Hebrew word · H1166

בָּעַל

uve'alah

to marry

The root b-'-l means to be master over, to own, or to be husband to. The noun ba'al covers 'owner' (of an ox, Exod 21:28; of a house, Exod 22:7), 'citizen/lord' of a town (Judg 9:2), 'husband' (Exod 21:3; Deut 24:4), and, in Canaanite religion, the title of the storm god Baal.

Appears 15 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to marry, possess, own, rule over

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to marry, be lord (husband) over

1b) (Niphal) to be married

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Genesis 20:3

Range of meaning

The root b-'-l means to be master over, to own, or to be husband to. The noun ba'al covers 'owner' (of an ox, Exod 21:28; of a house, Exod 22:7), 'citizen/lord' of a town (Judg 9:2), 'husband' (Exod 21:3; Deut 24:4), and, in Canaanite religion, the title of the storm god Baal. The verb in the passive (be'ulah) means 'married' as a legal status: 'a woman married to a husband' (Deut 22:22), and figuratively 'married' land (Isa 62:4).

Against the English

BSB/NIV 'a married woman' and KJV/WEB 'a man's wife' are accurate. They lose two things. First, the Hebrew is a set legal formula built from a doubled root ('husbanded by a husband'). Second, the formula names a husband's legal claim, not just a relationship. YLT 'married to a husband' keeps the doubling.

How it drifted

Modern 'married' suggests a mutual partnership of two equals. The ancient formula describes a woman under another man's marital authority and claim. Some popular writing pushes this to 'a wife was simply property'. That overstates it: the same codes protect wives as persons. But the formula does put the husband's claim at the center.

Used elsewhere in the period

The exact phrase 'iššāh bə'ulat ba'al appears in Deut 22:22, the adultery law ('if a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, both of them shall die'). Ancient Near Eastern law codes treat the same offense as capital. Laws of Hammurabi §129 binds and drowns both partners, with the husband able to spare his wife and the king his subject, and the Middle Assyrian Laws contain parallels. Ugaritic and Egyptian texts call adultery 'the great sin' (Moran 1959; Rabinowitz 1959). Abimelech uses that very phrase in Gen 20:9.

From the study of Isaiah 54:5

Range of meaning

The verb ba'al means 'to possess, be lord over' and, very often, 'to marry, take as wife' (Deut 21:13; 24:1). Its participle or noun form is a standard word for 'husband' (Exod 21:3; Deut 24:4; 2 Sam 11:26; Prov 12:4). The related noun ba'al means 'owner, master, lord' (an ox's owner, a house's master). It was also the name or title of the Canaanite storm god Baal. A married woman is a be'ulat ba'al, 'one possessed by a husband' (Gen 20:3; Deut 22:22).

Against the English

English 'husband' captures the marriage but not the overtone of lordship, legal responsibility and possession that came with ba'al. The ancient husband was the woman's legal head and protector. He was answerable for her and bound to provide for her. A woman without one, such as a widow, was socially exposed. Ancient translators heard the lordship side so strongly that the Vulgate turned the noun into a verb, 'he will rule over you'.

How it drifted

Not drift so much as narrowing. Modern marriage is pictured as a partnership of equals, so 'husband' now suggests companionship more than legal protection and headship. The ancient word held both together.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common across Biblical Hebrew for 'husband'. Isaiah reuses the root in 62:4–5: Zion's land will be called Be'ulah, 'Married', for 'as a young man marries (yiv'al) a virgin… your sons will marry you'. Hosea 2:16 [Heb 2:18] plays on the word: 'you will call me "my man" (ishi), and no longer call me "my ba'al"', probably to cut any link with the god Baal. Jeremiah 3:14 and 31:32 use the verb of God's covenant 'husbanding' of Israel. The Septuagint (Greek) and Vulgate (Latin) both render the word in this verse with lordship language rather than a word for husband.

From the study of Isaiah 62:4

Range of meaning

The verb bāʿal means 'to be lord/owner over; to marry (take as wife).' The noun baʿal means 'owner, master, husband' and was also the title of the Canaanite storm god. A woman who is bəʿûlāh is 'one possessed by a baʿal,' a married woman under a husband's authority and protection (Gen 20:3; Deut 22:22). Land can have a baʿal too: its owner (compare 'owner of the ox,' Exod 21:28).

Against the English

'Married' (KJV, WEB, ESV, NASB) is right, but in modern English it suggests a romantic partnership of equals. The Hebrew describes the ancient marriage bond: a husband who claims, houses, provides for and protects, and a wife and land that are fruitful because someone has taken charge of them. BSB's 'will be His bride' and NLT's paraphrase name God as the husband, which the Hebrew leaves open.

How it drifted

The modern idea of marriage (companionate and chosen by both partners equally) differs from the ancient household. Separately, 'Beulah' gathered a meaning of heaven through Bunyan and nineteenth-century hymns.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 54:1, 'more are the children of the desolate (shōmēmāh) than the children of the married (bəʿûlāh),' is the same word pair. Isa 54:5: 'your Maker is your husband (bōʿălayikh).' Prov 30:23 uses the same rare passive form for an unloved woman 'when she gets married.' Hos 2:16 shows the baʿal vocabulary could be sensitive because it overlapped with the god Baal, but Isaiah uses it of YHWH freely. The Septuagint renders the name Oikoumenē, 'Inhabited,' and the verb 'will be settled with people.'

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 20:3 בְּעֻ֥לַת [is] married of

    One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

    Here: The passive participle of the verb 'to be lord/husband over': literally 'one who has been taken as wife by' or 'one under the marital claim of'. It is a legal status term. The same phrase appears in the adultery law of Deut 22:22.

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 22:22 בְעֻֽלַת־ married of

    If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

  2. Deuteronomy 24:1 וּבְעָלָ֑הּ and he will marry her

    If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.

    Here: "And becomes her husband". The verb shares a root with baʿal, "owner, lord, husband", so it pictures the husband's legal headship over her. Many think it also points to the marriage being consummated.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 4:22 בָּעֲל֥וּ they ruled

    Jokim, the men of Cozeba, and Joash and Saraph, who ruled in Moab and Jashubi-lehem. (These names are from ancient records.)

    Here: The verb ba'al means to be owner, master or husband of someone or something. Here it means either that these men held power in Moab or that they married Moabite women. The supplied data glosses the lemma 'to marry' and the contextual sense 'ruled'. Both senses are possible, and the unusual preposition after it leaves the question open.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 30:23 תִבָּעֵ֑ל she will be married

    an unloved woman who marries, and a maidservant who supplants her mistress.

Isaiah · 7

  1. Isaiah 26:13 בְּעָל֥וּנוּ they have ruled over us

    O LORD our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone do we confess.

    Here: "They have mastered us." The verb describes an owner's claim as well as a ruler's power, and it places Israel as the object of that claim. It is the same root as the god-name Baal, a sound an Israelite ear could hardly miss.

  2. Isaiah 54:1 בְעוּלָ֖ה a married [woman]

    “Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.

    Here: 'The married one', literally 'the one who has a baʿal (husband, master)'. The woman with a husband in the house is the one who would normally be expected to have many children.

  3. Isaiah 54:5 בֹעֲלַ֙יִךְ֙ husband<s> your

    For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.

    Here: A participle (a verb used as a noun): 'the one who has married you', 'your husband'. The word also carries the idea of lord and legal owner. Its form is plural ('your husbands'), but it refers to one person: the plural expresses majesty. Addressed to Zion as a woman whose widowhood (v.4) is now over.

  4. Isaiah 62:4 בְּעוּלָ֑ה תִּבָּעֵֽל׃ married, it will be married

    No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be His bride.

    Here: A feminine passive participle: 'Married,' literally 'one who has a baʿal,' a husband-master. A land with a baʿal has an owner who lives on it, works it and protects it, and it is no longer an abandoned estate. In 54:1 the same word is the opposite of the 'desolate' childless woman.

  5. Isaiah 62:5 יִבְעַ֤ל יִבְעָל֖וּךְ he marries, they will marry you

    For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

    Here: 'Marries' in the sense of taking a wife as her husband. The verb carries the idea of becoming the owner or master of a household, not only of a romantic union. It picks up 'Beulah' (be'ulah, 'married') and 'will be married' (tibba'el) from verse 4.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 3:14 בָּעַ֣לְתִּי I am husband

    “Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.

    Here: "I have been husband / I am lord." The verb means taking a wife and holding authority as her husband. It is the same root as the god Baal, so Yahweh is saying: I, not Baal, am your true ba'al.

  2. Jeremiah 31:32 בָּעַ֥לְתִּי I was a husband

    It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.

    Here: From the root of baʿal, 'owner, master, husband' (and the name of the god Baal). It means 'I was husband-and-lord to them': a husband with legal authority and the duty to protect. Jeremiah 3:14 has the same expression.

Malachi · 1

  1. Malachi 2:11 וּבָעַ֖ל and it has married

    Judah has broken faith; an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.

    Here: "And has married." The verb comes from the same root as baʿal, "husband, master", and Baal, the Canaanite god's title. Some hear a bitter pun on that name.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.