Hebrew word · H1170

בַּעַל בְּרִית

berit

Baal-berith

'Lord/Baal of the Covenant.' This was the patron deity of Shechem, whose temple treasury funded Abimelech's coup (9:4). Judges 9:46 calls him 'El-berith' ('God of the Covenant'), and his temple doubled as the city's stronghold.

Appears 4 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Baal-berith = "lord of the covenant"

a god of the Philistines

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 Judges 8:33

Range of meaning

'Lord/Baal of the Covenant.' This was the patron deity of Shechem, whose temple treasury funded Abimelech's coup (9:4). Judges 9:46 calls him 'El-berith' ('God of the Covenant'), and his temple doubled as the city's stronghold.

Against the English

All the supplied versions leave it as a proper name, 'Baal-berith,' and so the meaning 'Lord of the Covenant' disappears. The Vulgate went the other way and translated it ('struck a covenant with Baal').

How it drifted

Leaving the name untranslated hides a pointed piece of irony.

Used elsewhere in the period

Shechem was where Joshua led Israel in a covenant renewal with the LORD (Josh 24:1, 25–27), setting up a stone 'under the oak by the sanctuary of the LORD.' Excavations at Tell Balata (ancient Shechem) found a massive fortress-temple, often identified with the temple of El/Baal-berith in Judg 9. What 'covenant' the god oversaw (a city league, a treaty between Shechemites and Israelites, or something else) is debated.

From the study of Judges 9:4

Range of meaning

'Lord of the covenant' (or 'Baal of the covenant'). This was the title of the god worshipped at Shechem (8:33; 9:4). In 9:46 he appears as 'El-berith,' 'God of the covenant.' Ba'al = lord, owner, husband. Berit = a binding agreement, treaty or oath-bond.

Against the English

Most English versions transliterate the name, which hides its meaning. Readers miss that the god's name is literally about covenant, the very thing being betrayed.

Used elsewhere in the period

Shechem was an ancient city of treaties: Jacob's dealings with Hamor (Gen 34), Joshua's covenant ceremony there (Josh 24:25–26), and the 'sons of Hamor' in Judg 9:28. Excavations at Tell Balata (Shechem) uncovered a large fortified temple ('migdal temple') that many archaeologists link with the temple of El/Baal-berith and the 'tower of Shechem' (9:46–49). Gods who witnessed and enforced treaties are well known in the ancient Near East, where gods were named as witnesses in treaty texts.

Where it appears

Judges · 4

  1. Judges 8:33 בַּ֥עַל בְּרִ֖ית Baal-, Berith

    And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.

    Here: The first half of the divine name: 'Lord/Master of...'

  2. Judges 9:4 בַ֣עַל בְּרִ֑ית Baal-, Berith

    So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him.

    Here: The first half of the god's name. Ba'al means 'lord, owner, master.' It echoes the 'ba'alei Shechem,' the lords of Shechem, in verses 2–3.

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