Hebrew word · H6253

עַשְׁתֹּ֫רֶת

'ashtoret

Ashtoreth

A proper name: the West Semitic goddess 'Ashtart (Greek Astarte), linked with fertility, sexuality and war, and related to Mesopotamian Ishtar. The plural 'ashtarot is sometimes used for goddesses in general (Judg 2:13).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A female deity in the time of the Old Testament, first mentioned at 1Ki.11.5, also known as Astarte

§ Ashtoreth = "star"

the principal female deity of the Phoenicians worshipped in war and fertility

1a) also 'Ishtar' of Assyria and 'Astarte' by the Greeks and Romans

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Kings 11:33

Range of meaning

A proper name: the West Semitic goddess 'Ashtart (Greek Astarte), linked with fertility, sexuality and war, and related to Mesopotamian Ishtar. The plural 'ashtarot is sometimes used for goddesses in general (Judg 2:13).

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and YLT keep the Hebrew form 'Ashtoreth'. Some modern versions (e.g. NRSV) restore 'Astarte'. 'Ashtoreth' is not the goddess's real name. It is a Hebrew mocking form.

How it drifted

Most scholars hold that the scribes who added the vowels gave 'Ashtart the vowels of boshet, 'shame', just as Baal names were sometimes swapped for bosheth (Ish-bosheth for Eshbaal). Readers who meet 'Ashtoreth' miss both the real name and the insult.

Used elsewhere in the period

Phoenician royal inscriptions from Sidon: King Tabnit calls himself 'priest of Astarte' (5th century BC), and Eshmunazar II speaks of building temples for Astarte. Astarte also appears in Ugaritic texts and Egyptian sources. The Septuagint renders the name Astartē.

From the study of 1 Kings 11:5

Range of meaning

The personal name of the West Semitic goddess known in Ugarit as ʿṯtrt, in Phoenician as ʿštrt, and in Greek as Astartē. She was a goddess of war, hunting, sexual love and royal power, and the patron goddess of Sidon. The plural ʿaštārôt (Judg 2:13; 1 Sam 7:3–4) refers to Astarte figures or goddesses in general.

Against the English

English versions keep the Masoretic form 'Ashtoreth', so readers take it for her real name. Her worshippers called her something like ʿAshtart (Astarte).

How it drifted

The Masoretic vowels (o–e) are widely thought to come from bōšet, 'shame', a deliberate scribal distortion like Ishbosheth for Ishbaal. English carried the distorted form over as if it were neutral. The theory is very common but not proven.

Used elsewhere in the period

Phoenician royal inscriptions from Sidon (Tabnit and Eshmunazar, 5th century BC; KAI 13–14) call the kings priests or builders of temples for ʿštrt. She appears in Ugaritic texts and in Egyptian sources as a war goddess. The Septuagint writes Astartē. In the Bible she is a separate goddess from Asherah, though popular writing often mixes the two.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 11:5 עַשְׁתֹּ֔רֶת Astarte

    Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

    Here: The chief goddess of the Phoenician cities, known elsewhere as Ashtart or Astarte. The Hebrew vowels as we have them probably make a mocking pun on boshet, 'shame', so the familiar English name may carry a scribal insult.

  2. 1 Kings 11:33 לְעַשְׁתֹּרֶת֮ to Astarte

    For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and judgments, as Solomon’s father David did.

    Here: 'To Ashtoreth': the Phoenician goddess Astarte ('Ashtart). The Hebrew vowels are very probably a deliberate mock-spelling that borrows the vowels of boshet, 'shame'.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 23:13 לְעַשְׁתֹּ֣רֶת׀ to Astarte

    The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

    Here: For Ashtart (Greek: Astarte), the great goddess of the Phoenician cities, linked with love, fertility and war. The Hebrew vowels probably twist her name toward boshet, 'shame'.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.