אֲשֵׁרָה

Exodus 34:13 אֲשֵׁרָ֖יו Asherah poles its

Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.

Here: 'Its/his asherahs.' These were wooden objects (a carved pole or a sacred tree) standing for the Canaanite goddess Asherah. This is the word's first appearance in the Bible. The singular 'its/his' points back to 'the inhabitant of the land' in v.12, treated as one group.

Deuteronomy 7:5 וַאֲשֵֽׁירֵהֶם֙ and Asherah poles their

Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.

Here: 'And their Asherahs.' These were wooden objects named after the goddess Asherah: a pole, a carved post, or perhaps a living tree. They stood at a shrine, often beside the altar.

Deuteronomy 12:3 וַאֲשֵֽׁרֵיהֶם֙ and Asherah poles their

Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

Here: The plural 'their asherahs' refers to wooden cult objects linked to the goddess Asherah: carved poles or stylised trees standing beside an altar. The object comes first in the clause for emphasis: 'as for their asherahs, burn them'.

Deuteronomy 16:21 אֲשֵׁרָ֖ה an Asherah pole

Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,

Judges 3:7 הָאֲשֵׁרֽוֹת׃ the Asherah poles

So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

Here: Asherah was a Canaanite mother goddess, and the name was also used for the wooden pole or stylised tree that stood for her at shrines. Here the feminine plural most naturally means the goddess in her local forms, or her cult objects, or both.

Judges 6:25 הָאֲשֵׁרָ֥ה the Asherah pole

On that very night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

Judges 6:26 הָאֲשֵׁרָ֖ה the Asherah pole

Then build a proper altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold. And with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down, take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering.”

Judges 6:28 וְהָאֲשֵׁרָ֥ה and the Asherah pole

When the men of the city got up in the morning, there was Baal’s altar torn down, with the Asherah pole cut down beside it and the second bull offered up on the newly built altar.

Judges 6:30 הָאֲשֵׁרָ֥ה the Asherah pole

Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has torn down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

1 Kings 14:15 אֲשֵׁ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם Asherah poles their

For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.

Here: Wooden cult objects, probably carved poles or stylised trees, linked to the goddess Asherah and set up at worship sites. 'Their' makes the people's own sacred objects the charge.

1 Kings 14:23 וַאֲשֵׁרִ֑ים and Asherah poles

They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

Here: Wooden cult objects named after the goddess Asherah. They were probably carved poles or stylized trees placed at shrines. The masculine plural form here points to the objects rather than the goddess herself.

1 Kings 15:13 לָאֲשֵׁרָ֑ה to <the> Asherah pole

He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

1 Kings 16:33 הָאֲשֵׁרָ֑ה <the> Asherah pole

Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.

1 Kings 18:19 הָֽאֲשֵׁרָה֙ <the> Asherah

Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

Here: Here this is the goddess Asherah, the great mother-goddess of Canaan, not a tree or a grove. Elsewhere the same word can mean the wooden pole that stood for her.

2 Kings 13:6 הָאֲשֵׁרָ֔ה the Asherah pole

Nevertheless, they did not turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but they continued to walk in them. The Asherah pole even remained standing in Samaria.

2 Kings 17:10 וַאֲשֵׁרִ֑ים and Asherah poles

They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

2 Kings 17:16 אֲשֵׁירָ֗ה an Asherah pole

They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.

Here: A wooden cult object, probably a pole or stylised tree, that stood for the mother-goddess Asherah. It probably refers to the one Ahab set up in Samaria (1 Kgs 16:33), which was still standing generations later (2 Kgs 13:6).

2 Kings 18:4 הָֽאֲשֵׁרָ֑ה the Asherah pole

He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.

Here: Singular and definite: 'the Asherah'. Most likely this is the wooden post or stylised tree that stood for the goddess Asherah. Because it is singular, it may refer to a particular prominent one, though the word can also stand for the whole class.

2 Kings 21:3 אֲשֵׁרָה֙ an Asherah pole

For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.

Here: 'An asherah': a wooden pole or stylised tree standing for the goddess Asherah. Verse 7 says Manasseh put 'the carved image of Asherah' inside YHWH's temple itself.

2 Kings 21:7 הָאֲשֵׁרָ֖ה <the> Asherah

Manasseh even took the carved Asherah pole he had made and set it up in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever.

Here: 'The Asherah' refers back to the Asherah Manasseh made in v. 3. Together with 'carved image' it most naturally means a carved figure representing the goddess Asherah, not a plain wooden post.

2 Kings 23:4 וְלָֽאֲשֵׁרָ֔ה and for <the> Asherah

Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

Here: Asherah, a mother goddess known from Ugarit and from Israelite inscriptions, or the wooden pole or stylized tree that stood for her. Manasseh had put her image in the temple (21:7).

2 Kings 23:6 הָאֲשֵׁרָה֩ the Asherah pole

He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.

2 Kings 23:7 לָאֲשֵׁרָֽה׃ for <the> Asherah

He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.

Here: The goddess Asherah, or the wooden cult object that stood for her. Manasseh had set it in the temple (2 Kgs 21:7), and Josiah has just burned it (v. 6). The weavers were making things for her.

2 Kings 23:14 הָאֲשֵׁרִ֑ים the Asherah poles

He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.

2 Kings 23:15 אֲשֵׁרָֽה׃ [the] Asherah pole

He even pulled down the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. Then he burned the high place, ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole.

2 Chronicles 14:3 הָאֲשֵׁרִֽים׃ the Asherah poles

He removed the foreign altars and high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and chopped down the Asherah poles.

2 Chronicles 15:16 לַאֲשֵׁרָ֖ה to an Asherah pole

King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

Here: 'For Asherah.' Here the word most naturally names the goddess herself, the one for whom the object was made, rather than only a wooden pole.

2 Chronicles 17:6 הָאֲשֵׁרִ֖ים the Asherah poles

And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

2 Chronicles 19:3 הָאֲשֵׁרוֹת֙ the Asherah poles

However, some good is found in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles from the land and have set your heart on seeking God.”

Here: 'The Asherahs': wooden cult objects, probably stylized trees or poles, linked to the goddess Asherah and set up at shrines. This is the less common feminine plural form; the usual plural is ʾăšērîm.

2 Chronicles 24:18 הָאֲשֵׁרִ֖ים the Asherah poles

They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

Here: Plural of asherah. The word names cult objects linked to the goddess Asherah, probably wooden poles or stylised trees set up at worship sites. With the article, 'the asherim' means the familiar, well-known objects.

2 Chronicles 31:1 הָאֲשֵׁרִ֡ים the Asherah poles

When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.

Here: Wooden cult objects (poles or stylized trees) linked with the goddess Asherah. The plural is masculine in form. (See the study.)

2 Chronicles 33:3 אֲשֵׁר֔וֹת Asherah poles

For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. And he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.

Here: Wooden cult objects standing for the goddess Asherah: carved poles or stylised trees. Here they are things a person makes, and there are several of them.

2 Chronicles 33:19 הָאֲשֵׁרִ֣ים the Asherah poles

His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers.

Here: Wooden cult objects linked with the goddess Asherah, set up at shrines.

2 Chronicles 34:3 וְהָ֣אֲשֵׁרִ֔ים and the Asherah poles

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.

Here: Wooden cult objects (poles or stylised trees) tied to the goddess Asherah, often set up beside altars, sometimes beside altars to YHWH.

2 Chronicles 34:4 וְ֠הָאֲשֵׁרִים and the Asherah poles

Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

2 Chronicles 34:7 הָאֲשֵׁרִ֤ים the Asherah poles

He tore down the altars and Asherah poles, crushed the idols to powder, and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Isaiah 17:8 וְהָאֲשֵׁרִ֖ים and the Asherah poles

They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.

Here: Wooden cult objects (a pole or stylised tree) connected with the goddess Asherah. They were often set up beside altars. They are named as examples of 'what his fingers made'.

Isaiah 27:9 אֲשֵׁרִ֖ים Asherah poles

Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

Here: Wooden cult objects (poles or stylized trees) representing the goddess Asherah, set up beside altars. They stand for worship that mixed YHWH with other gods.

Jeremiah 17:2 וַאֲשֵׁרֵיהֶ֖ם and Asherah poles their

Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.

Micah 5:14 אֲשֵׁירֶ֖יךָ Asherah poles your

I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities.