BAAL. God of storms and fertility widely worshipped in the ancient Near East, especially in Syro-Canaan. At Ugarit, “Prince Baal” appears to be the son of the chief god El (or perhaps an outsider who usurps his sovereignty). Ugaritic texts also preserve his own liturgy (an entire epic) that reports how Baal took the throne from the god Yam (lit. “Sea”), went to battle against the god Mot (lit. “Death”), and commissioned the building of a great palace for himself. The texts also describe his stormy relationship with his sister and consort Anat, and report his bestiality with a heifer, a performative ritual that does not appear to have been viewed as taboo in Canaan.
The worship of Baal also was known in Egypt after a period of Levantine influence (c. 1400–1075 BCE), and was brought to Babylonia in the form “Bel” by the Amorites. Eventually Baal was adopted by the Greeks, who identified him with Zeus. Baal’s epithet as “(Chariot) Rider on the Clouds” describes his role as rain-bringer, and is adopted for Yahweh in Ps 68:5. The Phoenicians later referred to him as “Baal of the Heavens.” In the Bible, Baal appears in his various manifestations often as the object of prophetic harangue. Thus, in 1 Kgs 18:20–40, the prophet Elijah competes against the prophets of Baal and mocks their cultic drama by ridiculing their own mythology. His appearance in Israelite personal names indicates that his status was much greater prior to the rise of Classical Prophecy. The judge Gideon is also called Jerubbaal (Judg 6:32), and the component “Baal” also appears in the names of prince Ishbaal, the son of Saul (1 Chr 8:33), and Meribaal, the son of Jonathan (1 Chr 8:34), each of whom later editors refer to by replacing the component “Baal” with the word “boshet,” meaning “shame.” Attestations include Jerbosheth (2 Sam 11:21), Ishboshet (2 Sam 2:8), and Mephiboshet (2 Sam 4:4).
BAALBEK. City located west of Damascus and northeast of Beirut at the northern end of the Baqa Valley. According to Muslim exegetes, the prophet Elijah was sent to the people of Baalbek, as recounted in the Quran (Q 37:123–132). The association of the city with Elijah may be due to the mention of Baal in the Elijah story, though most modern scholars do not identify Baalbek with any sites mentioned in the Bible. Before the third century BCE the city was the site of a cult centered on the god Baal, and after this time the shrine served as a locus of worship for Zeus, Aphrodite, and Hermes. The extensive remains, dating to the early Roman period, may have been in better condition in the early Islamic period, and could have represented God’s victory over Baal as told in the Elijah story (1 Kings 18).
BALAAM. Transjordanian prophet from the region of Moab who is hired by the Moabite king Balak to curse Israel, but who offers blessings instead (Num 23–24). Though not an Israelite, Balaam speaks with Yahweh, who tells him not to curse the Israelites but to go with the men sent by Balak (Num 22:2–21). While on the road, God speaks to Balaam through the mouth of his donkey (Num 22:22–35) and Balaam has a vision of the Angel of God. Balaam delivers four oracles blessing, instead of cursing, the Israelites (Num 23:7–10, 19–24, 24:3–9, 15–24). The last oracle includes a passage (Num 24:17) that was taken as a messianic prediction by early Christians, at Qumran, and in other Jewish contexts. Based on this oracle, some Christian sources also identify Balaam as the founder of the order of the Magi who visited Jesus. Other biblical references credit Balaam’s blessings to Yahweh (Deut 23:4–6; Neh 13:2; Josh 24:9–10).
Some scholars identify Balaam’s homeland as Pitru on the upper Euphrates, based on the reference in Num 22:5, but others argue for a location farther south. In 1967, a series of seventh-century BCE inscriptions on plaster fragments were discovered at Deir Alla in the Transjordan. They were written in Aramaic, or in a dialect of ancient Hebrew closely akin to Aramaic, and report to be the account of Balaam, “seer of the gods.” Unfortunately, the texts are extremely fragmentary, a fact that has given rise to a number of widely divergent interpretations. Nevertheless, texts do attest to the presence of prophetic traditions concerning Balaam in the Transjordan.
In later Jewish exegesis, Balaam is said to be the last of the gentile prophets who included Shem; Job; and Job’s companions Eliphaz, Zophar, Bildad, and Elihu (TB Baba Batra 15b). Balaam also is portrayed as a magician, and the Targum Yerushalmi identifies the companions Balaam takes with him on the road (Num 22:22) as Jannes and Jambres, the two magicians mentioned in later tradition as competing with Moses before the pharaoh in Exodus 7 (though the Hebrew Bible offers no names). Jewish tradition also attributes Balaam’s parables in Numbers 23–24 to Moses (TB Baba Batra 14b), and regards him as “the wicked Balaam” who has no portion in the world to come (TB Sanhedrin 90a, 105a, 105b). Philo treats Balaam as a gentile who claimed to be a prophet, but who was only just a soothsayer (De Migratione Abrahami 20.113–115). Josephus (Antiquities 4) defines Balaam as a diviner. By way of exegetical word plays on his name, the Talmud associates him with corrupting the people, and with bestiality (TB Sanhedrin 105a).
BAR HEBRAEUS (1225–1286 CE). Abu al-Faraj Gregory Bar Hebraeus is the author of Syriac and Arabic works, well known for his Syriac translations of selected Arabic works by al-Ghazali and Ibn Sina, his Syriac grammar, and his universal history in Syriac, which he also abridged into Arabic. Bar Hebraeus was a monk and the West Syrian or Jacobite bishop of Gubbash and Lakabbin, the metropolitan of Aleppo, and the head of the Jacobite Church in Persia. His universal history is of particular importance for the stories of the prophets, treating history from the creation to his own time and incorporating biblical materials, Jewish and Christian exegetical traditions, and Islamic materials.
BARLAAM AND JOSEPHAT. A legend of Indian origin that combines elements from the life of the Buddha, Christian parables, and other narratives of unidentified origin. The story probably originates from a Sanskrit original that relates to works known in Central Asian Buddhist Soghdian texts and to Manichaean fragments found at Turfan. In these texts the Buddhist designation “Bodhisattva” is shortened to “Pwtysf” or “Bodisaf,” a name that also appears in a Muslim list of false prophets where it is said to be conflated by the Sabians with Enoch and Hermes Trismegistos. The story then seems to have been transmitted into Arabic where the term Bodisaf was read as “Yudasaf” (replacing the one dot of the “b” with the two dots of the “y” in the Arabic script). The Arabic recensions of the story of Bilawhar and Yudasaf are said to have been transmitted into Arabic from Pahlavi in the eighth or ninth century CE, but are only preserved in later recensions. The story is mentioned in the Letters of the Ikhwan al-Safa [Ar. Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa]. Later recensions include Arabic texts that incorporate the story into a longer work, Persian translations of the Arabic, a Georgian translation found in Jerusalem, and a Hebrew paraphrase of the 13th century CE. The Georgian recension, which was translated into Greek around the 11th century CE, gives the names as Balahvar and Iodasap. This Greek recension was later attributed to John of Damascus (676–759 CE), and became widespread in medieval Europe. It was translated into Latin, Old Church Slavonic, Armenian, and French. Barlaam and Josephat were recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as saints, and a number of churches were dedicated to them.
The story begins with an introduction that tells of a prince named Josephat whom an astrologer predicts will be not of this world. A king tries to keep the prince confined to a special city in which he does not encounter suffering, but one day the prince leaves and meets the holy man Barlaam from Sri Lanka. Much of the remainder of the text cites a series of parables through which Barlaam instructs Josephat, and a debate in which the king is converted to the religion of Barlaam. Some of the versions, especially those popular in medieval Europe, include explicit references to Jesus Christ, but the Arabic versions do not appear to contain any specific Islamic allusions.
BARUCH. The son of Neriah, the scribe and apparent disciple of Jeremiah the prophet. He is said to have taken dictation for the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 36:4, 36:17–18), and while Jeremiah is in prison, Baruch reads the prophet’s scroll in Yahweh’s temple, an act that suggests he has privileged access (Jer 36:8). Jeremiah, after all, was a priest of Anathoth (Jer 1:1). The discovery in Jerusalem of a sixth century BCE bulla (seal impression) bearing the name of Berekhyahu son of Neriyahu seems to confirm his existence. Baruch’s role as a prophet is nowhere mentioned in the Bible, but is assumed based on what later Jewish sources perceive to be his discipleship under Jeremiah.
Rabbinic traditions differ on whether Baruch is a prophet. The Talmud records one tradition in which Baruch is considered a prophet descended from the harlot Rahab (TB Megillah 14b), and assigns similar prophetic roles for Jeremiah’s other apparent disciples Hanamel and Serayah (see Jeremiah 32, Rashi on Jeremiah 32, and TB Megillah 15a). On the other hand, at least one tradition states that he is not a prophet (Mekilta Bo, Petihta). He also is identified with Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian (Aboth d’Rabbi Nathan 43, 122; Pirqe d’Rabbi Eliezer 26, 130b). Some traditions see Baruch as having been “sent away” by God prior to the destruction of the temple, and thus having “not tasted death” (Sifre Numbers 99; TB Mo‘ed Qatan 16b; Pirqe d’Rabbi Eliezer 53), having entered paradise while he was still alive (TB Derek Erez Zuta, 1). Nevertheless, Jewish tradition records several accounts of miraculous events at Baruch’s tomb. One such event, told in a highly polemical style, involves a visit to Baruch’s tomb by a Muslim prince. Having entered Baruch’s tomb the prince found that Baruch’s body had not decomposed (TB Shabbath 152b, Baba Mezi‘a 84b). The prince was so impressed that he founded a Jewish academy on the spot, and went to Mecca, where he became convinced of the errancy of Islam and promptly converted to Judaism.
2 BARUCH. A text preserved in Syriac and Arabic describing the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem (586 BCE), but probably written sometime after the destruction of the second temple (70 CE). Based on historical references and the relation with 4 Ezra, scholars date 2 Baruch to the second century CE. The most reliable Syriac manuscript is dated to the sixth or seventh century CE, though there are Syriac fragments dated as early as the fourth century. There is a single Arabic manuscript dated to the 10th or 11th century CE, which appears to be written from a perspective familiar with Muslim eschatology. The theme of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple is dominant in biblical prophetic sources, early Judaism and Christianity, and Muslim exegesis.
The text is divided into 87 chapters. Chapters 1–8 describe the destruction of Jerusalem, including an account of an angel removing the temple vessels and hiding them in the earth until the end of time (6:5–9). The rest of the text consists of visions received by Baruch and his exhortations to the righteous. Among these are a number of eschatological motifs such as the coming of the Messiah, the Resurrection, and the Day of Judgment. Many of the visions are preceded by Baruch’s fasting for seven days, and several of the visions involve symbols that must be interpreted for Baruch (35–43, 53–74).
3 BARUCH. Preserved in Greek and Old Church Slavonic, this text depicts the destruction of Jerusalem and Baruch’s ascension through five heavens. Many scholars date the origins of this text to the early third century, though the earliest clear reference to the work is the use of chapter two in the History of the Rechabites (sixth century CE). The Greek manuscripts date to the 15th century CE, and the Slavonic manuscripts (assumed to be translations of a lost Greek original) date from the 13th to 18th centuries CE.
The text is divided into 17 chapters and includes much material on angelology, astronomical features, natural wonders, and various references to biblical motifs and stories. Though related to other apocalyptic texts, 3 Baruch does not focus on eschatological themes. Each of the heavens visited by Baruch contains different items, many of which are found in other cosmological journeys. The first heaven is a plain on which men with cattle bodies graze. These beasts are identified as the people who built the Tower of Babel. In the second heaven is a prison with dog-faced creatures identified as those people who planned and forced others to build the Tower of Babel. The third heaven contains a giant serpent, numerous rivers, the Garden of Eden, the chariot of the sun, and the Phoenix. In the fourth heaven, Baruch sees a lake with unusual birds, and in the fifth he sees the angels who bring gifts to people on earth. Michael carries a large bowl in which are the virtues and good works of the righteous. At the end of the Slavonic text Baruch is given permission to intercede on behalf of the sinners, and in both the Greek and Slavonic texts he is returned to earth with a commission to tell others about what he has witnessed.
4 BARUCH. Extant in a number of versions and languages, this text gives an account of Jeremiah, Abimelech, and Baruch’s activities surrounding the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. There are numerous Greek manuscripts of different versions of this text, the earliest of which dates to the 11th century CE, and also recensions in Ethiopic, Armenian, Old Church Slavonic, and Romanian. The title of the text in Greek is “Things Omitted from the Prophet Jeremiah,” and the Ethiopic version gives the title as “The Rest of the Words of Baruch.”
The text includes several narratives in nine chapters. Chapters 1–4 describe the vision given to Jeremiah that Jerusalem would be destroyed. Jeremiah then warns Baruch and Abimelech about the destruction, and is himself instructed to entrust the keys of the temple to the sun and the temple vessels to the earth, which swallows them. Chapters 5–7 relate how Abimelech fell asleep outside of the city and slept there for 66 years. When he awakes he finds his figs still fresh, and he is disoriented because of the passing time. An old man then gets Baruch, who sees Abimelech’s return as a resurrection from the dead. In Chapters 8–9 Jeremiah returns from Babylon with the exiles, but is stoned to death for proclaiming Jesus Christ as the coming Messiah. These narratives have much in common with the stories attributed to Ezra and Jeremiah in the Muslim exegesis of Q 2:259.
BAT QOL. Hebrew term meaning literally a “daughter of a sound.” The Bat Qol is considered a minor form of prophecy in early Jewish literature. Scholars often associate it with the divinatory practice of kledonomancy, and it probably is to be connected with the Babylonian prophetic omen known in Mesopotamia as an egirrû (see also EGIRRÛ). The Bat Qol could include many types of sounds, but at times appears to be interpreted as a human voice. In one instance, a child’s recitation of a biblical verse overheard by the rabbis constitutes a Bat Qol. The Talmud states that the Bat Qol came into vogue after the deaths of the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, which also marked the departure of the Holy Spirit from Israel (TB Sanhedrin 11a; Yoma 9b). According to the Talmud Yerushalmi, this period also marked the cancellation of the Urim and Thummim, the destruction of the sanctuary, and the end of the “Shamir-worm” (TY Sotah 9:12–13). The latter is defined in the Tosefta version of Sotah 9:13 as a creature associated with the six days of creation, which was capable of splitting open stones, wood, or iron when placed on them. Some scholars relate the “Shamir-worm” to the worm that eats the staff of Solomon in Q 34:14.
BEERI. Prophet whose extant prophecies, according to Jewish tradition, appear in only two verses, which are included in the book of Isaiah (Isa 8:19–20). He is regarded as the father of the prophet Hosea and is identified with Beerah (1 Chr 5:6), who was taken into exile by the Assyrians (TB Pesahim 87b; Baba Batra 14b; Pirqe d’Rabbi Eliezer 33).
BEERSHEBA. Southernmost city in ancient Israel for much of Israelite history, often used along with the northernmost city Dan in a merism (i.e., “from Dan to Beersheba”), meaning “all of Israel” (Judg 20:1; 1 Sam 3:20; 1 Kgs 5:5; Amos 8:14). The name Beersheba probably means “Well of the Seven,” and some scholars understand it as meaning “Well of the Seven (Stars of the Pleiades).” The Bible reinterprets it as meaning “Well of the Oath,” based on the tradition of Jacob and Esau’s oath (Gen 26:31–33). The prophet Samuel later attempted to establish his sons Joel and Abijah as hereditary judges in Beersheba (1 Sam 8:2). Beersheba is the site where Abraham made a covenant with Abimelech, the Philistine king, and planted a sacred tamarisk for calling on El ‘Olam (Gen 21:32–33). According to Tabari, it was Dhu al-Qarnayn (Q 18:83–101) who presided over the dispute between Abraham and the Philistines at Beersheba. Beersheba is also the place where Abraham sent Hagar when his first wife Sarah drove her out (Gen 21:14). Gen 22:19 relates that Abraham lived there after nearly sacrificing his son. Muslim exegetes identify the well of Beersheba with the well of Zamzam, a well that appears after Hagar runs between Safa and Marwah seven times. The sanctuary established at Beersheba by Abraham (Targum Onqelos on Gen 21:31) is identified with the sanctuary at Mecca by Muslim exegetes, and the biblical Paran mentioned in Gen 21:21 is said to be the Hebrew name for Mecca.
BEN SIRA. See WISDOM OF JESUS BEN SIRAH.
BENJAMIN. The son of Jacob and Rachel (Gen 35:18) and eponymous ancestor of the Israelite tribe of the same name. It is from the tribe of Benjamin that King Saul descends; King David descended from the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Benjamin’s land rested between that of the tribes of Judah and Ephraim. According to Judges 20, a bloody friction with the rest of Israel forced the tribe to become dependent on the tribe of Judah. When the monarchy divided upon Solomon’s death, Benjamin was annexed into Judah (Neh 11:7). The tainted relationship between the tribes of Benjamin and Judah remained in Israelite consciousness long after the united monarchy (1 Sam 22:7; Rom 11:1; Phil 3:5). The prophet Jeremiah also belonged to the tribe of Benjamin (Jer 1:1).
BIBLIOMANCY. The divinatory practice of deriving import from the random reading of biblical verses, which came into vogue following the canonization of the biblical text and the destruction of the temple. The Talmud refers to several instances of bibliomancy (TB Berakoth 55b) and appears to treat the practice as a form of Bat Qol (see also BAT QOL). Early Jewish texts attest to the bibliomantic application of roughly 180 biblical verses.
BOOK OF ARDA VIRAF. Zoroastrian text dating from the fifth or sixth centuries CE describing Arda Viraf’s vision of heaven and hell. The work opens with an account of the destruction of Zoroastrian scriptures and the religion in the time of Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE). Arda Viraf is chosen to journey through heaven and hell to ascertain reliable information about the rituals and beliefs of the Zoroastrian religion. Arda Viraf is escorted by various angels on a tour of the fate of different souls, both pious and sinful, in heaven and in hell, and visits God on his throne. Many of the righteous deeds and sins correspond directly to obligations and prohibitions in Zoroastrianism. While the descriptions of the sins are specific to Zoroastrianism, the general structure of the text closely parallels other visions of heaven and hell in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic apocalyptic texts such as the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra, 3 Baruch, and the Ascension of Isaiah.
BOOK OF JASHER. A Hebrew exegetical compilation [Heb. Sefer ha-Yashar] dated as early as the 13th century CE, incorporating many elements from Jewish and Islamic exegesis and concerning biblical and Israelite history from the creation to the time of Joshua, Moses’ successor. The text is divided into 91 chapters, each with an average of 30 verses. The work is composed in an archaic Hebrew style reminiscent of the Bible, which led some early scholars to connect it with the “Book of Jasher” mentioned in Josh 10:13 and 2 Sam 1:18–19.
BOOK OF JOSIPPON. A medieval Hebrew version of the writings of Josephus beginning with Genesis 10 and ending with the fall of Masada. The text seems to have been composed in Italy, in the middle of the 10th century CE, drawing on a fourth-century CE Latin paraphrase of Josephus and the Apocrypha. Ibn Hazm translated the text into Arabic in Spain during the 11th century CE, and Jewish exegetes (including Rashi) used the Book of Josippon, apparently believing that it was written by Josephus.
BOOK OF THE CAVE OF TREASURES. A Syriac text recounting history from the creation to Jesus Christ. The book is commonly attributed to Ephrem the Syrian (306–373 CE), and some scholars argue that its contents date back to the second century CE, though many consider the book to combine a number of earlier traditions and to have been redacted much later. There are multiple versions of the text in Syriac (esp. the “Western” and “Eastern” versions) as well as Arabic, Ethiopic, Coptic, and Georgian recensions. The “cave” is supposed to be the one in which the secret books of Adam were hidden, along with the frankincense and myrrh that the Wise Men took as presents to the infant Jesus (see also CAVE). Closely related to this text is the Book of the Bee, attributed to a Solomon, bishop of Basra, in the 13th century CE. The Book of the Bee contains much of the same information as found in the Book of the Cave of Treasures, but continues the story through the early history of Christianity in outline form.
BOOK OF THE GIANTS. This text is extant only in Aramaic fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls (and is classified with the Enoch materials) and from passages in a Manichaean version of the work. A reference in the Gelasian Decree indicates that this work was known also in late antiquity. The text contains different narratives of the sons of the watchers and their women, and closely relates to the accounts found in the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, also known as 1 Enoch.
BUKHARI (810–870 CE). Abu Abdallah Muhammad b. Ismail b. Ibrahim b. al-Mughira b. Barbizbah al-Ju‘fi al-Bukhari is the compiler of the most widely authoritative collection of prophetic hadith reports (see also HADITH). This work, said to have taken 16 years to complete, is a standard reference for many later scholars. It includes 2,762 hadith reports, many of them repeated numerous times, and Bukhari is said to have winnowed these authoritative reports from a total of around 600,000 that he collected. The authoritative reports are arranged in 97 books and 3,450 chapters. Numerous commentaries have been written on Bukhari’s authoritative collection, the best known being those of Ibn Hajar and Qastillani. Bukhari also wrote a biographical dictionary devoted to the names of the people mentioned as transmitting the hadith reports in his authoritative collection.
BUKHTNASAR. Arabic name given to a character largely associated with the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BCE), but also with other foreign rulers linked to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. According to some Muslim sources, Bukhtnasar is named as one of the four people who in their times ruled over all the earth, a list that elsewhere includes Nimrod, Dahhak, Solomon, and Dhu al-Qarnayn. Muslim exegetes also report that it was Bukhtnasar who destroyed the temple in Jerusalem and carried off the Israelites in exile to Babylon. He was the king who saw the vision interpreted by Daniel, threw Daniel into the lion’s den, and was turned into a wild beast by an angel for seven years. Among the other prophets of the period of the Babylonian exile with whom Bukhtnasar is associated are Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, Ezra, and Jeremiah. In the Islamic exegesis of Q 17:4–8, it is reported that Bukhtnasar destroyed Jerusalem in the time of John the Baptist, and was compelled to kill the Israelites on account of their killing of John the Baptist. Muslim sources also record the tradition, associated with the Roman emperor Titus in the Babylonian Talmud (TB Megillah 11a), that God caused a mosquito to enter and live inside of Bukhtnasar’s head. The expedition of the Babylonian king Nabonidus (555–539 BCE) against the pre-Islamic Arab site of Tema is associated with Bukhtnasar in some Muslim historical sources (see also NABONIDUS).
BUNDAHISHN. A Zoroastrian text preserved in Pahlavi containing an account of the creation of the world and definition of the various elements related to its creation. The Bundahishn is a commentary [Av. zand] on lost Avestan works that originally may have been put into writing in the fifth century CE, and may be traced back to earlier traditions in oral transmission. The extant redaction of the Bundahishn is dated to the ninth century CE along with a number of other Zoroastrian texts. Among the topics discussed in the text are the origins of Ohrmazd and Ahriman, formation of the cosmos, the primeval ox, seven archons of the planets, conflicts of the evil spirit with the elements of creation, the mountains, seas, five classes of animals, humans, procreation, fire, plants, various mythological beasts, rivers, 17 types of liquid, lakes, the ape and the bear, human hierarchy, calendar, distances, geography, future resurrection of the dead including the appearance of the Soshyant savior-figure, and the genealogies of the major Iranian families.