). I do not know that we have any example of a female name into which Baal enters.
The derivation of the word appears to be that given by Gesenius (s.v.); that it is compounded of the root
זָבַל
(habitavit, cohabitavit) and the negative
אֵין
, and that its meaning is the same as αλοχος, casta: comp. Agnes. Isabel, in fact, would be a name nearer the original than the form in which we have it.
SC.
Carmarthen, Oct. 29. 1850.
Jezebel.—W.G.H. has been misled by the ending bel. The Phœnician god Bel or Baal has nothing to do with this name,—the component words being Je-zebel, not Jeze-bel. Of the various explanations given, that of Gesenius (Heb. Lex., s. voc.) appears, as usual, the simplest and most rational. The name
אִיזֶבֶל