toward the idol, or with Baal
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
ETHBAAL (with Baal, i.e. enjoying his favour and protection).King of the Sidonians, and father of Jezebel, wife of Ahab king of Israel (1Ki_16:31).
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
("with Baal"), namely, for his patron god. Ithobalus ("Baal with him") in Menander (Josephus, Apion 1:18), king of Sidon, Jezebel's father (1Ki_16:31). (See JEZEBEL.) Priest of Astarte. Murdered Pheles, 50 years after Hiram's death, and usurped the throne of Tyre for 32 years, 940-908 B.C.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Ethba'al. (with Baal). King of Sidon and father of Jezebel. 1Ki_16:31. Josephus represents him as a king of the Tyrians, as well as of the Sidonians. We may, thus, identify him with Eithobalus, who, after having assassinated Pheles, usurped the throne of Tyre for thirty-two years. The date of Ethbaal's reign may be given as about B.C. 940-908.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
eth-bā?al, eth?bā̇-al (אתבּעל, 'eth-ba‛al, ?with Baal?): ?King of the Sidonians,? and father of Jezebel whom Ahab king of Israel took to wife (1Ki_16:31).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Ethbaal
(Hebrews Ethba'al, אֶתְבִּעִל, with Baal, i.e., enjoying his favor and help; Sept. Ε᾿θβάαλ), a king of Sidon, father of the infamous Jezebel, the wife of Ahab (1Ki_16:31). According to Josephus (Ant. 8:13, 1 and 2; Apion, 1:18), Ethbaal is called Ithobalus (Ι᾿θόβαλος or Εἰθώβαλος, i.e., אַתּוֹבִעִל=Baal with him) by Menander, who also says that he was a priest of Astarte, and, having put the king Pheles to death, assumed the scepter of Tyre and Sidon, lived sixty-eight years, and reigned thirty-two (comp. Theophil. Autol. 3, page 132). As fifty years elapsed between the deaths of Hiram and Pheles, the date of Ethbaal's reign may be given as about B.C. 940-908. The worship of Baal was no doubt closely allied to that of Astarte, and it is even possible that a priest of Astarte might have been dedicated also to the service of Baal, and borne his name. We here see the reason why Jezebel, the daughter of a priest of Astarte, was so zealous a promoter of idolatry, the taint of which, with its attendant tyranny, eventually extended to the throne of Judah in the person of Athaliah; and as, twenty-one years after the death of Ethbaal, his granddaughter Dido built Carthage, and founded that celebrated commonwealth (Josephus, as above), we may judge what sort of a spirit animated the females of this royal family. SEE AHAB. Another Phoenician king of the same name (Ι᾿θόβαλος or Εἰθώβαλος) appears as a contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar (Josephus, Ant. 10:11, 1; Apion, 1:21; Eusebius, Chron. Armen. 1:74). SEE PHOENICIA.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.