Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BAAL-ZEPHON

(Heb. baʿal ṣĕpôn)

“Lord of the North,” another name for Baal, the Canaanite storm-god. Baal-zephon has been compared to the Greek Zeus-casius; both were patrons of ships and sailors.

Baal-zephon probably refers to a city which had a temple dedicated to the god, and most likely a seaport. In the biblical narrative Baal-zephon is placed in the eastern Delta near Migdol and Pi-hahiroth (Exod. 14:2, 9; Num. 33:7). Otto Eissfeldt located Baal-zephon at Mahammediyeh, at the western end of Lake Sirbonis (Lake Bardawil) E of the Bay of Pelusium (cf. Herodotus Hist. 2.6; 3.5). Strabo (Geog. 16.2.28, 32-33) mentions a temple to Jupiter-casius (Zeus-casius) midway along the strip of land between Lake Sirbonis and the Mediterranean Sea at Ras Qaṣrun. Scholars who follow Eissfeldt’s northern route for the Exodus identify this site as Baal-zephon. William F. Albright offered an alternative, Tahpanhes (modern Tell Defneh in the eastern Delta), which according to ancient tradition had a temple to Baal-zephon.

The biblical reference to the site may be a later addition to indicate the location of Pi-hahiroth and Migdol.

Bibliography. W. F. Albright, “Baal-zephon,” Festschrift Alfred Bertholet (Tubingen, 1950), 1-14; J. Baines and J. Malik, Atlas of Ancient Egypt (New York, 1980); O. Eissfeldt, Baal Zaphon, Zeus Kasios und der Durchzug der Israeliten durchs Meer (Haale, 1932).

Lawrence A. Sinclair

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BAAL-ZEPHON

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)