Language:
English
Year of publication:
2023
Titel der Quelle:
Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages
Angaben zur Quelle:
49,1 (2023) 35-54
Keywords:
Baal (Canaanite deity) Biblical teaching
;
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Gods Biblical teaching
;
God Biblical teaching
Abstract:
The identity and function of Baal and the baals in Hos is a much-discussed issue in the Hebrew Bible. The lexeme occurs in three chapters (Hos 2; 11; 13) and is probably alluded to in Hos 9:10. But who is this Baal? Is he the storm god, a cipher for any foreign deity venerated in Israel, or a canaanized YHWH figure? Is the usage of the word in any way homogeneous? After a brief survey of the positions, I will argue that Baal in Hos 2 seems to be the storm god; the lexeme works as a generic term for the foreign gods in Hos 11:2, and in retrospective discourses (13:1; 9:10) it refers to the Baal cult manifested as bull images. However, even the storm god Baal of Hos is very different from his Canaanite counterpart. Baal in Hos 2 is merely a fertility god without any political or warrior functions.
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