Bible Lexicons

Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old TestamentGirdlestone's OT Synonyms

The Grove

Closely connected with Baal-statues and sun-images stand the groves. But before discussing their nature, it is to be observed that the grove which Abraham is said to have planted, in Genesis 21:33, was doubtless a bonâ-fide grove, or at least a tree. The word there used is Ashal (אשׁל ), which is distinct from the heathen and idolatrous 'grove,' and may be rendered tamarisk. With this exception, the general Hebrew word for a grove is Asherah (אשׁרה ), usually rendered ἄλσος (grove) by the LXX; but in two passages, Isaiah 17:8; Isaiah 27:9, rendered δένδρον (tree). The grove is first alluded to in connection with Canaanitish worship in Exodus 34:13, where it is coupled with the statue or pillar which has already been mentioned. We find it in the same connection in Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3; Deuteronomy 16:21; 1 Kings 14:15; 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 18:4; 2 Chronicles 31:1; Isaiah 27:9; and Micah 5:14. It is introduced in connection with the worship of Baal in Judges 3:7; Judges 6:25-26 (where we are plainly told that it was made of wood, and that it used to be set up by the altar of Baal); see also 1 Kings 16:33; 1 Kings 18:19 in 2 Kings 17:16 the people are described as making a grove, and as worshipping not only Baal, but also 'all the host of heaven ;' so in 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Kings 23:4, where we read of 'the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven.' See also 2 Chronicles 33:3.

In 1 Kings 15:13 we read that Maachah made 'an idol (or "horrible thing") in a grove,' or rather ' for a grove.' The same change in the rendering is needed in the parallel passage, 2 Chronicles 15:16, the preposition in each case being la (ל ), 'for,' not ba (ב ), 'in.'

The question now recurs, What was this Asherah, which we have rendered grove? It was certainly not what we call a grove of trees, nor was it a single tree planted in the earth, [It is hardly ever said to be 'planted;' usually it is described as 'made.'] but it was an object made of wood, and set up by the side of an altar dedicated to Baal, and in some cases in company with a statue or pillar representing Baal. Gesenius, who is an authority on all matters connected with Phoenician and Canaanite worship, considers that Asherahw as a goddess, identical with Ashtoreth (Astarte, or Venus). [The Tel el-Amarna tablets show that he was right, except in identifying Asherah, the South Canaanite goddess of fertility, with Astarte or Asrati (Sayce).]

It appears not unlikely that grove-worship was a form of that tree-worship which has been found almost all over the world, and which drew its orig in from the trees in the garden of Eden. The Asherahw as probably, in the first instance, a representation of the tree of life, though the traditional idea so on passed away, and was probably superseded by the idea of the reproductive powers of nature. We cannot now say in what form it was, but it may possibly have been in the form of a cross, which would be the simplest artificial symbol for a tree, and which appears to have been adopted for this purpose in various countries and in ages long anteri or to Christianity. [See this subject discussed at length in Fergusson's work on Tree and Serpent Worship; see also the article on 'Pre-Christian Crosses' in the Edinburgh Review, October 1869.] Assyrian sculptures afford elaborate representations of this tree of life. Compare 2 Kings 21:7, where we read of a 'graven image of the grove,' literally, 'the likeness the grove,' evidently a symbolic figure in 2 Kings 23:7 we are told of certain women who 'wove hangings for the grove,' and who did the work in 'the houses of the Sodomites.' These 'hangings' are literally 'houses,' and were perhaps shrines or coverings for the symbolical figure.