Asherah
אֲשֵׁרָה · a.she.rah · H0842הָאֲשֵׁרֽוֹת · a.she.rah · H084240 mentions in 9 books, most in 2 Kings (11)
Who they were
Asherah was a Canaanite goddess whose worship was often associated with wooden poles or images. The Israelites were repeatedly warned against setting up Asherah poles or planting trees as idolatrous symbols near the altar of the Lord (Deu.16.21; Judges 6:25-30; 1Ki.14.15, 16:33; 2Ki.17.16). However, many Israelite kings and people disobeyed these commands and engaged in Asherah worship (1Ki.15.13, 18:19; 2Ki.13.6, 21:3, 7; 2Ch.15.16, 24:18, 33:3).
Several kings, such as Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah, sought to remove Asherah poles and images from the land as part of their religious reforms (2Ki.18.4, 23:4-7, 14-15; 2Ch.14.3, 17:6, 31:1, 34:3-4, 7). The prophets also condemned the worship of Asherah, associating it with idolatry and unfaithfulness to God (Isaiah 17:8, 27:9; Jeremiah 17:2; Micah 5:14).
The persistent presence of Asherah worship throughout Israel's history demonstrates the Israelites' struggle to remain faithful to the Lord and resist the influence of surrounding pagan cultures. The biblical accounts emphasize the importance of removing idolatrous symbols and practices and the need for ongoing spiritual reformation.
Article: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
Every mention
40 references, counted from STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · verse text: World English Bible (public domain)
Exodus1 mention
Deuteronomy3 mentions
Deuteronomy 7:5But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their engraved images with fire.Deuteronomy 12:3You shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, and burn their Asherah poles with fire. You shall cut down the engraved images of their gods. You shall destroy their name…Deuteronomy 16:21You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside Yahweh your God’s altar, which you shall make for yourselves.
Judges5 mentions
Judges 3:7The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and forgot Yahweh their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.Judges 6:25That same night, Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is…Judges 6:26Then build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall…Judges 6:28When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar…Judges 6:30Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.”
1 Kings5 mentions
1 Kings 14:15For Yahweh will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River…1 Kings 14:23For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.1 Kings 15:13He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.1 Kings 16:33Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more yet to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.1 Kings 18:19Now 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.”
2 Kings11 mentions
2 Kings 13:6Nevertheless they didn’t depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.)2 Kings 17:10and they set up for themselves pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree;2 Kings 17:16They abandoned all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made molten images for themselves, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served Baal.2 Kings 18:4He removed the high places, broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because in those days the children of Israel burned…2 Kings 21:3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he raised up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel did, and worshiped all the army of…2 Kings 21:7He set the engraved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which Yahweh said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all…2 Kings 23:4The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of Yahweh’s temple all the vessels that were made for Baal…2 Kings 23:6He brought out the Asherah from Yahweh’s house, 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…2 Kings 23:7He broke down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that were in Yahweh’s house, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.2 Kings 23:14He broke in pieces the pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled their places with men’s bones.2 Kings 23:15Moreover the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned…
2 Chronicles11 mentions
2 Chronicles 14:3for he took away the foreign altars and the high places, broke down the pillars, cut down the Asherah poles,2 Chronicles 15:16Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; so Asa cut down her image, ground it into dust, and…2 Chronicles 17:6His heart was lifted up in the ways of Yahweh. Furthermore, he took away the high places and the Asherah poles out of Judah.2 Chronicles 19:3Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have put away the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.”2 Chronicles 24:18They abandoned the house of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and the idols, so wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.2 Chronicles 31:1Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and broke down the high places and…2 Chronicles 33:3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he raised up altars for the Baals, made Asheroth, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them.2 Chronicles 33:19His prayer also, and how God listened to his request, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places and set up the Asherah poles and the engraved images…2 Chronicles 34:3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high…2 Chronicles 34:4They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and he cut down the incense altars that were on high above them. He broke the Asherah poles, the engraved images, and the molten…2 Chronicles 34:7He broke down the altars, beat the Asherah poles and the engraved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, then returned to Jerusalem.
Isaiah2 mentions
Isaiah 17:8They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they respect that which their fingers have made, either the Asherah poles or the incense altars.Isaiah 27:9Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in…
Jeremiah1 mention
What the dictionary says
And pl.
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Read the article →Sources
- STEPBible TIPNR · Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References · CC BY 4.0 · github.com/STEPBible/STEPBible-Data