Deuteronomy 7:5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
5 But this is how you must deal with them:(A) Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, chop down their asherahs,[a] and destroy their idols by fire.
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- 7:5 Sacred pillars…asherahs: cut or uncut stones and wooden poles or trees (cf. 16:21) that had some cultic function. Fairly common religious artifacts, their association with the non-Israelite cults of Canaan and perhaps with Canaanite gods and goddesses, specifically the goddess Asherah, led to their condemnation in the Deuteronomic reform and possibly earlier.
Deuteronomy 7:24-25
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
24 He will deliver their kings into your power, that you may make their names perish from under the heavens. No one will be able to stand up against you,(A) till you have destroyed them. 25 (B)The images of their gods you shall destroy by fire. Do not covet the silver or gold on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord, your God.(C)
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Exodus 23:23-24
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
23 My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites; and I will wipe them out. 24 Therefore, you shall not bow down to their gods and serve them, nor shall you act as they do; rather, you must demolish them and smash their sacred stones.[a](A)
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Exodus 34:11-14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
11 As for you, observe what I am commanding you today.(A)
See, I am about to drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 (B)Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land that you are to enter; lest they become a snare among you. 13 Tear down their altars; smash their sacred stones, and cut down their asherahs.[a] 14 You shall not bow down to any other god, for the Lord—“Jealous”[b] his name—is a jealous God.
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- 34:13 Asherah was the name of a Canaanite goddess. In her honor wooden poles (asherot) were erected, just as stone pillars (massebot) were erected in honor of the god Baal. Both were placed near the altar in a Canaanite shrine.
- 34:14 Jealous: see note on 20:5. Some, by a slight emendation, render, “The Lord is jealous for his name.” Cf. Ez 39:25.
Numbers 33:51-52
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
51 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you go across the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 dispossess all the inhabitants of the land before you; destroy all their stone figures, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places.(A)
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Judges 17:3-5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 When he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, she said, “I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my own hand on behalf of my son to make an idol overlaid with silver.”[a](A) 4 So when he restored the silver to his mother, she took two hundred pieces and gave them to the silversmith, who made of them an idol overlaid with silver. So it remained in the house of Micah. 5 The man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim,[b](B) and installed one of his sons, who became his priest.(C)
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- 17:3 An idol overlaid with silver: two nouns in Hebrew, one indicating a wooden image and the other denoting an image cast from metal. The probable interpretation is that the woman intends for her silver to be recast as a covering for an image of a god, possibly the Lord. This was forbidden in Mosaic law (cf. Ex 20:4 and Dt 5:8).
- 17:5 An ephod and teraphim: cultic paraphernalia. An ephod was a priestly garment, especially that worn by the high priest (cf. Ex 28 and 39), which contained a pocket for objects used for divination. Teraphim were household idols (Gn 31:19, 34–35; 1 Sm 19:13), which may also have had a divinatory function.
1 Kings 12:28-30
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
28 (A)The king took counsel, made two calves of gold, and said to the people: “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 (B)And he put one in Bethel, the other in Dan.[a] 30 This led to sin, because the people frequented these calves in Bethel and in Dan.
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1 Kings 14:22-24
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
22 Judah did evil in the Lord’s sight and they angered him even more than their ancestors had done. 23 They, too, built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and asherahs,[a] upon every high hill and under every green tree. 24 There were also pagan priests in the land. Judah imitated all the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the Israelites’ way.
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2 Kings 16:4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
4 Further, he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on hills, and under every green tree.(A)
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2 Kings 17:7-12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
7 This came about because the Israelites sinned against the Lord, their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They venerated other gods, 8 (A)they followed the rites of the nations whom the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites and those that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9 They adopted unlawful practices toward the Lord, their God. They built high places in all their cities, from guard post to garrisoned town. 10 They set up pillars and asherahs[a] for themselves on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 They burned incense there, on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had sent into exile at their coming. They did evil things that provoked the Lord, 12 and served idols, although the Lord had told them: You must not do this.
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Jeremiah 2:20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
20 Long ago you broke your yoke,(A)
you tore off your bonds.
You said, “I will not serve.”
On every high hill, under every green tree,
you sprawled and served as a prostitute.[a]
Jeremiah 3:6-10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Judah and Israel. 6 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Do you see what rebellious Israel has done? She has gone up every high mountain, and under every green tree she has played the prostitute.(A) 7 And I thought: After she has done all this, she will return to me. But she did not return. Then, even though that traitor her sister Judah, saw 8 that, in response to all the adulteries rebel Israel had committed, I sent her away and gave her a bill of divorce, nevertheless Judah, the traitor, her sister, was not frightened; she too went off and played the prostitute.(B) 9 With her casual prostitution, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and wood.(C) 10 In spite of all this, Judah, the traitor, her sister, did not return to me wholeheartedly, but insincerely—oracle of the Lord.
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Hosea 4:12-13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
12 My people consult their piece of wood,[a]
and their wand makes pronouncements for them,
For the spirit of prostitution has led them astray;
they prostitute themselves, forsaking their God.
13 On the mountaintops they offer sacrifice
and on the hills they burn incense,
Beneath oak and poplar and terebinth,
because of their pleasant shade.[b]
Therefore your daughters prostitute themselves,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.