'Ba'l' (Baal) Passages

Quran uses the word بعل in three passages. This is a word meaning 'husband' in ordinary usage but is also the name of a deity.

S 4:128 And if a woman fears recalcitrance or shunning from her husband, then there is no misdemeanour upon them to make peace between them, reconciliation and reconciliation is best. And souls have been called for by scarcity. And if you do good and fear, Allah was an expert in what you do.

Muhammad and His Wives: Analyzing His Treatment of Sauda Bint Zamah

S 11:72 She said: Woe is me! Do I beget when I am an old woman and this my husband is as an old man? This is a wondrous thing.

S 37:125 Do you invoke Baal and leave the best of creators,

The Best of Creators

Whereas some will be inclined to see in all the passages a reference to Baal, it was most probably simply an alternative word for 'husband'. This word is found in Classical Hebrew and in Modern.

Noun

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בַּעַל • (bá'al) m (plural indefinite בְּעָלִים, singular construct בַּעַל־, plural construct בַּעֲלֵי־, feminine counterpart בַּעֲלָה) [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. master, owner

2. husband, male spouse  בעל - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Wiktionary defines the Arabic word thus:

Noun

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بَعْل • (baʕl) m (plural بُعُول (buʕūl) or بُعُولَة (buʕūla) or بِعَال (biʕāl))

1. husband synonym ▲quotations ▲

   Synonym: زَوْج (zawj)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 4:128:

     وَإِنِ ٱمْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِنْ بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَاضًا فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا أَنْ يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا ۚ وَٱلصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ ۗ

     wa-ʔini mraʔatun ḵāfat min baʕlihā nušūzan ʔaw ʔiʕrāḍan fa-lā junāḥa ʕalayhimā ʔan yuṣliḥā baynahumā ṣulḥan waṣ-ṣulḥu ḵayrun

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (obsolete) unirrigated land or plants thriving on a natural water supply

...

Proper noun

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بَعْل • (baʕl) m

1. the idol baal quotations ▲

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 37:125:

     أَتَدْعُونَ بَعْلًا وَتَذَرُونَ أَحْسَنَ الْخَالِقِينَ

     ʔatadʕūna baʕlan wataḏarūna ʔaḥsana l-ḵāliqīna

     Do ye call upon ˹the idol of˺ Ba’l and abandon the Best of Creators—  بعل - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Almaany:

بَعْل

- lord; master

بَعْل

- The husband or the wife - husband; spouse; consort

بَعْل

- unwatered

بَعْل

- Unwatered (land or plant) unirrigated - unwatered land; unirrigated

 بعل In English - Translation and Meaning in English Arabic Dictionary of All terms Page 1