Reference: Asherah
Easton
and pl. Asherim in Revised Version, instead of "grove" and "groves" of the Authorized Version. This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. Such religious symbols ("groves") are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Ex 34:13; Jg 6:25; 2Ki 23:6; 1Ki 16:33, etc.). These images were also sometimes made of silver or of carved stone (2Ki 21:7; "the graven image of Asherah," R.V.). (See Grove [1].).
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But you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their idol poles:
And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take your father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the idol pole that is by it:
And he set a graven image of the idol pole that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:
Hastings
In RV Asherah (plur. Asherim, more rarely Asheroth) appears as the tr of a Hebrew substantive which AV, following the Septuagint and Vulgate, had mistakenly rendered grove. By OT writers the word is used in three distinct applications.
1. The goddess Asherah.
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But you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their idol poles:
But you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their idol poles:
But thus shall you deal with them; you shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their idol poles, and burn their graven images with fire.
You shall utterly destroy all the places, in which the nations which you shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And you shall overthrow their altars, and break their stone idols, and burn their idol poles with fire; and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
You shall not make a post idol of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make you.
You shall not make a post idol of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make you.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the idol poles.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the idol poles.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the idol poles.
And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take your father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the idol pole that is by it: And build an altar unto the LORD your God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the idol pole which you shall cut down.
And also Maachah his grandmother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image on an idol pole; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
And Ahab made an idol pole; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the idol poles four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table.
Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked in them: and there remained the idol poles also in Samaria.)
He removed the high places, and broke the images, and cut down the idol poles, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made: for until those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
And he set a graven image of the idol pole that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:
And he set a graven image of the idol pole that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:
And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the idol poles, and for all the army of heaven: and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.
And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the idol poles, and for all the army of heaven: and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.
And he brought out the idol pole from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small into powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. And he broke down the houses of the male prostitutes, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the idol pole.
And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an abominable image on an idol pole: and Asa cut down her idol, and crushed it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an abominable image on an idol pole: and Asa cut down her idol, and crushed it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smoothes with the hammer him that struck the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with pegs, that it should not be moved.
The blacksmith with the tongs works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength fails: he drinks no water, and is faint.
While their children remember their altars and their idols poles by the green trees upon the high hills.
While their children remember their altars and their idols poles by the green trees upon the high hills.
Your graven images also will I cut off, and your sacred pillars out of your midst; and you shall no more worship the work of your hands. And I will pluck up your idol poles out of your midst: so will I destroy your cities.
Smith
Ash'erah
(straight), the name of a Phoenician goddess, or rather of the idol itself (Authorized Version "grove"). Asherah is closely connected with ASHTORETH and her worship,
See Ashtoreth
comp. Judg 2:3; 6:25; 1Kin 18:19 Ashtoreth being, perhaps, the proper name of the goddess, whilst Asherah is the name of her image or symbol, which was of wood. See
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Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the idol poles.
And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take your father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the idol pole that is by it: