Sacred Pillar

Biblical Texts

The sacred pillar first appears in the Law as something forbidden. Exodus 23:24 and Exodus 34:13 command Israel to tear down the altars of the Canaanite peoples, break their pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. Leviticus 26:1 forbids Israel to erect pillars, and Deuteronomy 16:22 declares that God hates them.

In evaluating the kings, the books of Kings also note how they dealt with sacred pillars. Hezekiah removed the high places, broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles (2 Kings 18:4). Josiah is likewise recorded as having smashed such stone pillars during his reform (2 Kings 23:14). In the prophetic books, too, sacred pillars appear as objects of judgment, as in Hosea 10:1-2 and Micah 5:13.

Background and Meaning of the Term

The Hebrew word matstsebah derives from a verb meaning "to set up" or "to erect" and refers to a stone set upright in the ground. In the ancient Near East, such stones were erected to mark a place where a deity dwelt or to commemorate a covenant, a grave, or an event. Standing stones are reported to have been excavated at several sites in the land of Israel, such as Gezer and Arad.

In the Bible, sacred pillars frequently appear paired with Asherah poles. For this reason, scholars often associate the pillar with a male deity such as Baal and the Asherah pole with a goddess. This, however, is an interpretation; the texts themselves do not draw that distinction explicitly.

The same Hebrew word is also used in positive contexts. Jacob set up as a pillar the stone he had used as a pillow at Bethel (Genesis 28:18). Moses erected twelve pillars at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:4). The New Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) generally renders such cases as gidung ("pillar") and reserves jusang ("sacred pillar") for cases connected with pagan worship.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The prohibition of sacred pillars is linked to the second of the Ten Commandments, which forbids making and worshiping images (Deuteronomy 5:6-10). Its purpose was to keep pagan cultic practices from mingling with Israel's worship.

The term "sacred pillar" does not appear in the New Testament. Nevertheless, the exhortations to keep away from idols continue this line of teaching (1 John 5:21; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6). The "pillar in the temple" of Revelation 3:12 translates a different Greek word and is therefore not directly connected with the sacred pillar.

Interpretation and Issues

The question arises why the Law forbids stone pillars when the patriarchs themselves erected them. Several views have been proposed:

• The difference reflects the period before and after the giving of the Law.
• Pillars came to be forbidden as they became bound up with Canaanite worship.
• The prohibition is connected with the concern of Deuteronomy to centralize worship in a single place.

In addition, Hosea 3:4 mentions the pillar in relatively neutral terms alongside the ephod and teraphim. On this basis, some scholars argue that Israel's assessment of sacred pillars varied over time. Evangelical interpreters, by contrast, read the verse as a prophecy that Israel would lose its means of worship.

In the Korean Church

In preaching, the sacred pillar is usually treated together with texts that warn against idolatry. By contrast, the pillar at Bethel, designated by the same Hebrew word, is often preached in connection with Jacob's ladder and Jacob's vow (Genesis 28:20-22) as a memorial of his encounter with God.