Baale-judah

Baale-judah ("the lords of Judah" or "the Baalah of Judah") is the poetic alternate name for Kiriath-jearim — also called Baalah and Kiriath-baal — where the Ark of the Covenant rested for twenty years after the Philistines returned it (1 Samuel 7:1-2). David came specifically to fetch the Ark from Baale-judah: "And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God" (2 Samuel 6:2). The poetic name preserves the older Canaanite name of the town, which had been a Baal-cult center before Israel's settlement. The site is identified with Deir el-Azhar / Kiryat Ye'arim west of Jerusalem.