Hebrew word · H1173

בַּעֲלָה

ba'alah

Baalah

Ba'alah ('lady' or 'the place of Baal') was an older name for Kiriath-jearim, 'town of forests' (Josh 15:9–10; also called Kiriath-baal, Josh 15:60; 18:14).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Baalah = "mistress"

or Kirjath-baal; modern Kuriet el Enab

Another name of qir.yat ye.a.rim (קִרְיַת יְעָרִים "Kiriath-jearim" H7157)

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 2 Samuel 6:2

Range of meaning

Ba'alah ('lady' or 'the place of Baal') was an older name for Kiriath-jearim, 'town of forests' (Josh 15:9–10; also called Kiriath-baal, Josh 15:60; 18:14). The common noun ba'al means 'owner, lord, master, citizen', and the plural ba'alei can mean 'the citizens/lords of' a place (Judg 9:2, 'the lords of Shechem').

Against the English

KJV/ESV/WEB 'from Baale(-)Judah' follow the Hebrew 'from'. BSB 'set out for' and NIV-style renderings treat Baalah as the destination, following 1 Chronicles 13:6.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Chronicles 13:6 reads 'to Baalah, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah'. The Qumran scroll 4QSamᵃ, partly reconstructed, reads 'to Baalah, that is Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah'. The Septuagint read the consonants as 'from the rulers of Judah'. 1 Samuel 7:1–2 places the ark at Kiriath-jearim in Abinadab's house.

Where it appears

Joshua · 4

  1. Joshua 15:9 בַּעֲלָ֔ה Baalah

    From the hilltop the border curved to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, proceeded to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then bent around toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim).

  2. Joshua 15:10 מִבַּעֲלָ֥ה from Baalah

    The border curled westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), went down to Beth-shemesh, and crossed to Timnah.

  3. Joshua 15:11 הַֽבַּעֲלָ֖ה <the> Baalah

    Then it went out to the northern slope of Ekron, curved toward Shikkeron, proceeded to Mount Baalah, went on to Jabneel, and ended at the Sea.

    Here: 'The Baalah', a ridge near the coast. It is different from the Baalah (Kiriath-jearim) in the hill country named in vv. 9–10. The name is the feminine of baʿal, 'lord, owner', so 'the lady' or 'mistress'. It may once have been linked to a local cult, but that is uncertain.

  4. Joshua 15:29 בַּעֲלָ֥ה Baalah

    Baalah, Iim, Ezem,

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 6:2 מִֽבַּעֲלֵ֖י from Baalah of

    And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name—the name of the LORD of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

    Here: 'From Baalei (of Judah)'. This is the old Canaanite name of Kiriath-jearim, where the ark had been kept. 'From' is odd, since David is going there to fetch the ark. The parallel texts read 'to Baalah', and the Greek takes ba'alei as 'the lords/rulers'. See the textual notes.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 13:6 בַּעֲלָ֔תָה Baalah towards

    David and all Israel went up to Baalah of Judah (that is, Kiriath-jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name.

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