THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

ba'-a-li ba`ali, ("my master"): Baal, a common name for all heathen gods, had in common practice been used also of Yahweh. Hosea (Ho 2:16,17) demands that Yahweh be no longer called Ba`ali ("my Baal" = "my lord") but 'Ishi ("my husband"), and we find that later the Israelites abandoned the use of Ba`al for Yahweh.