Thursday, May 11, 2023

Hans Walter Wolff, "Yahweh as Baal" and the use of in Hosea 2:16 בַּעְלִֽי Baali

In Hos 2:16 (Hebrew: v. 18), we read:

 

And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

 

Commenting on ‎the use of בַּעְלִֽי Baali for Yahweh, Hans Walter Wolff wrote the following:

 

Yahweh as Baal

 

The Israelite names prevalent at the time can serve as an illustration of this. The word יהוה and בעל occurred together, functioning as elements that signified the respective divine names. Already in the earliest period of the monarchy, two of Saul’s sons were named “Jonathan” (ינתן 1 Sam 13:16) “Eshbaal” (אשׁבעל 2 Sam 2:8, ασθ’); among David’s sons there were “Adjonijah” (אדניה) and “Shephatiah” (שׁפטיה 2 Sam 3:4) together with Beeliada” (בעלידע 2 Sam 5:16, GBL; cf. 1 Chr 14:7). On the Samaritan ostraca, probably dating from the third decade of the 8th century, there are ten names formed on the word Baal, with eleven names formed on Yahweh. The former occur more frequently among lower classes (eight, compared with six Yahweh names) than among the upper class (two, compared with five Yahweh names). In addition to this evidence, the occurrence of the name בעליה most clearly indicates how Israel’s life among the ancient, settled Canaanite population led to the identification of one god with the other. It is difficult to determine in detail whether Yahweh was worshipped as Baal, or whether they were worshiped together.

 

The papyri from the Judean military colony Elephantine on the Nile peninsula (fifth century) provides an unequivocal example of the “Baalization” of Yahweh. Here, with the name of Yahweh, we find the name of the goddess Anathbethel, or Anathyahu, and a third divinity, Ishumbethel. It appears that this group of Jews in Egypt practiced the kind of syncretism against which Hosea speaks. “Yahweh” is combined with a goddess as Baal is with Anath in Ugarit. In view of this, the form of address “My Baal” might be understood as an element of the cultic representation of the sacred marriage. (Hans Walter Wolff, Hosea [Hermeneia—A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974], 49-50)

 

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