What is "baal"

Baal \Ba"al\ (b[=a]"al), n.; Heb. pl. Baalim (-[i^]m). [Heb. ba'al lord.]

1. (Myth.) The supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations.

   Note: The name of this god occurs in the Old Testament and elsewhere with qualifying epithets subjoined, answering to the different ideas of his character; as, Baal-berith (the Covenant Baal), Baal-zebub (Baal of the fly).

2. pl. The whole class of divinities to whom the name Baal was applied.
   --Judges x. 6.

Bel \Bel\, n. The Babylonian name of the god known among the Hebrews as Baal. See Baal.
--Baruch vi. 41.

Biblical, from Hebrew Ba'al, literally "owner, master, lord," a title applied to any deity (including Jehovah), but later a name of a particular Semitic solar deity worshipped licentiously by the Phoenecians and Carthaginians; from ba'al "he took possession of," also "he married;" related to or derived from Akkadian Belu (source of Hebrew Bel), name of Marduk. Identical with the first element in Beelzebub and the second in Hannibal. Used figuratively in English for any "false god."

n. 1 (context mythology English) The supreme male deity of the Phoenician and Canaanite pantheons; a Mediterranean fertility deity, worshipped as far back as 1400 BCE. 2 (context biblical in the plural English) The whole class of divinities to whom the name ''Baal'' was applied. 3 (context biblical English) One of the fallen angels of Satan. 4 (context often lowercase English) A false deity or idol.

Baal , properly Baʿal (; ; , ), was a title and honorific meaning " lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have shown that the name Baʿal was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations.

The Hebrew Bible, compiled and curated over a span of centuries, includes early use of the term in reference to their God Yahweh, generic use in reference to various Levantine deities, and finally pointed application towards Hadad, who was decried as a false god. This use was taken over into Christianity and Islam, sometimes under the opprobrious form Beelzebub.

Baal ( ; sometimes spelled Bael, Baël (French), Baell) is in 17th century goetic occult writings one of the seven princes of Hell. The name is drawn from the Canaanite deity Baal mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the primary god of the Phoenicians.

In this unholy hierarchy, Baal (usually spelt "Bael" in this context; there is a possibility that the two figures aren't connected) was ranked as the first and principal king in Hell, ruling over the East. According to some authors Baal is a Duke, with sixty-six legions of demons under his command.

During the English Puritan period Baal was either compared to Satan or considered his main assistant. According to Francis Barrett he has the power to make those who invoke him invisible, and to some other demonologists his power is stronger in October. According to some sources, he can make people wise, and speaks hoarsely.

While his Semitic predecessor was depicted as a man or a bull, the demon Baal was in grimoire tradition said to appear in the forms of a man, cat, toad, or combinations thereof. An illustration in Collin de Plancy's 1818 book Dictionnaire Infernal placed the heads of the three creatures onto a set of spider legs.

Baal is a Semitic term for "Lord" or "owner".

Baal may also refer to:

Baal was the first full-length play written by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. It concerns a wastrel youth who becomes involved in several sexual affairs and at least one murder. It was written in 1918, when Brecht was a 20-year-old student at Munich University, in response to the expressionist drama The Loner (Der Einsame) by the soon-to-become-Nazi dramatist Hanns Johst.

The play is written in a form of heightened prose and includes four songs and an introductory choral hymn ("Hymn of Baal the Great"), set to melodies composed by Brecht himself. Brecht wrote it prior to developing the dramaturgical techniques of epic theatre that characterize his later work, although he did re-work the play in 1926.

Baal is an EP by David Bowie, comprising recordings of songs written for Bertolt Brecht’s play Baal. It is sometimes referred to as David Bowie in Bertolt Brecht’s Baal, as credited on the sleeve.

Baal is a Danish rock band starting out in 1994 in Copenhagen. Besides their studio records, Baal has also created music for three musicals. Baal started out as a David Bowie cover band under a different name, and later changed name to Baal and started writing their own music.

Baal is one of Psygnosis's less-popular titles, which featured the player as a "Time Warrior" sent into the recesses of hell to recover pieces of "The War Machine" which has been stolen by the evil minion, Baal.

Unlike most other Psygnosis titles such as Shadow of the Beast and Brataccas, this game didn't break any new ground, or receive critical or commercial success, as it is a simple platform-based shoot 'em up marred with loading times that many users described as "unbearable". While it does feature Psygnosis's trademark overall macabre mood, it is one of the few of the company's games to go without their usual psychedelic Roger Dean artwork. This artwork was created by Melvyn Grant.

The game had one unusual feature: On the Amiga, the power indicator light flashed in time with the soundtrack.

The PC version was ported by Tim Ansell of The Creative Assembly.