asherim

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. The relation of the literary references to an ''asherah'' and archaeological finds of Judaean pillar-figurines has engendered a literature of debate.

The asherim were also cult objects related to the worship of Asherah, the consort of either Ba'al or, as inscriptions from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom attest, Yahweh, and thus objects of contention among competing cults. In translations of the Hebrew Bible that render the Hebrew ''asherim'' ( ''’ăšērīm'') or ''asheroth'' ( ''’ăšērōṯ'') into English as "Asherah poles", the insertion of "pole" begs the question by setting up unwarranted expectations for such a wooden object: "we are never told exactly what it was", observes John Day. The traditional interpretation of the Biblical text is that the Israelites imported pagan elements such as the Asherah poles from the surrounding Canaanites. In light of archeological finds, however, some modern scholars now theorize that the Israelite folk religion was Canaanite in its inception and always polytheistic; this theory holds that the innovators were the prophets and priests who denounced the Asherah poles. Such theories inspire ongoing debate.

References from the Hebrew Bible

Asherim are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy, Judges, the Books of Kings, the second Book of Chronicles, and the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah. The term often appears as merely ''אשרה'', (''Asherah'') referred to as "groves" in the King James Version, which follows the Septuagint rendering as ἄλσος, pl. ἄλση and the Vulgate ''lucus'', and "poles" in the New Revised Standard Version suggests that the poles were made of wood. In the sixth chapter of the Book of Judges, God is recorded as instructing the Israelite judge Gideon to cut down an Asherah pole that was next to an altar to Baal. The wood was to be used for a burnt offering.

Deuteronomy 16:21 states that YHWH (rendered as "the ") hated ''Asherim'' whether rendered as poles: "Do not set up any 'wooden''Asherah 'pole''beside the altar you build to the your God" or as living trees: "You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God which you shall make". That Asherahs were not always living trees is shown in 1 Kings 14:23: "their asherim, beside every luxuriant tree". However, the record indicates that the Jewish people often departed from this ideal. For example, King Manasseh placed an Asherah pole in the Holy Temple (2 Kings 21:7). King Josiah's reforms in the late 7th century BC included the destruction of many Asherah poles (2 Kings 23:14).

Exodus 34:13 states: "Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherim sherah poles"

Asherah poles in biblical archaeology

Some biblical archaeologists have suggested that until the 6th century BC the Israelite peoples had household shrines, or at least figurines, of Asherah, which are strikingly common in the archaeological remains.

Raphael Patai identified the pillar figurines with Asherah in '' The Hebrew Goddess''.

See also

* Baetylus, type of sacred standing stone
* High place, raised place of worship
* Pole worship
* Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology
* Matzevah, sacred pillar (Hebrew Bible) or Jewish headstone
* Menhir, orthostat, or standing stone: upright stone, typically from the Bronze Age
* Stele, stone or wooden slab erected as a monument
* Trees in mythology
* Maqam
* Boaz and Jachin

References

Sources

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Asherah Pole
Ancient Israel and Judah
Hebrew Bible objects
Levantine mythology
Religious objects
Trees in religion
Book of Exodus
Book of Deuteronomy
Book of Judges
Books of Kings
Books of Chronicles
Book of Isaiah
Book of Jeremiah
Book of Micah
Asherah