Bible Dictionaries
Asherah

Easton's Bible Dictionary

And pl. Asherim in Revised Version, instead of "grove" and "groves" of the Authorized Version. This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. Such religious symbols ("groves") are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Exodus 34:13; Judges 6:25; 2 Kings 23:6; 1 Kings 16:33 , etc.). These images were also sometimes made of silver or of carved stone (2 Kings 21:7; "the graven image of Asherah," RSV). (See GROVE [1].).