 An earlier passage had made Shechem the scene of Joshua's covenant between all the tribes of Israel and "El Yahweh, our god of Israel" and a later one describes it as the location of the "House of El Berith".It is thus unclear whether the false worship of the "Baʿalim" being decried is the worship of a new idol or the continued worship of Yahweh, but by means of rites and teachings taking him to be a mere local god within a larger pantheon.The Hebrew Scriptures record the worship of Baʿal threatening Israel from the time of the Judges until the monarchy.