baal · owner, husband

What it means

baal (בַּעַל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “owner, husband”.

Owner, master of something; husband. With another word it says who has that thing: "masters of a covenant" = allies; "master of dreams" = dreamer.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. One who owns something and answers for it: a house, an ox, a field.
2. The man joined to a woman in marriage.
3. The leaders or chief men of a city.
4. Literally "lord of": one marked by something, like the "lord of dreams", a dreamer.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Owner, master of something; husband. Joined to another word it names the one who has that thing or that quality: ‘master of dreams’ is a dreamer, ‘masters of a covenant’ are allies. The same noun is the name of the god Baal (H1168).

• The owner of an animal or a house, in the laws Exodus 21:28Isaiah 1:3
• The husband Exodus 21:22Deuteronomy 24:4Proverbs 31:11
• “Married to a husband”: the woman who has a husband Genesis 20:3
• The lords of a city Judges 9:6
• Set phrases: “this dreamer”, “had a covenant” Genesis 37:19Genesis 14:13

How we translate it

“Lords” 23 times (the leading citizens of a city, such as Shechem, Judges 9:6), “owner” 16, “husband” 9, “master” 6, “owners” 6. In set phrases the sense is translated: “this dreamer” (Genesis 37:19), “they had a covenant” (Genesis 14:13), “creditor” (Deuteronomy 15:2). When it is the god, the form is “Baal” or “the Baals”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• lords ×23
• owner ×16
• husband ×9
• master ×6
• owners ×6
• had ×2
• husbands ×2
• man ×2
• adversary in judgment ×1
• archers ×1
• others ×15

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×4
• Exodus×14
• Leviticus×1
• Numbers×1
• Deuteronomy×3
• Joshua×1
• Judges×19
• 1 Samuel×2
• 2 Samuel×3
• 2 Kings×1
• Nehemiah×1
• Esther×2
• Job×1
• Proverbs×14
• Ecclesiastes×7
• Isaiah×4
• Jeremiah×1
• Daniel×2
• Joel×1
• Nahum×1

• Genesis 14:13

  One who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they had a covenant with Abram.

• Genesis 20:3

  But Elohim came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Look, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married to a husband.”

• Genesis 37:19

  They said to one another, “Look, here comes this dreamer!

• Genesis 49:23

  The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him;

• Exodus 21:3

  If he comes in alone, he shall go out alone; if he has a wife, his wife shall go out with him.

• Exodus 21:22

  When men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that her children come out, but there is no harm, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall pay as the judges decide.

• Exodus 21:28

  When an ox gores a man or a woman and the person dies, the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall be clear.

• Exodus 21:29

  But if an ox has been given to goring 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 21:34

  the owner of the pit shall repay; he shall give back silver to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.

• Exodus 21:36

  Or if it is known that the ox has been given to goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely repay, ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his.

• Exodus 22:8

  If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to Elohim to declare that he has not put his hand to the goods of his neighbor.

• Exodus 22:11

  an oath of YHWH shall be between the two of them that he has not put his hand to the goods of his neighbor; its owner shall accept it, and he shall not repay.

• Exodus 22:12

  But if it is actually stolen from him, he shall repay its owner.

• Exodus 22:14

  When a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies, its owner not being with it, he shall surely repay.

• Exodus 22:15

  If its owner was with it, he shall not repay. If it was hired, its hire covers the loss.

• Exodus 24:14

  To the elders he said, “Wait for us here until we return to you. Look, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a matter, let him go to them.”

• Leviticus 21:4

  He shall not make himself unclean as a leader among his people, so as to profane himself.

• Numbers 21:28

  For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon; it consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of the Arnon.

• Deuteronomy 15:2

  And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release the loan of his hand that he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not press his neighbor or his brother, because a release to YHWH has been proclaimed.

• Deuteronomy 22:22

  If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.

• Deuteronomy 24:4

  her first husband, who sent her away, cannot take her again to be his wife after she has been made unclean, for that is an abomination before YHWH. And you shall not cause the land to sin, the land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance.

• Joshua 24:11

  And you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the lords of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I gave them into your hand.

• Judges 9:2

  “Speak, please, in the ears of all the lords of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?’ And remember that I am your bone and your flesh.”

• Judges 9:3

  His mother’s brothers spoke about him in the ears of all the lords of Shechem all these words, and their heart inclined toward Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.”

• Judges 9:6

  All the lords of Shechem gathered, and all the house of Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the standing stone that is in Shechem.

• Judges 9:7

  When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, lifted up his voice, called out, and said to them, “Listen to me, lords of Shechem, so that Elohim may listen to you.

• Judges 9:18

  but you have risen up against my father’s house today and killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and made Abimelech king, the son of his slave woman, over the lords of Shechem, because he is your brother —

• Judges 9:20

  But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the lords of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the lords of Shechem and from the house of Millo and consume Abimelech.”

• Judges 9:23

  Elohim sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem, and the lords of Shechem betrayed Abimelech,

• Judges 9:24

  so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the lords of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

• Judges 9:25

  The lords of Shechem set against him men in ambush on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. And it was told to Abimelech.

• Judges 9:26

  Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers, and they passed into Shechem, and the lords of Shechem trusted in him.

• Judges 9:39

  Gaal went out before the lords of Shechem and fought against Abimelech.

• Judges 9:46

  All the lords of the tower of Shechem heard it, and they went into the fortress of the house of El-berith.

• Judges 9:47

  It was told to Abimelech that all the lords of the tower of Shechem had gathered together.

• Judges 9:51

  There was a strong tower in the middle of the city, and all the men and the women and all the lords of the city fled there; they shut it behind them and went up on the roof of the tower.

• Judges 19:22

  They were making their hearts merry, when the men of the city, perverse men, surrounded the house, beating on the door; and they spoke to the old man, the master of the house, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may know him.”

• Judges 19:23

  And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do evil, please; since this man has come into my house, do not commit this infamy.

• Judges 20:5

  And the lords of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house around me at night. Me they intended to kill, and my concubine they humiliated, and she died.

• 1 Samuel 23:11

  Will the lords of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? YHWH, Elohim of Israel, tell, please, your servant.” YHWH said, “He will come down.”

And 43 more times.