bā´al בּעל , ba‛al , "lord," "master," "possessor"):
(1) A descendant of Reuben, Jacob's first-born son, and the father of Beerah, prince of the Reubenites, "whom Tiglath-pileser (1 Chronicles 5:5 , 1 Chronicles 5:6 ) king of Assyria carried away captive."
(2) The fourth of ten sons of Jeiel (King James Version "Jehiel"), father and founder of Gibeon. His mother was Maacah; his brother Kish father of Saul (1 Chronicles 8:29 f; 1 Chronicles 9:35 , 1 Chronicles 9:36 , 1 Chronicles 9:39; compare 1 Samuel 14:50 f). These passages identify Jeiel and Abiel as the father of Kish and Thus of Baal. For study of confusions in the genealogical record, in 1 Chronicles 9:36 , 1 Chronicles 9:39 , see KISH; ABIEL; JEIEL .
(3) In composition often the name of a man and not of the heathen god, e.g. Baal-hanan, a king of Edom (Genesis 36:38; 1 Chronicles 1:49 ); also a royal prefect of the same name (1 Chronicles 27:28 ). Gesenius thinks that Baal in compound words rarely refers to the god by that name. See BAAL (deity).
(4) A city of the tribe of Simeon (1 Chronicles 4:33 ). See BAALATH-BEER .
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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