Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 12:3 
Context12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 1 burn up their sacred Asherah poles, 2 and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place.
Deuteronomy 16:21
ContextExamples of Legal Cases
16:21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole 3 near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself.
1 sn Sacred pillars. These are the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.
2 sn Sacred Asherah poles. The Hebrew term (plural) is אֲשֵׁרִים (’asherim). See note on the word “(leafy) tree” in v. 2, and also Deut 7:5.
3 tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”
sn Sacred Asherah pole. This refers to a tree (or wooden pole) dedicated to the worship of Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. See also Deut 7:5.
