Baal (ba'al) is a Semitic title and honorific meaning lord that is used for various gods, spirits and demons particularly of the Levant.

"Baal" can refer to any god and even to human officials; in some mythological texts it is used as a substitute for Hadad, a god of the sun, rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven. Since only priests were allowed to utter his divine name Hadad, Baal was used commonly. Nevertheless, few if any Biblical uses of "Baal" refer to Hadad, the lord over the assembly of gods on the holy mount of Heaven, but rather refer to any number of local spirit-deities worshipped as cult images, each called baal and regarded as an "idol". Therefore, in any text using the word baal it is important first to determine precisely which god, spirit or demon is meant.

Deities called Ba’al and Ba’alath

Because more than one god bore the title "Ba’al" and more than one goddess bore the title "Ba’alat" or "Ba’alah," it is often difficult to be sure which Ba’al 'Lord' or Ba’alath 'Lady' a particular in????ion or text is speaking of.

Though the god Hadad (or Adad) was especially likely to be called Ba’al, Hadad was far from the only god to have that title. The Ugaritic texts (mainly preserved in the Baal cycle) place the dwelling of Ba’al/Hadad on Mount Zephon, so one can probably take as evident that references to Ba’al Zephon in the Tanach and in in????ions and tablets refer to Hadad. It is said that Ba’al Pe’or, the Lord of Mount Pe’or, whom Israelites were forbidden from worshipping (Numbers 1–25) was also Hadad. In the Canaanite pantheon, Hadad was the son of El, who had once been the primary god of the Canaanite pantheon, and whose name was also used interchangeably with that of the Hebrew god, Yahweh.

Melqart, the god of Tyre, was often called the Ba’al of Tyre. 1 Kings 16.31 relates that Ahab, king of Israel, married Jezebel, daughter of Ethba’al, king of the Sidonians, and then served habba’al ('the Ba’al'.) The cult of this god was prominent in Israel until the reign of Jehu, who put an end to it (2 Kings 10.26):

"And they brought out the pillars (massebahs) of the house of the Ba’al and burned them. And they pulled down the pillar (massebah) of the Ba’al and pulled down the house of the Ba’al and turned it into a latrine until this day."

It is uncertain whether "the Ba’al" 'the Lord' refers to Melqart, to Hadad, who was also worshipped in Tyre, or Ba’al Sham頼 'Lord of Heaven' who was also worshipped in Tyre and often distinguished from Hadad. Josephus (Antiquities 8.13.1) states clearly that Jezebel "built a temple to the god of the Tyrians, which they call Belus" which certainly refers to Melqart. But Josephus may be relying on likelihood rather than knowledge. Hadad is generally a rain god but Melqart is not known to be connected with bringing of rain. But so little is known of Melqart's cult that such reasoning is not decisive.

In any case, King Ahab, despite supporting the cult of this Ba‘al, remained at the same time also a follower of Yahweh. Ahab still consulted Yahweh's prophets and cherished Yahweh's protection when he named his sons Ahaziah ("Yahweh holds") and Jehoram ("Yahweh is high.")