What does Asherah mean in Hebrew?

Asherah is a Hebrew word for what was either a goddess or a cultic object or perhaps both.

Can you name your child Asherah?

The name Asherah is girl’s name meaning “she who treads on the sea”. Asherah is probably one of the most ancient of mother goddess symbols, recorded in the pantheons of several civilisations from the tenth century BCE.

Who is Asherah in the Hebrew Bible?

Asherah, along with Astarte and Anath, was one of the three great goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon. In Canaanite religion her primary role was that of mother goddess. Canaanites associated Asherah with sacred trees, an association also found in the Israelite tradition.

Who is Asherah God’s wife?

Asherah

Asherah אֲשֵׁרָה‎
Consort El (Ugaritic religion) Baal (Canaanite religion) Elkunirsa (Hittite religion) Yahweh (Israelite religion) Amurru (Amorite religion) Anu (Akkadian religion) ‘Amm (Qatabanian religion) Assur (Assyrian religion)
Offspring 70 sons (Ugaritic religion) 77 or 88 sons (Hittite religion)

Why was Asherah edited out of the Bible?

Asherah as a tree symbol was even said to have been “chopped down and burned outside the Temple in acts of certain rulers who were trying to ‘purify’ the cult, and focus on the worship of a single male god, Yahweh,” he added.

Are Asherah and Ishtar the same?

Astarte/Ishtar differs from the Ugaritic Asherah, in that Ishtar shares none of Asherah’s primary roles as consort of the chief god, mother of the major lesser deities, and goddess of the sea. Asherah is also called Elat (the feminine form of El) and Qodesh or ‘Holiness’.

What is the meaning of Ashera?

Definition of Asherah : a sacred wooden post, pole, or pillar that stood near the altar in various Canaanite high places and that symbolized the goddess Asherah.

What is an Asherah tree?

An Asherah pole is a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother goddess Asherah, consort of El. The relation of the literary references to an asherah and archaeological finds of Judaean pillar-figurines has engendered a literature of debate.

What happened to God’s wife Asherah?

What religion believes in God’s wife?

A programme on BBC2 has made news for presenting scholar Francesca Stavrakopoulou’s theory that “God had a wife”. The reactions from the religious and academic world were varied, but for Mormons, it can best be summed up as, “Yeah.

Is Asherah and ashtoreth the same?

In the Bible The plural form is pointed ʻAštārōṯ (“Ashtaroth”). The biblical Ashtoreth should not be confused with the goddess Asherah, the form of the names being quite distinct, and both appearing quite distinctly in the First Book of Kings.

What was the worship of Asherah?

Whether or not Israelite Asherah worship involved sacred prostitution, it is clear that one or more female goddesses was widely worshiped in both Israel and Judah. Archaeological digs commonly uncover statuettes of a goddess, not only in temples and public buildings, but in many private homes.

What does the Bible say about Asherah?

“You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make. And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.

Is Asherah the same as Ishtar?

“Asherah”, known across the ancient Near East by various other names, such as Astarte and Ishtar, was an important deity. A fertility goddess, Asherah, known as Ishtar, was also thought to bestow life, health, and innumerable other blessings upon mankind.

What is Asherah in Bible?

Asherah in the Canaanite Pantheon. Asherah,along with Astarte and Anath,was one of the three great goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon.

  • Etymology and Biblical Connections. The Canaanite association of Asherah with sacred trees is also found in Israelite tradition.
  • Worship of Asherah.
  • Asherah’s Cult.
  • What is Baal and Asherah?

    Baal was the god of rain, wind, and fertility. Because Canaan depended on rain to grow crops and survive, he was numero uno. Asherah, another popular deity in Canaan, was the goddess of motherhood and fertility . Depending on the tradition, she was either Baal’s mother, lover, or both. The two of them would mate, and this act would bring rain