paksf. p. 145). Eusebius and Jerome (Ono- mast. s. v. BaaXda/.iap, Baalthamar) call it Bethamar (Bii^a/idp, Bethamari), thus affording another in- stance of that interchange of Beth and Baal which is also exemplified in Baal-shalisha and Baal-Meon. The notices seem to correspond to the present ruined site Erh'ih, about three miles N.E. of Jerusalem (Van de Velde, Map), on a ravine running toward Anathoth (Robinson, Researches, ii, 315 note).
Baaltis (BaaXric, prob. fern, of Baal), another name apparently for the Syrian Venus, the chief female deit}* of the Phoenicians, the Ashtoretii of the 0. T. See Astakte.
Ba'al-se'bub (Heb. Ba'al Zcbub' , dint "b'JZ, fly-hrd; Sept. u [v. r. ?'/] B«rr\ pviav) occurs in 2 Kings i, 2, 3, 16, as the god of the Philistines at Ek- ron, whose oracle Ahaziah sent to consult. Though such a designation of the god appears to us a kind of mockery, and has consequently been regarded as a term of derision (Selden, De Diis Syris, p. 375), yet there seems no reason to doubt that this was the name given to the god by his worshippers, and the plague of flies in hot climates furnishes a sufficient reason for the designation. See Fly. Similarly the Greeks gave the epithet c'nrofivioc to Zeus (Clem. Alex. Pro- trept. ii, 38) as worshipped at Elis (Pausan. v, 14, 2), the Myiagrua deus of the Romans (Solin. Polyhist. 1), and Pliny (xxix, G, 34, ink.) speaks of a Fly-god Myiodes. As this name is the one used by Ahaziah himself, it is difficult to suppose that it was not the proper and reverential title of the god ; and the more so, as Beelzebul (BuX'^SovX) in Matt, x, 25, seems to be the contemptuous corruption of it. See Beelzebud. Any explanation, however, of the symbolical sense in which flies may have been regarded in ancient relig- ions, and by which Ave could conceive how his wor-
BAAL-ZEPHOX
588
BAASEIAH
shippers could honor him as the god of flies, would ap- pear to us much more compatible with his name than the only sense which can be derived from the Greek parallel'. This receives some confirmation, perhaps, from the words of Josephus (Ant. ix, 2, 1), who says, " Aha/.iah sent to the Fly (ri)v Mwhc), for that is the name of the god" (ry Oiy). The analogy of classical idolatry would lead us to conclude that all these Baals are only the same god under various modifications of attributes and emblems, but the scanty notices to which we owe all our knowledge of Syro-Arabian idol- atry do not furnish data for any decided opinion on this phasis of Baal.— Kitto ; Smith. See Baalim.
Ba'al-ze'phon (Heb. Ba'iil Tsepkon' , "pE^ WS, plan of Typhon; Sept. BuXgittQujv or BttXai-ntytov, Jo- sephus Bi\at$iov, Ant. ii, 15, 1), a town belonging to Egypt, on the border of the Bed Sea (Exod. xiv, 2 ; Num. xxxiii, 7). Forster (Epist. ad J. D. Michaekm, p. 28) believes it to have been the same place as He- roopolis ('HnwoJ/ToXic), on the western gulf of the Bed Sea (.Pliny,' Hist. Nat. v, 12; Strabo, xvii, p. 836; Ptolem. iv, 5), where Typhon (which Forster makes in Coptic Aii^QN ; but, contra, see Rosenmiiller, Al- terikum. iii, 261), the evil genius of the Egyptians, was worshipped. See Baalim. But, according to Manetho (Josephus contra Apian, i, 26), the name of Trillion's city was Avaris (Auapie), which some, as Champollion (who writes OVAP1, and renders "caus- ing malediction;" L'Egypte Sius les Pharaons, ii, 87 sq.), consider, wrongly, to be the same place, the stronghold of the Hyksos, both which places were con- nected with Typhon (Steph. Byz. s. v. 'HpoV). Avaris c.innot be Heroopolis, for geographical reasons. (Com- pare, as to the site of Avaris, Brugsch, Geograpk'sche Jnschriften, i, 86 sq. ; as to that of Heroopolis, Lepsius, Chron. d'.Egypt. i, 344 sq., and 342, against the two places being the same.) In fact, nothing is known of the situation of Baal-zephon except what is con- nected with a consideration of the route taken by the Israelites in leaving Egypt, for it was " over against Baal-zephon" that they were encamped before they passed the Bed Sea. The supposition that identifies its site with Jebel Deraj or Kulalah, the southern barrier of the mouth of the valley leading from Cairo to the Red Sea, is as likely as any other. See Exode. From the position of Goshen, and the indications af- forded by the narrative of the route of the Israelites, Baal-zephon must have been on the western shore of the Gulf of Suez, a little below its head, which at that time, however, has been located by some many miles northward of the present head. See Goshen; Bed Sea, Passage of. Its position with respect to the other places mentioned with it is clearly indicated. The Israelites encamped before or at Pi-hahiroth, be- tween Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon, accord- ing to Exodus (xiv, 2, 9), while in Numbers Pi-hahi- roth is described as being before Baal-zephon; and it i< said that when the people came to the former place they pitched before Migdol (xxxiii, 7); and again, that afterward they departed from before Pi-hahiroth, here in Heb. Hahiroth (v. 8). Migdol and Baal-ze- phon must therefore have been opposite to one anoth- er, and the latter behind Pi-hahiroth, with reference to the Israelites. Baal-zephon was perhaps a well- known place, if, as seems likely, it is always mention- ed to indicate the position of Pi-hahiroth, which we take to be a natural locality. Sec Pi-iiaiiiroth. The name lias been supposed to mean "sanctuary of Typhon,'1 or "sacred to Typhon," an etymology ap- proved by Gesenius [Thet. Heb. p. 225), but not by Pttrst I 1 1' l'. Handw. b. v.). Zephon would well enough correspond in sound to Typhon, had we any ground for considering the latter name to be either Egyptian or Semitic; and even then Zephon in Baal-zephon might not be its Hebrew transcription, inasmuch as it is joined with the Hebrew form ~VZ. Hence many