At this point it is important to make a distinction between the book religion of the ruling classes in the metropolis and folk or popular religion as it was practiced in rural communities for which most Israelites were a part. They must be uprooted. (AT, JB) Others have not endeavored to make a distinction but have simply transliterated the Hebrew word (RS) or have consistently translated it sacred pole(s). (NW) In the older translations of the Bible, the Hebrew word has usually been rendered as grove(s). (KJ, Le) But this rendering is inappropriate in such texts as Judges 3:7 and 2Kings 23:6 (KJ), which speak of serving groves and bringing out the grove from the temple at Jerusalem. inscriptions from the Sinai; the late-thirteenth-century B.C.E. Is the Bible Trustworthy? Asherah, along with Astarte and Anath, was one of the three great goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/asherah-in-the-bible-6824125. I just have found that there were discovered cylinders from XIV century B.C. (2Ki 21:7) Manasseh was disciplined by being taken captive to Babylon and, upon his returning to Jerusalem, showed he had profited from that discipline and cleansed Jehovahs house of idolatrous appendages. WebAn Asherah pole was a sacred pole (or sometimes a tree) that was used in the worship of the pagan goddess Asherah. Ancient Origins 2013 - 2023Disclaimer- Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy -Submissions - We Give Back - Contact us. The year 1185 BC heralded a diaspora of the so-called Sea Peoples to the south-western coast of the Levantine. In the Authorized 7 Things I Would Do Differently if I Were Raising My Children California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? Since the 1920s, archaeologists have uncovered more than 850 terracotta female figurines throughout Israel and Judah dating to the eighth and seventh century BC. Baruch haba bshem Adoni YAHUAH. Your email address will not be published. How then did they worship? Another of Asherahs sacred poles stood in that kingdoms capital city, Samaria. an Asherah Pole Hence the term nesi is related to the word ns which means to lift up, and in the Sumerian term ensi it refers to a ruler in the capacity of having his/her legitimacy derived from the local deities in their respective cities. ( Public Domain ), Whereas Asherahs influence was restrained in the official religion, her presence loomed large in the rural communities, most often in the form of figurines which are prolific in the region. Reassessment of Asherah: A Study According to Textual Sources of the First In some translations, Asherah is taken to refer to a tree or grove. Phallic Symbol The Bible also connects sacred poles with the high places (open-air cult sites?) 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. WebAsherah poles were a representation of a Asherah, a Canaanite fertility goddess and consort of the gods. 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.. While there are voluminous artifacts identified as Asherah in the region, there are still pieces missing from the puzzle. Prior to this, we have abundant evidence that other gods and goddesses were worshipped in Israel in addition to (or sometimes instead of) YHWH. It has been suggested that the poles represented the female principle, whereas the pillars represented the male principle. It seems as well in 2 Chronicles, that the goodness or wickedness of a king is determined by what they did with the Asherim. Ready for a unique experience? The discussion of these texts revealed that scholars differ about the interpretation (of the Kuntillet el-'Ajrud inscriptions), reading either 'Asherata' or 'his Asherah' and also about the question whether only the sacred pole is implied. 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That's essentially all I'm aware of The Holy Spirit the wife of God. Would the Israelites have known of this worship before entering the Canaanite areas? Becerrillo: The Terrifying War Dog of the Spanish Conquistadors. Indeed, unearthing a goddess who has been buried for close to two millennia has its distinct disadvantages. Furthermore, the many artifacts representing Asherah and her cult from the region belies the biblical prohibition against the creation of idols. The good kings took them out of Israelite worship, and the wicked kings either erected them or continued the worship of these idols unabated. The goddess Asherah and Asherah poles are in the Bible from Exodus to Micah, which shows that this form of idolatry was a constant thorn in Israels side. https://www.learnreligions.com/asherah-in-the-bible-6824125 (accessed March 4, 2023). Why Do We Need to Be Crucified with Christ? Were the pre-exilic Israelites and Judeans polytheistic ? We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. But, you see, here in the dark nobody sees me bowing down and worshipping these idols.". In Christ, we see the fullness of God made manifest. Literacy was close to non-existent in the rural communities, thus the book religion as practiced in the cities would have little meaning in the lives of those inhabiting the outlying areas. 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. and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel. 599-610). The mention of these deities in the plural may indicate that each locality had its Baal and Asherah. On occasion in Ugaritic myth, Asherah performs the maternal role of wet nurse. It was reputed in local legend to be the seat of the god Wotan and to be haunted. Information and translations of asherah pole in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. And why is she often found paired with Yahweh, the Hebrew god? This is stretching it a bit. Thegoal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. Israelite ceramic figure of a nude woman, identified as an Asherah pillar. But this revival would only last about as long as Asaas only a short time thereafter Ahab made an Asherah and did more to provoke the LORDto anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.. Like a pole or tree, they can be said to be planted, stood up, or erected. WebAsherah was often associated with carved trees. New York: 2000. They would mockingly show the inadequacy of worshipping sticks of wood (that you have to craft) that you created while rejecting the living God. A number of modern Bible translations, though, have rendered the original-language word as sacred pole(s) [or post] but transliterated it when the reference is apparently to the goddess. There are other Hera, also known by her Latin title as Juno, is best known in Western culture as the wife of Zeus, king of the gods. [8] This role gave her a similarly high rank in the Ugaritic pantheon. Asherah and Idol Worship Even the angle at which she holds the torch is extraordinarily parallel much like a pole. Our rescue isnt found in sticks. These cult objects are generally described as being in the shape of a pole or stylized tree. Maybe you should read the Bible a little more for better understanding? (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. Probably orange. 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.. Tim Keller says it well: idols cannot simply be removed. An Asherah pole is a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother goddess Asherah, consort of El. Or perhaps the more fundamental question iswhat in the world is an Asherah pole? This is always the remedy for idolatry. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. I can have my cake and eat it too. The Jews had been commanded by the Lord to tear down and completely destroy all the high places and sacred sites throughout the territory. 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. By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Archaeologists argue that these statues depict the goddess Asherah. The relation of the literary references to an asherah and archaeological finds of Judaean pillar-figurines has engendered a literature of debate. God says that their wickedness was the same as sticking that idol (and what they were doing) right in His noseright in His face. Unfortunately, our sources do not provide enough information to identify definitively which Israelites were particularly attracted to the worship of Asherah or the reasons for this attraction. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. These sacred poles were situated in various locations. From what i know Asherah is a false god(dess) which the Children of Israel worshiped and abandoned God for. However, we need to understand that they were committing their idolatry in private. It could be that Astarte was a wife of Baal, or they are just praised together. 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). 31 December 1999. That's why God got angry and for the record Jesus said that the Unpardonable Sin is Sinning against the Holy Spirit there is no coming back from that blunder. The term images of Asherah is often used in the Hebrew Bible and it is thought that these pillar figurines are what the writers of the bible had in mind. A teacher walks into the Classroom and says If only Yesterday was Tomorrow Today would have been a Saturday Which Day did the Teacher make this Statement? She was occasionally called Elath (Elat), the Goddess, and may have also been called Qudshu, Holiness.. Was her worship confined to folk religion only, or was her influence felt in the book religion of the Hebrew Bible as well? 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. In Proverbs Wisdom is often referred to as Her at some point in 1st King's and 2nd Chronicles God became enraged for Judah and Israel's defiant worship of the Queen of Heaven in the form of Idolatry the 2nd Commandment from God in Exodus Chapter 20 and Deutronomy chapter 5 Thou Shall Not make unto the any Graven Image neither what is in the Air, what is in the Sea, what is on the Land He Shall Not Bow before them. WebIts symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. The account of the visitation by angels at the terebinth of Mamre (cult shrine centered on a sacred tree) has its parallel in the Tale of Aquat, who like Isaac, was blessed by a divine entity. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. The Queen Mother and the Cult in Ancient Israel. Journal I will tell your enemies to take you as captives to a foreign land. We see her worship in the form of a tree and right next to the altar. and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel. Asherah veneration was explicitly forbidden in the Jewish law: You must never set up a wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build for the LORD your God (Deuteronomy 16:21, NLT). Put simply, an Asherah pole is a wooden idol (likely in the shape of a tree) used to worship the goddess Asherah. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down. (NLT). 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). He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and even made a carved image of Asherah and set it up in the Temple (2 Kings 21:7, NLT). We will consider what/who is Asherah and the significant role it plays within the biblical narrative. He rebuilt the high places and set up altars for Baal and an Asherah pole. What did the Nazis begin using gas chambers instead of mobile killing units and shooting squads after a while. That usage reflects a chain of associations. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. 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. The Iliad can provide new insights on the role of motherhood among the ancient Greek gods, and by extension, amongst ancient mortal Greek women themselves. What Is an Asherah Pole and Does it Have Biblical Significance? It is likely through the various secular conquests and the changing political landscape that God kept his promise to root out the Asherah images.. Judges 6:26 describes the destruction of an Asherah pole by using it to fuel the fire of a sacrificial offering to the Lord: Then build an altar to the LORD your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. In the Scriptures, the Hebrew word for Asherah is used both for the goddess herself and for the poles erected in her honor. pole It was closely associated with the worship of Baal: The Israelites did evil in the LORDs sight. (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. Asherah 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. May they all topple at the feet of Christ. While Ashtoreth appears to have figured as the wife of Baal, Asherah may also have been so viewed. Archaeologists speculate that it is an image of an Asherah pole. Furthermore, this objection is no longer valid if one accepts that 'asherah', like Babylonian istaru might also mean a synonym or title for a goddess, in particular, the divine spouse. Meinhardt Dukstra El, the God of Israel Israel the people of YHWH: On the Origins of Ancient Israelite Yahwism in Only One God? When northern Israel was dispersed into the nations by the Assyrians in 722 BCE, they carried this "tree" custom with them. COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. The branch He mentions is probably an Asherah, a tree or a wooden pole that stood for the fertility goddess. From torch to toe the Statue of Liberty resembles a pole. A The Moora Mystery: What Happened When a Girl Stepped into the Moor 2,500 Years Ago? was the goddess Asherah/Ashtoreth inscriptions that mention YHWH and his Asherah (meaning YHWHs companion [consort? It's kind of like Seatlle, but windier and with more trees. Its our plight that moved the heavensit is the LORD Himself who would come and rescue us. All of the things which we long for that can make idols tempting are found perfectly in Jesus Christ. 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. If you mean pieces of wood set up beside pagan altars on high hills, then that seems to have been pretty rooted out. 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). The presence of Asherahs cult in Israel also raises questions about the nature of the monotheistic confession that is often assumed to be a core principle in Israelite faith. 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. Though we have only 3 archaeological references that are indicative of a priestly blessing in the name of Yahweh and His Asherah, the prevalence of this goddess in ancient Israel was downplayed by the author of Deuteronomy, which recieved its final composition in the second temple period after the Jews eradicated all traces of this goddess. ). 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. It was essentially a phallic symbol. Even while idolatry is reviled in the Hebrew Bible, ample archaeological evidence suggests that those living outside the metropolis idolized statuary and cult objects as part of their religion, leading one scholar to opine: Folk religion can be defined as everything that those who wrote the Bible condemned.. Before Israel entered and took possession of the promised land, God warned them not to worship Canaans gods (Deuteronomy 6:14-15). In mythological texts from the Late Bronze Age (c. 15501200 B.C.E) city-state of Ugarit, she is called the creatress of the gods; her consort at Ugarit, the god El, is called creator. El is also referred to as father and patriarch at Ugarit, as Asherah, likewise, is called mother. 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). like that of a bar magnet, with the north pole at earth's Another word for terebinth (alla) and two words for oak (elon and allon) are also closely related. Canaanites associated Asherah with sacred trees, an association also found in the Israelite tradition. 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. (2022, November 28). Copyright 2011-2023 Got Questions Ministries - All Rights Reserved. I watched a documentary on this made by PBS which is now on You Tube if i may say the name ? In Judges 6, a sacred pole of Asherah is said to have stood beside the altar of the Canaanite storm god, Baal. The Talmudic explanation of Binah is understanding one thing from something dissimilar. It is related to the word Bein meaning between. Thus, Binah implies distance and separation. It could be that all of the middleeastern goddesses of love, were very similiar in nature, together with Ishtar and Inanna. Asherah Features thousands of biographic and thematic essays on Jewish women around the world. These sacrifices usually consisted of the firstborn child of the person making the sacrifice (see Jeremiah 19:5). What they sowed earned captivity. This same command is given in Deuteronomy 7:5 and 12:3. For perhaps hundreds of years before Abraham migrated to what would become known as Israel, Asherah was revered as Athirat, Earth Mother and Fertility Asherah 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. The Ras Shamra texts identify this goddess as the wife of the god El, the Creator of Creatures, and refer to her as Lady Asherah of the Sea and Progenitress of the Gods, this also making her the mother of Baal. And Ahab made an Asherah. When I read that verse my first instinct is to say, I sure hope he had a tissue. Is an Asherah a good thing, or a bad thing? For those ancient Israelites who saw Asherah as YHWHs consort, this should suggest a correspondence between the queen mother, the wife of the kings biological father on earth, and Asherah, the wife of YHWH, who was the kings metaphorical father in the heavens. Some scholars believe that asherim were not poles, but living trees (like the one depicted on the Tanaach Cult Stand). For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. (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. 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. Asherah Judges 3:7 ). Either way, God made it clear that the people of Israel shouldnt flirt with such syncretism. 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. What causes infertility and how the IVF works? From the Israel Museum via Wikimedia Commons. Instead, rural communities had their own religious beliefs using statuary and other artifacts. The north pole is not a country, so it doesn't have a flag. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land that he gave their ancestors and will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, for they have angered the LORD with the Asherah poles they have set up for worship. Many scholars believe that Asherahs tree functioned in the Garden of Eden parable. You so want to say God (Yaweh) had a wife.