Baal-gad

'''Baal-Gad''' was a Canaanite town at the foot of Mount Hermon. It is mentioned in the Bible three times, all of them in the Book of Joshua (Josh. 11:17; 12:7; 13:5). In all cases, it is described as the northernmost point of Joshua's conquests. The name may relate to Gad, a Semitic deity of fortune, but more likely simply refers to Baal with the epithet “of fortune”.<ref>{{cite book |last=Na’aman|first=Nadav|author-link1=Nadav Na’aman|chapter=Baal-Gad|editor-first1=Karel|editor-last1=van der Toorn|editor-first2=Bob|editor-last2=Becking|editor-first3=Pieter|editor-last3=van der Horst |date=1999|title=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/dictionary-of-deities-and-demons-online/baal-gad-DDDO_Baal_Gad}}</ref>

==Identification== The exact location of Baal-gad is uncertain, but it is generally accepted as being in the vicinity of Wadi al-Taym in southeastern Lebanon. The earliest suggestions identified it with Banias or Baalbek,<ref>{{cite wikisource |first=Matthew George |last=Easton |chapter=Baal-gad |wslink=Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) |plaintitle= Easton's Bible Dictionary |year= 1897}}</ref> while Félix-Marie Abel suggested identifying it with Hasbaya. However, archeological evidence suggests that neither Banias nor Hasbaya were inhabited before the Hellenistic period,{{sfn|Jericke|2001|p=133}} while Baalbek is too far north to fit with the geographical details in Joshua.{{sfn|Jericke|2001|p=131}} Simons proposes identifying Baal-Gad with the site of Tell Haush/Tell ez-Zeitun, a small tell in Beqaa Governorate just north of Haouch El-Qenaabeh ({{lang|ar|حوش القنعبة}}, about 8.5 kilometers southwest of Rashaya and 12 kilometers north of Hasbaya).<ref>{{cite book |last=Simons|first=Jan Jozef|date=1959|title=The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|url=https://archive.org/details/geographicaltopo0000simo|page=277}}</ref> Jericke accepts this identification, as Tell Haush/Tell ez-Zeitun is the only site with Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Levantine remains between {{ill|Iyyon|he|עיון (עיר מקראית)}} near Marjayoun to the south and Kamid el-Loz to the north.{{sfn|Jericke|2001|p=136}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

;Sources * {{cite journal| last1 = Jericke| first1 = Detlef| date = 2001| title = Baal-Gad| url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/27931671| journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins| volume = 117| issue = 2| pages = 129–139| language=de}}

Category:Hebrew Bible cities Category:Book of Joshua locations