Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 11:4

"But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal." — Romans 11:4 (ASV)

To the image of Baal.—The name “Baal” is here, as frequently in the LXX., in the feminine gender, and it is to account for this that our translators have inserted the word “image.” How the feminine really came to be used is uncertain. Some have thought that the deity was androgynous, others have conjectured that the feminine is used contemptuously. Baal was originally the sun-god. The sun, it may be remembered, is feminine in German and some other languages.