⁴ tn Heb “through Baal.” This is an elliptical expression for the worship of Baal. See 11:17; 12:16; and 19:5 for other references to the people’s relation to Baal. There is a deliberate paralleling in the syntax here between “through their dreams” and “through Baal.”

¹ tn Heb “and they tore down before him the altars of the Baals.”

¹ tn Heb “and the house of Baal was filled mouth to mouth.”

¹ tn Heb “and he went and served Baal and bowed down to him.”

¹ sn Beth Peor. This is probably the spot near Pisgah where Balaam attempted to curse the nation Israel (Num 23:28). The Moabites also worshiped Baal there by the name “Baal [of] Peor” (Num 25:1-5).

¹ sn This probably alludes to David’s victory over the Philistines at Baal Perazim. See 2 Sam 5:20.

¹ tn Heb “and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me.”

⁴ sn Apparently Baal Zebub refers to a local manifestation of the god Baal at the Philistine city of Ekron. The name appears to mean “Lord of the Flies,” but it may be a deliberate scribal change of Baal Zebul, “Baal, the Prince,” a title known from the Ugaritic texts. For further discussion and bibliography, see HALOT 261 s.v. זְבוּב בַּעַל and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 25.

¹ sn Elijah’s sarcastic proposals would have been especially offensive and irritating to Baal’s prophets, for they believed Baal was imprisoned in the underworld as death’s captive during this time of drought. Elijah’s apparent ignorance of their theology is probably designed for dramatic effect; indeed the suggestion that Baal is away on a trip or deep in sleep comes precariously close to the truth as viewed by the prophets.

⁴ sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.

¹ tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.

¹ sn The name Ish Bosheth means in Hebrew “man of shame.” It presupposes an earlier form such as Ish Baal (“man of the Lord”), with the word “baal” being used of Israel’s God. But because the Canaanite storm god was named “Baal,” that part of the name was later replaced with the word “shame.”

² tn Heb “because their tongue.” The term “tongue” is used figuratively as a metonymy of cause (tongue) for effect (prayers to Baal).

² tn Heb “Search carefully and observe so that there are not here with you any servants of the Lord, but only the servants of Baal.”

¹ tn Heb “I have kept in Israel 7,000, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and all the mouths that have not kissed him.”

¹ sn Jerub Baal (יְרֻבַּעַל, “Y^erub Baʿal”) is also known as Gideon (see Judg 6:32). The book of Judges uses both names for him.

¹ tc The LXX and Syriac read “to Baal Peor,” that is, the god worshiped at that place; see note on the name “Beth Peor” in Deut 3:29.

² tn Heb “the Baals.” The singular term בַּעַל (baʿal) refers to the Canaanite god Baal himself, while the plural form הַבְּעָלִים (habb^eʿalim) refers to the manifestations of the god (i.e., idols; BDB 127 s.v. בַּעַל-I II.1).

⁴ sn Prophesying in the name of the god Baal was a clear violation of Mosaic law and punishable by death (see Deut 13:1-5). For an example of the apostasy encouraged by prophets of Baal in the northern kingdom of Israel, see 1 Kgs 18:16-40.

¹ tn Heb “From our youth the shameful thing has eaten up….” The shameful thing is specifically identified as Baal in Jer 11:13. Compare also the shift in certain names such as Ishbaal (“man of Baal”) to Ishbosheth (“man of shame”).