Asherah אֲשֵׁרָה

Asherah (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרָה, Strong's H842) is a title in the Old Testament, glossed “Asherah”. It occurs 40 times.

Definition

From the STEPBible Brief Lexicon of Hebrew (based on the abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs), STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0.

Translated as

Verses

Every verse with Asherah, with the English words that translate it highlighted (KJV or BSB; other translations show the KJV here).

Exodus

• Exodus 34:13
  But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.

Deuteronomy

• Deuteronomy 7:5
  But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.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.
• Deuteronomy 12:3
  And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.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.
• Deuteronomy 16:21
  Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee.Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,

Judges

• Judges 3:7
  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
• Judges 6:25
  And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: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
  And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.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
  And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.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
  Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.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

• 1 Kings 14:15
  For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger.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.
• 1 Kings 14:23
  For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
• 1 Kings 15:13
  And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.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
  And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.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
  Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.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.”

2 Kings

• 2 Kings 13:6
  Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)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
  And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
• 2 Kings 17:16
  And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.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.
• 2 Kings 18:4
  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.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.
• 2 Kings 21:3
  For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.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.
• 2 Kings 21:7
  And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: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.
• 2 Kings 23:4
  And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth–el.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.
• 2 Kings 23:6
  And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.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
  And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.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.
• 2 Kings 23:14
  And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.
• 2 Kings 23:15
  Moreover the altar that was at Beth–el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.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

• 2 Chronicles 14:3
  For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:He removed the foreign altars and high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and chopped down the Asherah poles.
• 2 Chronicles 15:16
  And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.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.
• 2 Chronicles 17:6
  And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.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
  Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.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.”
• 2 Chronicles 24:18
  And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.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.
• 2 Chronicles 31:1
  Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.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.
• 2 Chronicles 33:3
  For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.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.
• 2 Chronicles 33:19
  His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.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.
• 2 Chronicles 34:3
  For 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 places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.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.
• 2 Chronicles 34:4
  And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.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
  And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.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

• Isaiah 17:8
  And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.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.
• Isaiah 27:9
  By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.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.

Jeremiah

• Jeremiah 17:2
  Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.

Micah

• Micah 5:14
  And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities.

Notes

1. Definition and verse list from STEPBible's tagged Hebrew Old Testament (TAHOT) and Greek New Testament (TAGNT) and Brief Lexicons, STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0.
2. English renderings from the public-domain KJV with Strong's numbers (eBible.org) and the Berean Standard Bible interlinear (public domain).