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come.” In Ezek. 22:6
may be translated “power”: “Behold, the princes of Israel,
every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.” A third nuance is “help”: “Assur
also is joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot” (Ps. 83:8).
The word can represent political or military forces: “And the arms of the south shall
not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand”
(Dan. 11:15; cf. Ezek. 17:9).
In Num. 6:19
is used of an animal’s shoulder: “And the priest shall take the
sodden shoulder of the ram …” (cf. Deut. 18:3).
ASHERAH
(
, 842), “Asherah, Asherim (pl.).” This noun, which has an Ugaritic
cognate, first appears in the Bible in passages anticipating the settlement in Palestine. The
word’s most frequent appearances, however, are usually in historical literature. Of its 40
appearances, 4 are in Israel’s law code, 4 in Judges, 4 in prophetic books, and the rest are
in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.
*
refers to a cultic object representing the presence of the Canaanite goddess
Asherah. When the people of Israel entered Palestine, they were to have nothing to do
with the idolatrous religions of its inhabitants. Rather, God said, “But ye shall destroy
their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves [
] …” (Exod. 34:13).
This cult object was manufactured from wood (Judg. 6:26; 1 Kings 14:15) and it could be
burned (Deut. 12:3). Some scholars conclude that it was a sacred pole set up near an altar
to Baal. Since there was only one goddess with this name, the plural (
) probably
represents her several “poles.”
*
signifies the name of the goddess herself: “Now therefore send, and gather
to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and
the prophets of the groves [
] four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table” (1 Kings
18:19). The Canaanites believed that
ruled the sea, was the mother of all the
gods including Baal, and sometimes was his deadly enemy. Apparently, the mythology of
Canaan maintained that
was the consort of Baal, who had displaced El as their
highest god. Thus her sacred objects (poles) were immediately beside altars to Baal, and
she was worshiped along with him.
TO ASK
A. Verb.
(
, 7592), “to ask, inquire, consult.” This word is found in many Semitic
languages, including ancient Akkadian and Ugaritic. It is found throughout the various
periods of Hebrew and is used approximately 170 times in the Hebrew Bible. The first
occurrence is found in Gen. 24:47, where the servant of Abraham asks Rebekah, “Whose
daughter art thou?” It is commonly used for simple requests, as when Sisera asked for
water from Jael (Judg. 5:25).
Since prayer often includes petition,
is sometimes used in the sense of “praying
for” something: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps. 122:6). In the idiomatic phrase,
“to ask another of his welfare,” it carries the sense of a greeting (cf. Exod. 18:7; Judg.