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 break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherim;
It happened the same night, that the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;
He set the engraved image of Asherah, 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 break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherim;
but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherim;
But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, and dash their pillars in pieces, and cut down their Asherim, and burn their engraved images with fire.
You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree: and you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods; and you shall destroy their name out of that place.
You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourselves.
You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourselves.
The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
It happened the same night, that the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down."
Also Maacah his mother he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did yet more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin, but walked therein: and there remained the Asherah also in Samaria.)
He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for in those days the children of Israel burned incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.
He set the engraved image of Asherah, 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;
He set the engraved image of Asherah, 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;
The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the LORD's temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the LORD's temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common people. He broke down the living quarters of the temple prostitutes, that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah.
Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good;" and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter.
The blacksmith takes an axe, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.
while their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees on the high hills.
while their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees on the high hills.
I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out of your midst; and you shall no more worship the work of your hands. I will uproot your Asherim out of your midst; and I will 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 in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you."
The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
It happened the same night, that the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;