Deuteronomy 16:21

Deuteronomy 16:21 . Thou shalt not plant thee a grove — To plant groves in honour of the true God, was a part of primitive worship, as we see by the example of Abraham, Genesis 21:33 . But the Gentiles having abused this custom, and made trees and groves, dedicated to their idols, the scenes of the most vile and abominable superstitions, God saw fit to prohibit the Israelites from planting any such groves near the place of divine worship, lest they should have taken occasion from hence to blend the worship of idols, and the impure rites of heathenism, with the service of the true God.

(21) Thou shalt not plant thee a grove. —Heb., ashêrah, sometimes used of images, but here evidently of the grove itself. The worship of Jehovah allowed of no secret rites; and nothing that could lead to the abominations of heathen idolatry could be permitted near Jehovah’s altar.

Verses 21, 22. - In all states, the highest crime of which the judge has to take note is that of treason against the supreme Rower; and, under the theocracy, the act most distinctly treasonable was idolatry. In proceeding, therefore, to give some practical admonitions as to the things to be observed in the administration of justice, Moses begins by denouncing and forbidding this most flagrant form of iniquity. Verse 21. - Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees ; thou shalt not plant , i . e . place or set up, an asherah of any wood . The asherah was an idol of wood in the form of a pillar, usually placed by the side of the altars of Baal. It was the symbol of Astarte, the great Canaanitish goddess, the companion and revealer of Baal. The two are usually associated in the Old Testament (cf. Judges 2:13 ; Judges 6:28 ; 1 Kings 18:19 ; 2 Kings 23:4 ). The rendering "grove" has been taken from the LXX. and the Vulgate; but that it is an error is evident from 1 Kings 14:23 ; 2 Kings 17:10 ; and Jeremiah 17:2 ; where the asherah is said to be under a green tree; and from the use of such words as make , set up , cause to stand , build , to denote the action of producing an asherah (cf. 1 Kings 14:15 ; 1 Kings 16:33 ; 2 Kings 17:16 ; 2 Kings 17:10 ; 2 Chronicles 33:19 ; 1 Kings 14:23 ), none of which are appropriate to the planting of a grove.

Here, indeed, the word "plant" is used, but this is only because, as the asherah was sunk in the earth that it might stand firm, it might be figuratively said to be planted, just as nails driven in are said to be planted ( Ecclesiastes 12:11 , where the same verb is used; comp. also Isaiah 51:16 ; Amos 9:15 ; Daniel 11:25 ). Deuteronomy 16:21

A grove ... - Render, Thou shalt not plant for thee any tree as an idol: literally as an Asherah," "i. e." an image of Astarte or Ashtaroth, the Phoenician goddess (compare Deuteronomy 7:5 note, Deuteronomy 7:13 note). The word is rendered "grove" by the King James Version also in Deuteronomy 7:5 ; Deuteronomy 12:3 ; Exodus 34:13 ; Judges 6:25 , but cannot be maintained, for the word is connected with various verbs which are quite inapplicable to a grove. The wooden idol in question was the stem of a tree, stripped of its boughs, set upright in the ground, and rudely carved with emblems.

21. Thou shalt not plant thee a grove—A grove has in Scripture a variety of significations—a group of overshadowing trees, or a grove adorned with altars dedicated to a particular deity, or a wooden image in a grove (Jud 6:25; 2Ki 23:4-6). They might be placed near the earthen and temporary altars erected in the wilderness, but they could not exist either at the tabernacle or temples. They were places, which, with their usual accompaniments, presented strong allurements to idolatry; and therefore the Israelites were prohibited from planting them.

Deuteronomy 16:21-22 . Against the Use of ’Asherim and Maṣṣeboth 21 . Thou shalt not plant thee an Asherah ] plant , because the ’Asherah (see general note following) was either a mast or artificial tree. of any kind of tree ] The Heb. construction is not in the genitive but in apposition; translate therefore: an ’Asherah , any tree or any timber . beside the altar of the Lord thy God ] No doubt, the Heb. may mean either the ( one ), or any, altar (for the latter see Exodus 20:26 , where my altar in the light of Exodus 20:24 must mean any of my altars ). Yet the former meaning being the more natural, and there being no trace elsewhere in D of the permission of other altars after the settlement of Israel in Canaan was achieved, it is precarious to suppose (Steuernagel) that we have here the expression of a different school of deuteron. reform from that which appears in ch. 12: one viz. which permitted more than one sanctuary and sought only to secure the purity of worship at these. 22 . Neither shalt thou set thee up a pillar ] raise for thyself a Maṣṣebah (see general note following) or standing-stone . which the Lord thy God hateth ] Similarly Deuteronomy 12:31 , but with the addition there of abomination , which is wanting here but found in the next verse.

General Note on the ’Asherah and Maṣṣebah Two symbols or inhabitations of deity erected in sanctuaries throughout the Semitic world: frequently combined in the O.T. as present in Canaanite sanctuaries, and at first erected also by Israel but afterwards forbidden to them. 1 . The ’Ashçrah (plur. ’Ashçrim , see Deuteronomy 12:3 and elsewhere, but ’Ashçrôth 2 Chronicles 19:3 ; 2 Chronicles 33:3 ), artificial tree or mast set up like the maṣṣeboth by the altars of Semitic sanctuaries, a work of man’s fingers ( Isaiah 17:8 : cp. 1 Kings 14:15 ; 1 Kings 16:13 , 2 Kings 21:3 ), wooden ( Deuteronomy 16:21 , Jdg 6:26 , the wood of the ’A .; cp. the verbs used of it: plant , Deuteronomy 16:21 , rise , Isaiah 27:9 , pluck up , Micah 5:14 , cut down , Deuteronomy 7:5 , Jdg 6:25 f., Jdg 6:30 , 2 Kings 18:4 ; 2 Kings 23:14 , 2 Chronicles 14:2 , burn , here, 2 Kings 23:6 ; 2 Kings 23:15 , in distinction from the breaking of the stone maṣṣebôth ). Unlike the maṣṣebah the ’Asherah is never described as a sanctioned or tolerated part of Jehovah’s sanctuaries. There was one by the altar of the Ba‘al belonging to his father, which Gideon cut down ( Jdg 6:25 ff.); Ahab made the or an ’Asherah for the altar of the Ba‘al in Samaria ( 1 Kings 16:33 ), which appears to have been left by Jehu when he burned the maṣṣeboth there ( 2 Kings 10:26 ff.; see however end of this note), for it still stood under Jehoahaz ( 2 Kings 13:6 ).