Judges 6:25-32

The Destruction of the Altar of Baal. We have seen that after the Conquest Yahweh was reverently and innocently called the Baal (Lord) of the land, and that loyal Israelites gave their children Baal names. The present section, in which the Baal of Ophrah is distinguished from Yahweh, and regarded as a heathen god, must have been written after the time of Hosea, who was the first to condemn the practice of applying the name Baal to the God of Israel (Hosea 2:17). The point of the story is that Baal, who, if worth his salt, should be able to plead for himself, is challenged to do so, and found to be impotent. Baal has fallen on evil days, when any daring spirit can laugh at him with impunity as Elijah mocked the Phœ nician Baal (1 Kings 18:27).

Judges 6:32. It need not be said that originally the name Jerubbaal, given to a son by a father who worshipped Yahweh as Baal, had a different meaning from what is suggested here, being another form of Jeremiah, i.e. Baal (or Yahweh) founds.