1172. baalah
Lexical Summary
baalah: Mistress, Lady, Owner

Original Word: בַּעֲלָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: ba`alah
Pronunciation: bah-ah-LAH
Phonetic Spelling: (bah-al-aw')
KJV: that hath, mistress
NASB: mistress
Word Origin: [feminine of H1167 (בַּעַל - owner)]

1. a mistress

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
that hath, mistress

Feminine of ba'al; a mistress -- that hath, mistress.

see HEBREW ba'al

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
fem. of baal
Definition
a mistress
NASB Translation
medium* (2), mistress (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
I. [בַּעֲלָה] noun feminine 1. mistress, בַּעֲלַת הַבַּיִת mistress of the house 1 Kings 17:17.

2 relative noun אוב ׳ב necromancer 1 Samuel 28:7 (twice in verse); כשׁפים ׳ב sorceress, Nahum 3:4.

Topical Lexicon
Meaning and Conceptual Range

בַּעֲלָה designates a woman who possesses, governs, or controls something or someone. Depending on context it may denote:

1. A female head of household or landholder.
2. A wife in covenant relationship to her husband.
3. A woman who “possesses” occult power, hence a medium or sorceress.

Its semantic field therefore spans legitimate authority within the home to illegitimate spiritual authority that rivals the Lord’s exclusive sovereignty.

Old Testament Occurrences

1 Samuel 28:7 (twice) – Saul seeks “a woman who is a medium,” literally “a woman, a possessor of a spirit of the dead (baʿălath ’ôb).”
1 Kings 17:17 – Elijah lodges with “the woman who owned the house.”
Nahum 3:4 – Nineveh is called “the alluring mistress of sorceries.”

Though only four attestations, the settings are diverse enough to reveal the full moral spectrum surrounding female authority—ranging from godly stewardship to pagan rebellion.

Mediums and Forbidden Spiritism

In 1 Samuel 28 King Saul, having silenced the prophets by his disobedience, resorts to a necromancer: “Seek me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.”. Torah expressly outlaws such practice (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6). The use of בַּעֲלָה in this setting underscores that the medium is not merely gifted but is viewed as the possessor of a spirit, claiming mastery over supernatural powers that belong to God alone. Saul’s consultation precipitates his final rejection (1 Chronicles 10:13–14), a sober warning against turning from revealed truth to forbidden counsel.

Stewardship and Domestic Authority

1 Kings 17 portrays a starkly contrasting use. The widow of Zarephath, “the woman who owned the house,” exercises legitimate oversight of her dwelling. Her hospitality to Elijah occasions the miracle of the inexhaustible flour and oil and, later, the resurrection of her son: “The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the child’s life returned to him” (1 Kings 17:22). Here בַּעֲלָה affirms the dignity of a woman’s God-given responsibility for her household and God’s readiness to honor faith within that sphere.

Nineveh as Mistress of Sorceries

Nahum depicts Assyria’s capital as “the alluring mistress of sorceries, who sells nations with her harlotries.” The feminine title intensifies the charge that Nineveh enticed peoples into spiritual bondage. Just as a medium “owns” a familiar spirit, so the empire “owns” occult influence on an imperial scale. The judgment that follows (Nahum 3:5-7) proclaims God’s supremacy over every counterfeit power, no matter how seductive or entrenched.

Theological Reflections

1. Ownership versus stewardship: Scripture affirms lawful female authority but denies any claim to autonomous spiritual dominion.
2. True versus false mediation: The widow receives life through the prophet of YHWH; the medium channels deathly deception; Nineveh multiplies it. Christ alone is the safe Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).
3. Covenant fidelity: Saul’s turn to a בַּעֲלָה of spirits reveals covenant infidelity, whereas Elijah’s hostess models covenant trust by sharing her last meal.

Ministry Implications

• Spiritual leadership must expose and renounce every modern equivalent of “mistresses of sorceries” (Acts 19:19).
• Pastoral care should honor women who, like the widow of Zarephath, exercise godly authority within their homes and ministries (Proverbs 31:27-30).
• Counseling should direct seekers away from occult solutions toward prayerful dependence on the living God who still answers with resurrection power.

Summary

בַּעֲלָה ranges from honorable household stewardship to condemned occult mastery. Each occurrence sharpens the contrast between rightful authority submitted to the Lord and counterfeit authority that defies Him. Through these texts Scripture upholds God as the only true Owner while commending those who exercise delegated authority in faith and obedience.

Forms and Transliterations
בַּֽעֲלַת־ בַּעֲלַ֣ת בַּעֲלַת־ בעלת בעלת־ ba‘ălaṯ ba‘ălaṯ- ba·‘ă·laṯ ba·‘ă·laṯ- baalat
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Englishman's Concordance
1 Samuel 28:7
HEB: לִי֙ אֵ֣שֶׁת בַּעֲלַת־ א֔וֹב וְאֵלְכָ֥ה
NAS: for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go
KJV: me a woman that hath a familiar spirit,
INT: Seek A woman hath spirit may go

1 Samuel 28:7
HEB: הִנֵּ֛ה אֵ֥שֶׁת בַּֽעֲלַת־ א֖וֹב בְּעֵ֥ין
NAS: there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor.
KJV: to him, Behold, [there is] a woman that hath a familiar spirit
INT: Behold woman hath spirit En-dor

1 Kings 17:17
HEB: בֶּן־ הָאִשָּׁ֖ה בַּעֲלַ֣ת הַבָּ֑יִת וַיְהִ֤י
NAS: of the woman, the mistress of the house,
KJV: of the woman, the mistress of the house,
INT: the son of the woman the mistress of the house came

Nahum 3:4
HEB: ט֥וֹבַת חֵ֖ן בַּעֲלַ֣ת כְּשָׁפִ֑ים הַמֹּכֶ֤רֶת
NAS: one, the mistress of sorceries,
KJV: harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts,
INT: one favour the mistress of sorceries sells

4 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 1172
4 Occurrences


ba·‘ă·laṯ- — 4 Occ.

1171
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