2 Kings 18:4

18:4 He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. 1  He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time 2  the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. 3 

2 Kings 21:3

21:3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky 4  and worshiped 5  them.

2 Kings 23:15

23:15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel 6  at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. 7  He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. 8 

1 tn The term is singular in the MT but plural in the LXX and other ancient versions. It is also possible to regard the singular as a collective singular, especially in the context of other plural items.

sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

2 tn Heb “until those days.”

3 tn In Hebrew the name sounds like the phrase נְחַשׁ הַנְּחֹשֶׁת (nÿkhash hannÿkhoshet), “bronze serpent.”

4 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:16.

5 tn Or “served.”

6 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

7 tn Heb “And also the altar that is in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin, also that altar and the high place he tore down.” The more repetitive Hebrew text is emphatic.

8 tn Heb “he burned the high place, crushing to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole.” High places per se are never referred to as being burned elsewhere. בָּמָה (bamah) here stands by metonymy for the combustible items located on the high place. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 289.