1 Kings 15:13

15:13 He also removed Maacah his grandmother ¹  from her position as queen because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

1 Kings 15:2

15:2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. ²  His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. ³ 

1 Kings 18:4

18:4 When Jezebel was killing ⁴  the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets and hid them in two caves in two groups of fifty. He also brought them food and water.)

1 Kings 1:14

1:14 While ⁵  you are still there speaking to the king, I will arrive ⁶  and verify your report.” ⁷ 

1 Kings 1:2

1:2 His servants advised ⁸  him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, ⁹  to take care of the king’s needs ¹⁰  and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you ¹¹  and keep our master, the king, warm.” ¹² 

1 Kings 14:3

14:3 Take ¹³  ten loaves of bread, some small cakes, and a container of honey and visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

1 Kings 19:3

19:3 Elijah was afraid, ¹⁴  so he got up and fled for his life to Beer Sheba in Judah. He left his servant there,

1 Kings 1:3

1:3 So they looked through all Israel ¹⁵  for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

Jeremiah 17:2

17:2 Their children are always thinking about ¹⁶  their ¹⁷  altars

and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, ¹⁸ 

set up beside the green trees on the high hills

Micah 5:14

5:14 I will uproot your images of Asherah ¹⁹  from your midst,

and destroy your idols. ²⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “mother,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ sn Abishalom (also in v. 10) is a variant of the name Absalom (cf. 2 Chr 11:20). The more common form is used by TEV, NLT.

⁴ tn Heb “cutting off.”

⁵ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which here draws attention to Nathan’s concluding word of assurance and support. For this use of the word, see HALOT 252 s.v. הִנֵּה.

⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads, “I will come after you.”

⁷ tn Heb “fill up [i.e., confirm] your words.”

⁸ tn Heb “said to.”

⁹ tn Heb “let them seek for my master, the king, a young girl, a virgin.” The third person plural subject of the verb is indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f). The appositional expression, “a young girl, a virgin,” is idiomatic; the second term specifically defines the more general first term (see IBHS 230 §12.3b).

¹⁰ tn Heb “and she will stand before the king.” The Hebrew phrase “stand before” can mean “to attend; to serve” (BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד).

¹¹ tn Heb “and she will lie down in your bosom.” The expression might imply sexual intimacy (see 2 Sam 12:3 [where the lamb symbolizes Bathsheba] and Mic 7:5), though v. 4b indicates that David did not actually have sex with the young woman.

¹² tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”

¹³ tn Heb “take in your hand.”

¹⁴ tc The MT has “and he saw,” but some medieval Hebrew mss as well as several ancient versions support the reading “he was afraid.” The consonantal text (וַיַּרְא, vayyar’) is ambiguous and can be vocalized וַיַּרְא (from רָאָה, ra’ah, “to see”) or וַיִּרָא (vayyira’, from יָרֵא, yare’, “to fear”).

¹⁵ tn Heb “through all the territory of Israel.”

¹⁶ tn It is difficult to convey in good English style the connection between this verse and the preceding. The text does not have a finite verb but a temporal preposition with an infinitive: Heb “while their children remember their altars…” It is also difficult to translate the verb “literally.” (i.e., what does “remember” their altars mean?). Hence it has been rendered “always think about.” Another possibility would be “have their altars…on their minds.”

¹⁷ tc This reading follows many Hebrew mss and ancient versions. Many other Hebrew mss read “your” [masc. pl.].

¹⁸ sn Sacred poles dedicated to…Asherah. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], plural). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 7:5; 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

¹⁹ tn Or “Asherah poles.”

²⁰ tn The MT reads “your cities,” but many emend the text to צִרֶיךָ (tsirekha, “your images”) or עֲצַבֶּיךָ (’atsbbekha, “your idols”).