The Archaeologist

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Who Was Baal?

In this video we will discuss the concept of theophoric names, which are names that bear the name of a god. Examples of theophoric names include Christian and Christopher, which both relate to the Christian God, and Marcus and Martin, which relate to the Roman God of War, Mars. We will explore the theophoric names related to Yahweh, the Hebrew God, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah.

We will discuss the use of the name Baal in the Bible, which was a god worshipped by some Israelites, and highlight that not all uses of the name Baal were negative, as some important figures in the Bible, such as Gideon, had theophoric names related to Baal.