Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 16:21
Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab as they prepare to cross the Jordan, concluding a section on proper worship and justice. He commands them to maintain exclusive devotion to Yahweh by rejecting foreign cultic objects at the central sanctuary.
The words — The text forbids planting (תִטַּ֥ע, ti.Ta') any tree (עֵ֑ץ, 'Etz) Asherah pole (אֲשֵׁרָ֖ה, 'a.she.Rah) beside the altar. The verb "plant" implies establishing a permanent cultic object rather than merely placing a temporary marker.
The thread — This prohibition against Asherah poles recurs in Exodus 34:13, 2 Kings 17:16, and 2 Chronicles 33:3 as a recurring marker of covenant unfaithfulness. The command consistently appears alongside instructions to destroy rival altars and sacred stones.
Why it lands — The verse demands the removal of any physical object associated with Canaanite fertility worship from the place of Yahweh's sacrifice. It requires the reader to separate exclusive devotion to God from syncretistic religious practices.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 33:3 For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. And he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.
- 2 Kings 17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.
- Exodus 34:13 Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
- 2 Kings 21:3 For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.
- Judges 3:7 So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
- 1 Kings 14:15 For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.
- 1 Kings 16:33 Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.
- Deuteronomy 7:5 Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.