Asherah

Occurrences in Scripture

The word Asherah is generally said to occur about forty times in the Old Testament. The Korean Revised Version, New Revised Edition (Gaeyeok Gaejeong), usually renders it as "Asherah" or "Asherah image."

• Prohibitions in the Law: Exodus 34:13 and Deuteronomy 7:5 command the Israelites to cut down the Asherah images of the Canaanites. Deuteronomy 16:21 forbids setting up a wooden Asherah beside the altar of the LORD.
• Period of the Judges: Judges 3:7 records that Israel "served Baalim and the groves" (KJV), that is, the Baals and the Asherahs. In Judges 6:25–30, Gideon tears down the altar of Baal and cuts down the Asherah beside it.
• Period of the Monarchy: In 1 Kings 16:33, Ahab makes an Asherah. First Kings 18:19 mentions four hundred prophets of Asherah who ate at Jezebel's table; they form part of the background to the contest on Mount Carmel, in which Elijah takes his stand. Asa removed his mother Maachah from her position as queen mother because she had made an image for Asherah (1 Kings 15:13). In 2 Kings, Hezekiah cuts down the Asherah (18:4), and Manasseh sets up a carved Asherah image in the temple (21:7). Josiah brings the Asherah and its associated vessels out of the temple and burns them (23:4–7).
• Prophetic Books: Isaiah 17:8, Jeremiah 17:2, and Micah 5:14 also mention Asherah as an idol to be abandoned.

Background

Scripture speaks of Asherah images being "set up," "planted," "cut down," and "burned." For this reason, many scholars believe they were wooden poles or living trees, though their exact form is unknown.

Ancient texts from Ugarit, in northern Canaan, feature a goddess with a similar name (Athirat) as the consort of El, the chief god. Inscriptions discovered at Kuntillet Ajrud in the Sinai Peninsula and at other sites contain a phrase that can be read as "Yahweh and his Asherah." Scholars disagree as to whether this phrase refers to a goddess or to a cultic object.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Asherah symbolizes syncretism, the blending of Canaanite worship with faith in the LORD. The books of Kings treat the removal of Asherah images as an important criterion in evaluating the kings. This concern is tied to the commandment forbidding other gods and graven images (Deuteronomy 5:6–10). The New Testament does not mention Asherah directly, but its warnings against idolatry carry this teaching forward in passages such as 1 Corinthians 8:4–6 and 1 John 5:21.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Distinction from Ashtoreth: Sermons and popular books sometimes conflate Asherah with Ashtoreth as though they were the same goddess. In the Hebrew text, however, the two names are different words.
• The description "wife of Baal": Scripture frequently mentions Baal and Asherah together, but it never calls Asherah the wife of Baal. This description has been imported from outside the biblical text.
• Interpretation of archaeological evidence: Some critical scholars cite the inscriptions mentioned above as evidence that Asherah was worshiped as the consort of Yahweh in ancient Israelite popular religion. Conservative scholars read the same evidence as testimony to the deviations the prophets rebuked. Either way, there is no disagreement that the biblical text condemns the worship of Asherah.
• Description as a fertility goddess: Asherah is commonly presented as a goddess of fertility (prosperity and childbearing). Scholarly views on her specific character, however, vary considerably.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Asherah appears mainly in sermons on the story of Gideon or the contest on Mount Carmel. Preachers often use the term to warn against idolatry, likening things placed ahead of God, such as money, success, and power, to "today's Asherah."