Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 12:2 
Context12:2 You must by all means destroy 1 all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. 2
Deuteronomy 20:20
Context20:20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, 3 and you may use it to build siege works 4 against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.
1 tn Heb “destroying you must destroy”; KJV “Ye shall utterly (surely ASV) destroy”; NRSV “must demolish completely.” The Hebrew infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by the words “by all means.”
2 sn Every leafy tree. This expression refers to evergreens which, because they keep their foliage throughout the year, provided apt symbolism for nature cults such as those practiced in Canaan. The deity particularly in view is Asherah, wife of the great god El, who was considered the goddess of fertility and whose worship frequently took place at shrines near or among clusters (groves) of such trees (see also Deut 7:5). See J. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:569-70; J. DeMoor, TDOT 1:438-44.
3 tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”
4 tn Heb “[an] enclosure.” The term מָצוֹר (matsor) may refer to encircling ditches or to surrounding stagings. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 238.
