2007-02-21 05:34:52 · 12 answers · asked by X 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Baal means lord and that was the supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations, as Ashtoreth was their supreme female divinity Baal in the Canaanite pantheon was also the local title of fertility gods. The antiquity of the worship of the god or gods of Baal extends back to the 14th century BCE among the ancient Semitic peoples, the descendants of Shem, the oldest son of Biblical Noah. Semitic is more of a linguistic classification than a racial one. Thus, people speaking the same or similar languages first worshiped Baal in his many forms. The word Baal means "master" or "owner". In ancient religions the name denoted sun, lord or god. Baal was common a name of small Syrian and Persian deities. Baal is still principally thought of as a Canaanite fertility deity. The Great Baal was of Canaan. He was the son of El, the high god of Canaan. The cult of Baal celebrated annually his death and resurrection as a part of the Canaanite fertility rituals. These ceremonies often included human sacrifice and temple prostitution. In Ancient Greece Baal (Βαάλ-Vaal) was indentified as Cronos (in Roman is Saturn). Since it was a Phoenicial god it was not accepted entirelyby the Greeks in the Greek pantheon. However some phoenicians that brought traditions and religion when immigrated to Greece continued worshipping him. His annual death and resururrection was mostly related to the fertility of the earth, so it was a pagan celebration. This paganistic celebration has lasted up to the present and is known to us as the Carnaval (Greek etymology of the words , Kάρνιος - Carnios-Carnal- (Roman Carne) which means Incarnated, Earthy and Βαάλ- Vaa'l-Baal which means god, master and owner).
2007-02-21 06:12:24 · answer #1 · answered by mphermes 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Baal can mean many things. It is one of the oldest words in the Semite toungues. Baal can mean the provider of the streams, the fields, the life that flows over such a land. He was personified as Dagon and received child sacrifices.
2007-02-21 05:44:02 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Baal literally means master or Lord.
2007-02-21 05:39:11 · answer #3 · answered by Wisdom in Faith 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
When people ask a question involving a single word I'm tempted to wonder why they didn't type it in to a search engine and see what comes up.
Baal was a baylonian deity. Many children were sacrificed to him so his followers must have made today's most devout christians look like christmas and easter folks only!
Literally Baal just meant 'Lord' so its not a specific name and has been applied to separate deities I believe.
*See? If you'd done it on a search engine you wouldnt get all these false answers. It had nothing to do with the golden calf, it was the real deal, not like the abrahamic god.*
2007-02-21 05:38:01 · answer #4 · answered by Leviathan 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Baal means great king of the first heaven
Baal was Egyptian not babylonian! Its true people sacrificed to him, but he didnt like the idea.
2007-02-21 05:38:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
IS THERE A LINK IN THE HISTORIC WORSHIP OF BAAL AND THE CURRENT MODE OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP OF THEIR GOD ? THE CHRISTIANS HAS ADOPTED THE TITLE OF BAAL "LORD" FOR THEIR GOD. SO, THERE IS VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE. LORD MEANS BAAL.
2015-02-01 03:49:50 · answer #6 · answered by Fitzroy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ba'al really is a title that means Lord. He's a storm and fertility God basically, part of the ancient Middle Eastern mythology. He has nothing to do with flies or demons, you guys are thinking Beelzebub (That's a completely different being).
Now for a little background on his mythology. He is the Canaanite Ruler God (like Marduk). Ba'al and Yam-Nahar originally competed for kingship of the Gods. The matter was brought before El, who decided in favor of Yam. Yam then proceeded with a reign of tyranny over the gods, and none of them felt they had the power to defeat Yam. So, they sent Asherah to entreat him to loosen his grip. Asherah even offered herself to Yam. Upon hearing this, Ba'al was enraged, and decided to defeat Yam. Yam got wind of Ba'al's plan and sent messengers to El with the demand that Ba'al be delivered to him. El, afraid, agreed. Ba'al then taunted the Gods for their cowardice and went to face Yam. He had two weapons made, Yagrush (chaser) and Aymur (driver). He struck Yam on the chest with Yagrush to no avail. Then he struck him on the forehead with Aymur and fell Yam to the earth. After Yam's defeat, Ba'al had a palace built for himself; closely resembling the story of Marduk. It also resembles Marduk's story in that the Primeval Waters threatened the gods, and the High God and others were afraid to face them, with the exception of the soon-to-be Ruler God. The Ba'al epic then continues to describe his fight against Mavet. Ba'al is also a Storm God like Marduk, and a fertility god like Tammuz. Dagon is his father (Ba'al andd Dagon are not the same!). Ba'al is the Canaanite God-force (the Goddess force seems to be split between Anath and Asherah). Baal's proper name is Hadad, relating to his storm-god aspect. Ba'al is really a title, meaning "Lord". Ba'al's residence is upon Mt. Zaphon. He is known as Rapiu (Shade) during his summer stay in the underworld.
2007-02-21 05:44:07 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Baal was a statue of a golden calf that the isrealites made and worshipped while moses was on the mountain getting the ten commandments.
2007-02-21 05:37:33 · answer #8 · answered by country_girl 6 · 0⤊ 4⤋
It means to get out of the boat because it's sinking....
Oh wait....that's 'bail'
Seriously.....it was the God worshipped by the Philistines
2007-02-21 05:38:21 · answer #9 · answered by primoa1970 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Father of Lies and Father of Flies
2007-02-21 05:38:28 · answer #10 · answered by Tribble Macher 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋