▪ Jeffery1938, 81: »The word occurs in the Elijah story and as a proper name undoubtedly came to Muḥammad from the same source as his ʔIlyās. As this would seem to be from the Syr we may conclude that
baʕl is from the Syr
baʕlā.
1
On the question of the word in general the authorities differ. Robertson Smith
2
argued that the word was a loan-word in Arabia, but Nöldeke (
ZDMG, xl: 174), and Wellhausen (
Reste, 146), claim that it is indigenous. It is worthy of note that as-Suyūṭī,
Itq, 310, states that
baʕl meant
rabb in the dialects of Yemen and of Azd, and as such we find it in the SAr inscriptions, e.g. Glaser, 1076, 2,
bʕl trʕt ‘Lord of Teriʕat’ (see further Rossini,
Glossarium, 116;
RES, i, Nos. 184, 185). In any case from the Nab and NAr inscriptions
3
we learn that the word was known in this sense in Arabia long before Muḥammad’s time.
4
Horovitz,
KU, 101, thinks it came from Eth [Gz] (cf. Ahrens,
Christliches, 38).«
▪ [v1] ‘god Baalʼ: is Baal just ‘theʼ lord, ‘theʼ master? Or was the god Baal the model after which the family’s superior was called a ‘
baʕlʼ? Is there a connection between the god and natural irrigation?
▪ [v1]‘lordʼ, ‘husbandʼ: which meaning was earlier, ‘lordʼ or ‘husbandʼ? If ‘lordʼ, then it may have been transferred both to the family domain (‘lordʼ > ‘lord of the household, a woman’s masterʼ > ‘husbandʼ)
and to the religious field (‘lordʼ > ‘
the Lord, Masterʼ).
▪ [v2] ‘land or plants thriving on natural water supplyʼ: any connection with the god Baʕl?