In the Old Testament the Heb. word is used to denote both the name of the Canaanite goddess, well-known from the Ugaritic texts, and also a wooden cult-object that was her symbol.
The ancient versions failed to recognize that Old Testament Asherah was the name of a goddess, and it was only with the discovery of the Ugaritic texts that scholars as a whole were convinced that this was one of the basic meanings of the word in the Old Testament. The places where the name Asherah seems to denote the goddess rather than her cult object are 1 Kings 15:13; 18:19; 2 Kings 21:7; 23:4, in addition to Judges 3:7, where the plural form Asheroth appears. In 2 Kings 23:4 the name Asherah is likewise paralleled with that of Baal, as well as with the host of heaven, thereby indicating that Asherah is a deity. Referring to Josiah’s reformation in 621 BC it states, “And the king commanded Hilkiah, the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the priests of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of Heaven.” Both 1 Kings 15:13 and 2 Kings 21:7 speak of the image of Asherah, passages in which it is natural to suppose that Asherah is the goddess. In the former passage we read of Asa’s removing Maacah, his mother, from the position of queen mother, because of the abominable image for Asherah which she had made. Asa cut down the image and burned it in the Kidron valley. 2 Kings 21:7 mentions a graven image of Asherah that Manasseh placed in the temple of Jerusalem.
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Author: George Booker
Keywords: Asherah, Asheroth, Ashtaroth, Asherim, Fertility, Goddess, Deities, Idols, Pagan gods, Caanite gods, Canaanite goddess, Godess, Cultic images, Pagan deity
Bible reference(s): Deuteronomy 16:21, Judges 2:13, Judges 10:6, Judges 3:7, Judges 6:25, Judges 6:26, Judges 6:28, Judges 6:30, 1 Samuel 7:3, 1 Samuel 7:4, 1 Samuel 12:10, 1 Samuel 31:10, 1 Kings 15:13, 1 Kings 16:33, 1 Kings 18:19, 2 Kings 13:6, 2 Kings 17:16, 2 Kings 18:4, 2 Kings 21:3, 2 Kings 21:7, 2 Kings 23:4, 2 Kings 23:6, 2 Kings 23:7, 2 Kings 23:15, 1 Chronicles 6:71, 2 Chronicles 15:16, Exodus 34:13, Deuteronomy 7:5, Deuteronomy 12:3, 1 Kings 14:15, 1 Kings 14:23, 2 Kings 17:10, 2 Kings 23:14, 2 Chronicles 14:3, 2 Chronicles 17:6, 2 Chronicles 24:18, 2 Chronicles 31:1, 2 Chronicles 33:19, 2 Chronicles 34:3, 2 Chronicles 34:4, 2 Chronicles 34:7, Isaiah 17:8, Isaiah 27:9, Jeremiah 17:2, Micah 5:14, Judith 3:8
Source: “Asherah,” The Agora.
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