what does an asherah pole look like

Two Millennia, The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women, Copyright 19982023, Jewish Women's Archive. Therefore, Asherah worship often took place in forested areas, under a tree, or in an area marked by a carved "Asherah pole," such as the one made by the evil King Manasseh ( 2 Kings 21:7 ). In the beginning of the history of Israel as well as the beginning of history of many peoples, it mentions that Abrahams wife was named Sarai which means princess and Nahors wifes name was Milcah which means queen but in Assyrian, Sarru means king and Malika/Malku means prince.When God changes their name in Genesis 17 Abraham is told that kings shall issue from him (17:6) using the term malekim for kings but in Sarahs case, she is told that rulers of people shall issue from her, using the term malekai and depending on which vernacular you are using, the y as a suffix can mean my ruler.. An Asherah pole, like the ones found here, often represented trees associated with this mother goddess, but some archeologists believe they used living trees for these objects of religion. Women in Scripture. Atlanta: 1988. Have an update or correction? There is some biblical evidence that does see women as particularly attracted to goddess cults (for example, womens role in the cult of the queen of heaven, according to Jer 7:18 and 44:1719, 25), and the various female figurines found in domestic contexts at multiple Israelite sites might also suggest this, assuming, as many scholars do, that women played an especially important role in family-centered religious activities. However Asherah (as wikipedia said) was wife of sumerian god Anu, whileAstarte is known from the mythic Baal Cycle, which is a story of Baal fighting with Yam, god of the sea in cannanite mythology. Correction: According to Ephraim Stern in Pagan Yahwehism; The Folk Religion of Ancient Israel in the May/June 2001 issue of BAR (p.28), it was the Jews in Judea (former Judahites) and the Samaritans (former mixed population settled in Samaria by the Assyrians) who discontinued the use of the clay goddess figurines, while it was the Idumaens (former Edomites) who also dwelt in the province of Judah and Galileans (populated by mostly Phoenicians) that continued the worship of the goddess during the period of the post-Exilic Persian Empire. Jewish Women's Archive. In the final revision of the history of the first temple period, Asherah is only a foreign deity that needed to be banned, though the Samaritans and Edomites still worshiped her after the Jews returned from captivity in Babylonia. Your email address will not be published. and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel. : Monotheism in Ancient Israel and the Veneration of the Goddess Asherah (Biblical Seminar ) by Bob Becking, Meindert Dijkstra, Marjo C. A. Korpel, Karel J. H. Vriezen, Sheffield Academic Press 2001, p. 117. Since the 1920s, archaeologists have uncovered more than 850 terracotta female figurines throughout Israel and Judah dating to the eighth and seventh century BC. The 4.What Is an Asherah Pole and Does it Have Biblical Significance? Language that speaks of God as mother, for example (as in Deut 32:18; Num 11:1213; Isa 45:910, 49:15; 66:13), probably represents the assimilation of Asherahs maternal characteristics to YHWH. Send us your question and well respond within 24 hours. She's within the Holy Trinity during the middle ages people used to say I baptize you in the name of The Father, The Son, and in the name of the Mother aka Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. The Asherah pole is a sacred tree or pole found near Canaanite religious sites in honor of Asherah, a Canaanite mother goddess who is Els consort. But do we still have God-substitutes? (Nick Thompson/ CC BY NC SA 2.0 ), In fact, this phrase Yahweh and his Asherah was so quotidian that it actually appears in the Hebrew Bible itself. For example, one of Asherahs sacred poles stood next to YHWHs altar at Bethel, one of the two great cult sites of the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kgs 23:15). They portray a woman clutching her exaggerated breasts as if offering them to a nursing child. We want to believe that what we do can move the heavens. The main reason Israel was exiled was because of her sins of idolatry: 2 Kings 17:16They rejected all the commands of the LORD their God and made two calves from metal. We will consider what/who is Asherah and the significant role it plays within the biblical narrative. Archaeological discoveries from the late 1970s and early 1980s have further indicated that, at least in the opinion of some ancient Israelites, YHWH and Asherah were appropriately worshipped as a pair. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. geographic south pole. Tracing the history of Asherah poles is an interesting study. It is likely through the various secular conquests and the changing political landscape that God kept his promise to root out the Asherah images.. They would mockingly show the inadequacy of worshipping sticks of wood (that you have to craft) that you created while rejecting the living God. But Israel disobeyed God and worshipped idols anyway, even bringing Asherah worship into the Temple in Jerusalem. Sacrificial feasts were held in the sacred GROVES of Asherah in Jerusalem according to Apion." in Sociology from University of Edinburgh and studied at St. Johns College with a double major in Philosophy and the History of Math of Science. Read More. 10 Reasons God Might Not Be Blessing Your Life, Inspiring Mother Breaks Down after Earning Golden Buzzer with Celine Dion Hit, 7 Things that Will Keep Me from Coming Back to Your Church, 6 Truths about Jesus Coming into the World, 9 Christians You Don't Want to Sit Beside on Sunday Morning, 10 Things You Should Know about the Intermediate State of Death, 'You Raise Me Up' Duet Earns A Standing Ovation From The Judges, 7 Things I Would Do Differently if I Were Raising My Children Again. But there is more than removal of idols (more than keeping yourself from temptation) that must take place if real holiness and dedication are to be the result. One of the primary reasons Israel fell to the Assyrians was because of Gods anger over their worship of Asherah and Baal (2 Kings 17:523). Even their children go to worship at their pagan altars and Asherah poles, beneath every green tree and on every high hill. Yet despite these and other references associating Asherah with apostasy (for example, Exod 34:13; Deut 7:5; 12:3; Judg 3:7; 1 Kgs 18:19), and despite the fact that the Israelites are explicitly forbidden in Deut 16:21 to erect one of Asherahs sacred poles beside an altar of YHWH, there are multiple indications in biblical tradition that many in ancient Israel did regard Asherahs cult icon as an appropriate sacred symbol within the religion of YHWH. (From Forerunner Commentary). Conversely, when destroyed, these cult symbols can be described as being cut down, hewn down, or uprooted; they can also be said to be burned, overturned, or broken. Reassessment of Asherah: A Study According to Textual Sources of the First He even went so far as to put the Asherah within the house of the Lord. Maybe you should read the Bible a little more for better understanding? [9] Deuteronomy 12 has Yahweh commanding the destruction of her shrines so as to maintain purity of his worship. (2Ch 33:11-13, 15, 21-23) This made it necessary for righteous King Josiah, who succeeded Amon to the throne, to pull down the houses of the male temple prostitutes that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women were weaving tent shrines for the sacred pole.2Ki 23:4-7. (b) a construction similar, to the admittedly much later, Song of Songs 1:6 karmi elli. From torch to toe the Statue of Liberty resembles a pole. That's essentially all I'm aware of The Holy Spirit the wife of God. Whether as Asherah, Astarte, or any other name, feminine manifestations of the godhead were systematically and sometimes violently opposed by the religious authorities of the Kingdom of Judah and its Temple. This is always the remedy for idolatry. So it seems they were not merely wooden poles, but probably quite large carved images. In the Authorized The Bible also connects sacred poles with the high places (open-air cult sites?) The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). ( Looklex Encyclopaedia ), Top Image: Veiled Mother of the World (Deriv.) Unfortunately, we do not know what place these held within the worship of Asherah, nor do we have any lasting depiction of these idols. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. (NLT). If you mean pieces of wood set up beside pagan altars on high hills, then that seems to have been pretty rooted out. By what? Judges 3:7 ). Israels association of Asherah with sacred trees is repeated over thirty times in the Bible; many of these citations are stereotypically used by the biblical writers to describe sites of idolatrous worship, implying that the worship of Asherah was an apostate behavior in Israel and improper for followers of YHWH. Nevertheless, the presence of Asherahs cult in the Jerusalem temple and in the cult city of Bethel indicates that worship of the goddess was also appealing to men, given that it was an all-male clergy that officiated at these (and at every) Israelite religious site. Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People. God says that their wickedness was the same as sticking that idol (and what they were doing) right in His noseright in His face. ), was allowed to remain standing by the reformer King Jehu (1 Kgs 16:33; 2 Kgs 13:6), even though Jehu was generally at pains to remove all non-Yahwistic cults and cult imagery from the land. According to the biblical record, these sacred poles or stylized trees associated with Asherah were erected by the Israelites throughout most of their history, especially during the premonarchic (tribal) period (Judg 6:2526, 28, 30)) and during the period of the divided monarchy, both in the northern kingdom of Israel (1Kgs 14:15; 16:33; 2 Kgs 13:6; 17:10, 16; 23:15; and parallel references in 2 Chronicles) and in Judah, in the south (1 Kgs 14:23, 15:13; 2 Kgs 18:4; 21:3, 7; 23:6, 14; and parallel references in 2 Chronicles). Megalithic Sites Are More than Just Stone, Sacred Marvels: 17 Cathedrals That Will Take Your Breath Away, In Pictures, From Ancient Mystery School to Culture Capital: Eleusis Secret Past is Recognized, In Search of the Fabled 1,000-ft White Pyramid of Xian in China, Egyptologists Reveal a Lost Chamber in the Great Pyramid With Cosmic Rays, Mother and Child Reunion Of Thetis And Achilles, Seductive Sirens of Greek Mythology and How Heroes Resisted Them, Celestial Goddess Selene: The Ancient Greek Goddess of the Moon, Pegasus of Greek Mythology: Majestic Winged Horse of Mount Olympus, Dreams of Human-Powered Flight: Daedalus and the Story of Icarus, The Warriors Who Shaped African History: The Horsemen of Oyo, Royal Mistress Jane Shore Walked Streets of London in her Underwear, Leonardo Da Vincis Notes Show He Understood Gravity Long Before Newton, Talks Begin on Repatriating Remains of Patrick Sarsfield, Irish War Hero, The Ramessid Dynasty: A Golden Era in Ancient Egypt, Unraveling the Mystery of the Carnac Stones: An Ancient Puzzle of Epic Proportions, Unraveling the Enigma of Aramu Muru, The Mysterious Gate of the Gods. Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis? The Chilling Mystery of the Octavius Ghost Ship, Film Footage Provides Intimate View of HMS Gloucester Shipwreck, Top 8 Legendary Parties - Iconic Celebrations in Ancient History, The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth Behind the Black Legend (Part II), The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth behind the Dark Legend (Part I), Bloodthirsty Buddhists: The Sohei Warrior Monks of Feudal Japan, Two Centuries Of Naval Espionage In Europe, The Curious Apparitions of Pagan Goddesses to the German Knights Templar, Research Confirms That 20% of the Neanderthal Genome Can Be Found In Modern Humans, The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: Ancient Origins of the Often Used Legend Part I, Evidence that Noahs Ark Landed on a Mountain 17 Miles South of Ararat, Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera Part I, Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations, The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures Part I, Curse of the Buried Pearl: The Hunt for Ancient Treasures Part I, The Enigma of the Shugborough Inscription, Were the pre-exilic Israelites and Judeans polytheistic, American Gods: Rituals & Sacrifices to the All-Powerful Solar Gods, Goddess NinkharsagAncient Powerful Mother who Faded into The Holy Ghost, The Hidden Identity of the Woman Glorified as Athena: Her Link to the Pre-Flood World, Lost in Translation? The Hittites also had a pair of bull gods named Hurri and Surri and Hurri is obviously connected to the Hurrians, or mountain folk, while the name Surri is derived from the word Sar which means lord, king, perhaps referring to a ruling class. But the gospel teaches something different. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. The Jews had been commanded by the Lord to tear down and completely destroy all the high places and sacred sites throughout the territory. showing cannanite gods Baal and Astarte. The painting on the jar depicts a pole with thin branches in the shape of a stylized tree. Burial inscription from Khirbet el-Quom, 8th cent. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. And why is she often found paired with Yahweh, the Hebrew god? She has an M.A. The city of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast was home to the best cedars of Lebanon and seemed to have been an important center for the worship of Asherah. During the period of the Judges, it is noted that the apostate Israelites went serving the Baals and the sacred poles [the Asherim]. (Jg 3:7, ftn; compare 2:13.) The Asherah pole was often mentioned in the Old Testament as one of the ways the Israelites sinned against the Lord and worshiped other gods. Tim Keller says it well: idols cannot simply be removed. If a correspondence holds, then the trees of life and of knowledge in the Eden narrative may also reflect Asherah imagery. Furthermore, the many artifacts representing Asherah and her cult from the region belies the biblical prohibition against the creation of idols. The word itself is pronounced Ash-Ruh. Ash, like the stuff you have in the bottom of your fireplace, and ruh like the first part of Scooby-Doos ruh-roh. But what is it and what is the significance of it? You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Evidence suggests that Asherah was observed in ancient Israel and Judah as early as the 12th century BC, to a few decades before the fall of the southern kingdom of Judah (587-588 BC), a time known as the pre-exilic period. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Every Action Has a Reaction. In the time of Hezekiah, there was a similar revival to that of Asa. WebAn Asherah pole was a sacred pole (or sometimes a tree) that was used in the worship of the pagan goddess Asherah. In Judges 6, a sacred pole of Asherah is said to have stood beside the altar of the Canaanite storm god, Baal. Asherah, along with Astarte and Anath, was one of the three great goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon. It has been suggested that the poles represented the female principle, whereas the pillars represented the male principle. Another translation of carved Asherah pole is graven image of the grove (KJV). Becerrillo: The Terrifying War Dog of the Spanish Conquistadors. In Christ, we see the fullness of God made manifest. Therefore he asked for it, since his desire focused constantly on that site (p.221). Does it make any difference? Those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition may be surprised to learn that the god we were told was singularly sacred once had a wife. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. May they all topple at the feet of Christ. They must be uprooted. No where in the Bible does it say God had a wife.. Do not take what great people have written in books and say it is right. Such religious symbols ("groves") are frequently alluded to in Scripture ( Exodus 34:13 ; Judges 6:25 ; 2 Kings 23:6 ; 1 Kings 16:33 , etc. Historians and archaeologists have pieced together Asherahs narrative and found large chunks of it interwoven in the artifacts from the region and in the scriptures of the Hebrew Bible itself. of Biblical Literature 112 (1993): 385401. After all, Asherahs place in the pantheon is alongside Yahwehs, the supreme deity. Many scholars believe that Asherahs tree functioned in the Garden of Eden parable. Is the Bible Trustworthy? Trees were revered as symbols of life and nourishment in arid regions and so became associated with Asherah and her cult. Understanding the Mysterious Kingdom of Shambhala, The Green Children of Woolpit: Legendary Visitors from Another World, Medieval Sea Monster Was Likely a Whale, New Research Reveals. It was closely associated with the worship of Baal: The Israelites did evil in the LORDs sight. Christian Truth. Like a pole or tree, they can be said to be planted, stood up, or erected. The bible itself denounced the Israelites several times for their polytheistic tendencies they worshipped the idols left by both Gideon and Moses (Moses brazen serpent), An article on the slow change among the Israelites going from saying, "Our god is the best god" to "Our god is the only god" would probably go well with this one, There is a footnote on the explanation of this thesis. Happy Womens History Month! However, there apparently was considerable overlapping in the roles of the three prominent goddesses of Baalism (Anath, Asherah, and Ashtoreth), as may be observed in extra-Biblical sources as well as in the Scriptural record. For my anger blazes like a fire that will burn forever. (NLT). The Lord God Jehovah is perfect, man is not. Fairchild, Mary. Asherah poles do not make an appearance. We see her worship in the form of a tree and right next to the altar. Instead, rural communities had their own religious beliefs using statuary and other artifacts. Asherah is represented many times in various forms scattered throughout the region. In Exodus 34:12-14 the Asherim are specifically mentioned as needing to be cut down once the Israelites enter the land, so as not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and begin worshipping their gods. When Abraham first entered the cave, he saw a light, then dust scattered, revealing two graves. Nearly all instances of Asherah in the Bible refer to a sacred pole constructed by human hands and erected in honor of the fertility goddess. Even the angle at which she holds the torch is extraordinarily parallel much like a pole. http://www.transoxiana.org/0108/roberts-enheduana.html, He will bruise your head and you will bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15). If nobody could see them doing it, they thought, "Hey, I'm getting away with the perfect crime. "Who Is Asherah in the Bible?" What we need is a living encounter with God. (Keller, Counterfeit Gods, 155). WebMeaning of asherah pole. This is stretching it a bit. The north pole is not a country, so it doesn't have a flag. But centuries ago, the land that is now the United States was a very different place As Greek mythology goes, the universe was once a big soup of nothingness. What is the origin of the legend of the Christed Son who was born of a virgin on December 25th? 7 Things I Would Do Differently if I Were Raising My Children California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. God says that their wickedness was the same as sticking that idol (and what they were doing) right in His noseright in His face. He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. Because the breasts are exaggerated with the hands supporting them, they are thought to symbolize the nurturing aspect of the mother goddess. A If you only try to uproot them, they grow back; but they can be supplanted. A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire, Theyre Alive! Asherah figures prominently as the wife of Elthe supreme godin a treasure trove of cuneiform texts found in the second millennium port city of Ugarit (in todays Northern Syria). Both of these phrases are stereotypically used by the biblical writers to describe sites of idolatrous worship, implying, as does Judges 6, that the worship of Asherah was an apostate behavior in Israel and improper for followers of YHWH. First Person: Did the Kingdoms of Saul, David and Solomon Actually Exist? The branch He mentions is probably an Asherah, a tree or a wooden pole that stood for the fertility goddess. "Asherah/Asherim: Bible." Scripture also references carved images of Asherah (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 21:7). It could be that all of the middleeastern goddesses of love, were very similiar in nature, together with Ishtar and Inanna. Very much like the lyrics of the famous She may be ancient Egypts most famous face, but the quest to find the eternal resting place of Queen Nefertiti has never been hotter. The good kings took them out of Israelite worship, and the wicked kings either erected them or continued the worship of these idols unabated. Either way, God made it clear that the people of Israel shouldnt flirt with such syncretism. Asherah was one of the chief deities of the ancient world. Asherah, ancient West Semitic goddess, consort of the supreme god. King Manasseh even placed there a carved image of the sacred pole, evidently a representation of the goddess Asherah. p. 106) . For perhaps hundreds of years before Abraham migrated to what would become known as Israel, Asherah was revered as Athirat, Earth Mother and Fertility Goddess. Who is Asherah? Were theonlyPop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives. Let us be your passport to Laos and much more. Asherah poles were erected at sacred sites and alongside altars throughout the land of Canaan on every high hill and under every green tree (1 Kings 14:23, ESV). Thus it appears that, although generally the biblical writersespecially certain prophets (Isa 17:8; 27:9; Jer 17:2; Mic 5:14) and the authors responsible for Deuteronomy, Judges, 1 and 2 Kings, and 2 Chroniclesregarded Asherah worship as inappropriate, at least some and possibly many in ancient Israel incorporated the goddesss cult imagery and ritual into the cult of YHWH. "Who Is Asherah in the Bible?" The degraded worship of Asherah came to be practiced in the very temple of Jehovah. 1992. Even if Asherah was no more than a sacred tree it's possible that it was worshipped alongside Yahweh. What did the Nazis begin using gas chambers instead of mobile killing units and shooting squads after a while. Asherah worship turned good people into sex addicts. In Ugaritic literature, she was called Lady Asherah of the Sea.. According to Giovanni Pettinato in Archives of Ebla; An Empire Inscribed in Clay (p.278-279), it is suggested that the word nesi referred to ruler in ancient Ebla and is related to the Egyptian term nsw or king (of upper Egypt) and the Sumerian term ensi or ruler and that these terms were imposed into the vocabulary of Sumer and Egypt when the Canaanite exerted their influence over them. Tradition has it that Abraham chased the calf until it led him to the Cave of Macpelah which he later purchased from the Hittites, and they also worshipped a storm god that they borrowed from the Hurrians, Teshub. The Untersberg is a great mountain straddling the Austro-German border opposite Salzburg. Asherah was known as the Mother or Creator of all the gods. Fairchild, Mary. Her principal epithet was probably She Who Walks on the Sea.. WebAsherah was often associated with carved trees. Asherah worship was deeply sensual, involving illicit sex and ritual prostitution. Webwhat does an asherah pole look like. inscription from Khirbet el-Qom, about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem, contains similar language in 1 Kgs 15:13 and 2 Kgs 18:4, 21:7, and 23:6 (with parallels in 2 Chronicles) indicate that at least during certain points in the ninth, eighth, and seventh centuries B.C.E., Asherahs sacred pole was perceived as an appropriate icon to erect in Jerusalem, even in YHWHs temple. When you read in the Scriptures about worship under every green tree there is likely at least some connection to the worship of Asherah. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. Iron Age Comb Made from Human Skull Discovered Near Cambridge, Caesars Savage Human Skewers Unearthed In German Fort, The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. In Canaanite religion her primary role was that of mother goddess. The Moora Mystery: What Happened When a Girl Stepped into the Moor 2,500 Years Ago? Plaque depicting Asherah. However, as the book religion solidified, Asherah became increasingly marginalized in the scriptures to the point of being reduced to her cult objectthe stylized tree or wooden pole which became known as asherah or asherim. Your email address will not be published. In 1 Kings 14, we see that Jeroboam and his followers would be judged by the Lord because they have made their Asherim, provoking the LORD to anger. The same judgment would befall Maacah, the mother of Asa, because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. The relation of the literary references to an asherah and archaeological finds of Judaean pillar-figurines has engendered a literature of debate. 10 Reasons Why the Trial of Jesus Was Illegal. I can go to the Temple and look like I'm really somebody in the community. Ahab introduced his wife Jezebels pagan gods into Jewish worship by importing 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah (1 Kings 18:146). In fact, the very notion of polytheism is inherent in the quest for Asherah. I think Ashera was all of the above: A goddess (in Ugarit it was the proper name of a specific goddess); A title for goddesses (such as the great goddess, the queen goddess or the spouse of the god X or Y); And, of course, a Cult Symbol such as a sacred tree, or a pole in a shape of a tree, or even a Menorah in a shape of a tree which stood in temples, and symbolized (at least originally, in the earlier days), the presence of these goddess in the worship sites, The suffix in the form of affiliation modifier ( = his Asherah) which is found in the inscriptions from Kuntillet Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom, and which, in Hebrew, is typical for nouns and not for proper names, may refer to either a still cult object (in the form of a noun), or to a title of a goddess (then Yahweh and his Asherah might mean Yahweh and his queen-goddess) As for the suffix in the plural form which we find the Bible this is typical to the manner in which the Bible refers to other gods too, such as Baal (we find the form Bealim which means Baals) and Aashtoret (we find the form Ashtarot which means Ashtarots). 26 Jun, 2022 festival hearts of palm spaghetti costco fredi richter bodybuilder rivercrest country club membership cost. http://www.transoxiana.org/0108/roberts-enheduanna.html, If you look at the Anchor Bible Series on the book of Psalms you will notice that they are full of expressions borrowed from Canaanite mythology. She is most commonly depicted as a carved wooden image rather than by a proper name, which is why the Bible usually mentions her in the grammatical form as either an adjective or a noun (compare 2 Kings 23:6 vs. The sacred poles apparently stood upright and were made of wood, or at least contained wood, the Israelites being commanded to cut them down and to burn them. In the Bible, Asherah is both the Hebrew name of a pagan fertility goddess and the wooden cult object dedicated to her. (1Ki 14:22-24; 2Ki 17:10) Only seldom did kings such as Hezekiah (and Josiah) come along, who removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars to pieces and cut down the sacred pole.2Ki 18:4; 2Ch 34:7. WebFor instance the carved Asherah, also a pagan monument, represented female properties because it was carved to resemble the pagan goddess Ashtaroth (Astarte). The Hebrews were not to intermarry with pagan nations and were to avoid anything that might be seen as pagan worship (Leviticus 20:23; 2 Kings 17:15; Ezekiel 11:12). Ackerman, Susan. Ackerman, Susan. In older translations, it will often be interpreted as grove. Their appearance in the Old Testament, as to be expected, is always in the negative. What the Bible says about Its possible that the divine name Yahweh Elohim that appears in connection with the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3 may refer to Yahweh and His Asherah..

Acupressure Points For Eyes On Foot, Antioch University Los Angeles Notable Alumni, Elizabeth Baptist Church Staff, Articles W