Yesterday, I left you with a major cliffhanger.
Why would Saul give one of his sons the pagan name Eshba’al?
Well, here’s the answer.
In those days, the word Ba’al had become a common part of the Hebrew language.
However, the Israelites used the word to mean “lord,” as in a person with authority.
It had nothing to do with loyalty to a pagan gentile god.
Nor was it a specific reference to the false god Ba’al (though sometimes it was).
So, in the Scriptures and other old Jewish writings, you’ll encounter quite a few names with the term ‘Ba’al’ in them.
But here’s the thing.
The use of Ba’al was disrespectful toward the Law of Moses even if unintentional.
The word started out meaning one thing…
Then it was borrowed and incorporated into Hebrew…
And ended up meaning something else.
Finally, after a couple of generations, the Israelites used it without really thinking about its original meaning or if it was even kosher to use it.
This shows how language evolves.
The term anti-Semite is another good example.
It means against the sons of Shem.
So the pronunciation should be anti-Shemite with a “sh” sound.
Plus, consider that a good portion of the Arab world, since they’re descended from Ishmael, are also sons of Shem themselves.
Yet, in modern times, they’re some of the most anti-Semitic people on earth.
Based on the linguistic origin of the word, it doesn’t make any sense.
Why?
Because they’re a Semitic people.
They are also sons of Shem!
Yet over time, “Shem” or “Semite” came to refer to Jews or Israelis.
Ain’t that interesting?
Anyway, onwards.
There’s no mention of Saul turning his loyalty over to a pagan god (even though the Lord had abandoned him).
So, it’s likely he picked the name Eshba’al for his son because it sounded royal.
Eshba’al means “Fire of the Lord.”
Again, “Lord” refers to a human leader.
It does kinda have a nice regal ring to it, don’t you think?
But here’s what happened.
Later on, religious Jews began to take offense at the word “Ba’al.”
And for good reason…
There was no overlooking the fact it was the name of a Canaanite god worshiped by various ancient peoples, including the Phoenicians and the Canaanites.
Baal was considered a storm and fertility deity, and his worship often involved idolatry and practices condemned by God in the Bible.
So some editors of the Tanakh (the “Old” Testament) concluded it was wrong for that word to be in the holy texts.
They decided not to write or say “Ba’al” because it offended them.
When they copied the oldest Bible scrolls, they replaced “Ba’al” with the word “bosheth,” which means “shame.”
And that’s how Eshba’al became Ishbosheth.
Language is certainly fluidic, and what one word means in one culture can be something totally different in another culture.
I have also seen some people confuse the meaning of a word with its homophone (a word that sounds like another word, but is not that word, such as blew and blue).
Believe it or not, I once read someone say that praying to Jesus is praying to a horse! I could only imagine this came from the Spanish pronunciation of Jesus, being “Hay-sus”, with the Hebrew word for “the horse”, which is pronounced “hah-Sus”.
I have also seen someone say praying to Jesus is really praying to Zeus (again, this is probably a homophone issue).
There is a group called “Holy Namers” who are zealously obsessed with the “correct” pronunciation of God’s Holy Name (the Tetragrammaton) , or for that matter, any name used to identify the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Some have gone as far as to not even like the word “God”!
There are some who disagree with the traditional Jewish custom of showing respect by using Adonai (whch means ‘Lord”) or HaShem (“the Name”) instead of trying to pronounce those 4 letters which God told Moses represent his name.
Most people don’t even know that when the word “name” is used, as in “call on his name,” or “they shall know my name”, it doesn’t mean the actual name we use to identify God, but it refers to his reputation and renown. We have to look at the entire context of the thought when this term is used to understand what the writer really was referring to; if you exchange “reputation” for “name”, you will see that most of the time, it makes more sense that god is talking about who he is and not what to call him.
I, myself, do not consider these name issues relevant, because we are saved by faith, not by pronunciation, and the main thing to remember is that God knows the heart and the mind of people- when I pray to him, he knows who I mean, whether I use the term God, Adonai, or even something that might incorporate the word Ba’al!
I cannot believe that God is so thin-skinned that he will reject a heartfelt prayer because I use a term or name or title that I know to mean the God of Abraham.
People try to compartmentalize God in order to make him seem less all-powerful; it makes them feel more comfortable, so they restrict him to human emotions and fears, such as which name is correct and which name is wrong.
I have to believe that God is above those petty, human issues, and what he really cares about is a broken heart and a contrite spirit (Psalm 51) when we come before him in prayer.
To assume God is really concerned with vocabulary instead of heart is, if you ask me, an insult to him.
Hi Steven, As I mentioned in the Facebook group, I agree with what you said. But that’s not exactly what I was talking about in this article. Just discussing the history of the evolution of a certain name and how it gives us insight into how the ancient Hebrews thought.