Asherah

Asherah (plural Asherim) was a Canaanite goddess representing the passive, fertility principle in nature—the feminine counterpart to Baal, and related to the Assyrian goddess Ishtar. Her cult symbol was a wooden pole or shaped tree-trunk planted in the ground, often erected beside altars. The Authorized Version translates the word as grove or groves, but the Revised Version restores the proper name Asherah.

The Asherah poles appear frequently in Scripture as a characteristic form of Israelite apostasy: Gideon was commanded to cut down his father's (Judges 6:25–26), Manasseh installed one in the temple (2 Kings 21:7), and Josiah destroyed them in his reforms (2 Kings 23:6–7). The repeated association with Baal worship reflects the fertility cult's deep hold on Israelite popular religion.