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. These sacrifices usually consisted of the firstborn child of the person making the sacrifice (see Jeremiah 19:5). I can go to the Temple and look like I'm really somebody in the community. Asherah poles were erected at sacred sites and alongside altars throughout the land of Canaan on every high hill and under every green tree (1 Kings 14:23, ESV). 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. In the above article the author mentions Asherah as being the mother of the 70 gods of the Canaanite pantheon. According to the biblical record, these sacred poles or stylized trees associated with Asherah were erected by the Israelites throughout most of their history, especially during the premonarchic (tribal) period (Judg 6:2526, 28, 30)) and during the period of the divided monarchy, both in the northern kingdom of Israel (1Kgs 14:15; 16:33; 2 Kgs 13:6; 17:10, 16; 23:15; and parallel references in 2 Chronicles) and in Judah, in the south (1 Kgs 14:23, 15:13; 2 Kgs 18:4; 21:3, 7; 23:6, 14; and parallel references in 2 Chronicles). Features thousands of biographic and thematic essays on Jewish women around the world. Who was the Beelzebub/Beelzebul that the Pharisees attributed Christ's work to? From Israels inception, God commanded His people not to worship idols or any other false gods (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7). In ancient times these altars were typically built under green trees. 2006, p.64). ( Looklex Encyclopaedia ), Top Image: Veiled Mother of the World (Deriv.) ]. WebIf you look at the Statue of Liberty you will notice that near her feet the robe resembles a tree trunk. WebAsherah is identified as the consort of the Sumerian god Anu, and Ugaritic El, [7] the oldest deities of their respective pantheons. Root them out of the land. The Lord God Jehovah is perfect, man is not. The prophets, like Isaiah, would look to a day when the worship of Gods people would be pure and there would be no Asherim to remain standing. Micah 5:14 spoke of the work of God in rooting out your Asherah images from among you. Which, according to Jeremiah, would have been a mighty task as there was Asherim beside every green tree and on the high hills (Jeremiah 17:2). Israelite ceramic figure of a nude woman, identified as an Asherah pillar. The initial objection to the rendering 'his Asherah' that a possessive pronoun could not be attached to a proper name, is increasingly proved to be unfounded by a great deal of comparative material (Especially P. Xella, 'Le dieu et sa desse: I'utilisation des suffixes pronominaux avec des thonymes d'Ebla Ugarit et Kuntillet 'Ajrud', UF 27 (1995), pp. 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. The city of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast was home to the best cedars of Lebanon and seemed to have been an important center for the worship of Asherah. Seven years shall Baal fail, eight the Rider of the Clouds. Olyan, Saul M. Asherah Journal Learn Religions, Nov. 28, 2022, learnreligions.com/asherah-in-the-bible-6824125. Despite these and other references associating Asherah with apostasy, contemporary discoveries have further indicated that, at least in the opinion of some ancient Israelites, YHWH and Asherah were appropriately worshipped as a pair. Asherah worship was deeply sensual, involving illicit sex and ritual prostitution. Only seven instances of Asherah are references to the goddess herself. Reassessment of Asherah: A Study According to Textual Sources of the First 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. Our rescue isnt found in sticks. How do we know? 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. According to Giovanni Pettinato in Archives of Ebla; An Empire Inscribed in Clay (p.278-279), it is suggested that the word nesi referred to ruler in ancient Ebla and is related to the Egyptian term nsw or king (of upper Egypt) and the Sumerian term ensi or ruler and that these terms were imposed into the vocabulary of Sumer and Egypt when the Canaanite exerted their influence over them. This can easily happen in either the old Hebrew or the Aramaic script. This is stretching it a bit. WebAn Asherah pole is a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother goddess Asherah, consort of El. Asherah was also worshiped as the goddess of love and war and was sometimes linked with Anath, another Canaanite For perhaps hundreds of years before Abraham migrated to what would become known as Israel, Asherah was revered as Athirat, Earth Mother and Fertility Goddess. Hezekiah also cut down the Asherah but Manasseh, his wicked son, rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed andmade an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done (2 Kings 21:3). (b) a construction similar, to the admittedly much later, Song of Songs 1:6 karmi elli. of Biblical Literature 105 (1986): 385408. : Monotheism in Ancient Israel and the Veneration of the Goddess Asherah (Biblical Seminar ) by Bob Becking, Meindert Dijkstra, Marjo C. A. Korpel, Karel J. H. Vriezen, Sheffield Academic Press 2001, p. 117. (Viewed on March 4, 2023) . Most significant, though, in demonstrating Israels association of Asherah with sacred trees are biblical materials that describe the asherah (singular) or asherim (plural), the cult object(s) that are associated with the goddess Asherah more than thirty times in the Hebrew Bible. From torch to toe the Statue of Liberty resembles a pole. Manasseh, King of Judah, followed the despicable practices of the pagan nations. ( 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. In the Kabbalah it is the attribute referred to as Binah, means understanding; God founded the earth with wisdom and established the heavens with understanding (Binah) (Proverbs 3:19); In a possible reference to the goddess; Say to Wisdom, You are my sister, and proclaim Understanding (Binah) a kinswoman (Proverbs 7:4). 7 Things I Would Do Differently if I Were Raising My Children California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. The relation of the literary references to an asherah and archaeological finds of Judaean pillar-figurines has engendered a literature of debate. ( The Met ). She was removed as queen mother and Asa cut down the Asherah and burned it in the river. What does asherah pole mean? Atlanta: 1988. He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. 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? It was essentially a phallic symbol. They must be uprooted. And how do you even pronounce it? The Hebrews were not to intermarry with pagan nations and were to avoid anything that might be seen as pagan worship (Leviticus 20:23; 2 Kings 17:15; Ezekiel 11:12). Not only was the queen mothers position in the palace generally paralleled by Asherahs position as mother goddess in the heavens, but also the queen mothers status as the wife of the kings father suggests an affinity to Asherahs cult. All of the things which we long for that can make idols tempting are found perfectly in Jesus Christ. By God himself, of course. As Owen would say, Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you. We see from history that when the Israelites refused to cut down the Asherah poles it was an indicator that their hearts were not fully given over to the Lord. Micah 5:14 shows God s anger towards them, [] #3. Have an update or correction? 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). 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. And here are some pictures to wrap it all up: http://img2.timg.co.il/forums/1_153651851.JPG, http://img2.timg.co.il/forums/1_153688877.JPG. According to ancient mythology, Asherah was the wife of El, who mothered 70 gods, including Baal, the most famous. These appendages of idolatry, likely phallic symbols, were associated with grossly immoral sex orgies, as is indicated by the reference to male prostitutes being in the land as early as Rehoboams reign. 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. 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. Even the angle at which she holds the torch is extraordinarily parallel much like a pole. So I will hand over my holy mountainalong with all your wealth and treasures and your pagan shrinesas plunder to your enemies, for sin runs rampant in your land. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. During the reign of Josiah, the priest Hilkiah purged the images of Asherah from the Temple (2 Kings 23:6). It could be that Astarte was a wife of Baal, or they are just praised together. Christian Truth. By what? Every Green Tree: Popular Religion in Sixth-Century Judah. of Biblical Literature 112 (1993): 385401. WebRegarding Asherah: "In the Middle East the Goddess of the GROVE was Asherah, whose GROVES were found "on every high hill and under every green tree" 1 Kings 14:23. Webwhat does an asherah pole look like. Have We Turned Our Favorite Preachers and Teachers into Idols? For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Some scholars believe that asherim were not poles, but living trees (like the one depicted on the Tanaach Cult Stand). Asherah Jewish Women's Archive. The ancient city of Eleusis in Greece was the site of one of the most mysterious and revered religious rites of ancient Greece, the Eleusinian Mysteries. Then, two things happened: either Chaos or Gaia created the universe as we know it, or Ouranos and Tethys gave birth to the first beings. They are not the last word, only the Bible . She has an M.A. Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? 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. Under In this context, these people were in captivity because of what they were doingit was a matter of cause and effect. The Lord warns the people of Israel, portending the consequences of their idolatry: 1 Kings 14:15Then the LORD will shake Israel like a reed whipped about in a stream. Ezekiel 8:17. Even if Asherah was no more than a sacred tree it's possible that it was worshipped alongside Yahweh. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. Baruch haba bshem Adoni YAHUAH. What they sowed earned captivity. One possibility is that in royal circles, especially in the southern capital city of Jerusalem, the cult of Asherah was particularly attractive to the kings mother. But there is more than removal of idols (more than keeping yourself from temptation) that must take place if real holiness and dedication are to be the result. The tale of our creation we know from the Bible is only half the storyone which has been heavily edited. In their minds, they thought it did not make any difference; it was not hurting anyone. 10 Reasons God Might Not Be Blessing Your Life, Inspiring Mother Breaks Down after Earning Golden Buzzer with Celine Dion Hit, 7 Things that Will Keep Me from Coming Back to Your Church, 6 Truths about Jesus Coming into the World, 9 Christians You Don't Want to Sit Beside on Sunday Morning, 10 Things You Should Know about the Intermediate State of Death, 'You Raise Me Up' Duet Earns A Standing Ovation From The Judges, 7 Things I Would Do Differently if I Were Raising My Children Again. What we need is a living encounter with God. (Keller, Counterfeit Gods, 155). We see her worship in the form of a tree and right next to the altar. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. Understandings and Misunderstandings about the Ancient Practice of Sacred Prostitution, 7,500-year-old Juniper Stump Is Believed Oldest Goddess Asherah Idol, Tracing The Footprints Of The Philistines To Minoan Knossos On Crete, The Resurrection of Asherah, Mother-Goddess of Humankind, Unravelling the Roots of Hera, the Wrathful Goddess of Marriage. From the Israel Museum via Wikimedia Commons. While there are voluminous artifacts identified as Asherah in the region, there are still pieces missing from the puzzle. Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis? 31 December 1999. This site is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a subsidiary of, Copyright 2023, Crosswalk.com. Article Images Copyright . And the history that we see of the Asherah pole is fitting for our own battle with idolatry. 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?