Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 12:2
Context12:2 You must by all means destroy 1 all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. 2
Deuteronomy 12:1
Context12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, 3 has given you to possess. 4
Deuteronomy 14:23
Context14:23 In the presence of the Lord your God you must eat from the tithe of your grain, your new wine, 5 your olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the place he chooses to locate his name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always.
Isaiah 57:5-7
Context57:5 you who practice ritual sex 6 under the oaks and every green tree,
who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. 7
57:6 Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love;
they, they are the object of your devotion. 8
You pour out liquid offerings to them,
you make an offering.
Because of these things I will seek vengeance. 9
57:7 On every high, elevated hill you prepare your bed;
you go up there to offer sacrifices.
Isaiah 65:4
Context65:4 They sit among the tombs 10
and keep watch all night long. 11
They eat pork, 12
and broth 13 from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.
Isaiah 66:17
Context66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, 14 those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice 15 – they will all be destroyed together,” 16 says the Lord.
Jeremiah 17:2
Context17:2 Their children are always thinking about 17 their 18 altars
and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, 19
set up beside the green trees on the high hills
Ezekiel 20:28-29
Context20:28 I brought them to the land which I swore 20 to give them, but whenever they saw any high hill or leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices there and presented the offerings that provoke me to anger. They offered their soothing aroma there and poured out their drink offerings. 20:29 So I said to them, What is this high place you go to?’” (So it is called “High Place” 21 to this day.)
[12:2] 1 tn Heb “destroying you must destroy”; KJV “Ye shall utterly (surely ASV) destroy”; NRSV “must demolish completely.” The Hebrew infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by the words “by all means.”
[12:2] 2 sn Every leafy tree. This expression refers to evergreens which, because they keep their foliage throughout the year, provided apt symbolism for nature cults such as those practiced in Canaan. The deity particularly in view is Asherah, wife of the great god El, who was considered the goddess of fertility and whose worship frequently took place at shrines near or among clusters (groves) of such trees (see also Deut 7:5). See J. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:569-70; J. DeMoor, TDOT 1:438-44.
[12:1] 4 tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the
[14:23] 5 tn This refers to wine in the early stages of fermentation. In its later stages it becomes wine (יַיִן, yayin) in its mature sense.
[57:5] 6 tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.
[57:5] 7 sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
[57:6] 8 tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.
[57:6] 9 tn The text reads literally, “Because of these am I relenting?” If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question would be rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.” One could translate: “Because of these things, how can I relent?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one may understand the verb in the sense of “console oneself, seek vengeance,” as in 1:24.
[65:4] 10 sn Perhaps the worship of underworld deities or dead spirits is in view.
[65:4] 11 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and in the watches they spend the night.” Some understand נְּצוּרִים (nÿtsurim) as referring to “secret places” or “caves,” while others emend the text to וּבֵין צוּרִים (uven tsurim, “between the rocky cliffs”).
[65:4] 12 tn Heb “the flesh of the pig”; KJV, NAB, NASB “swine’s flesh.”
[65:4] 13 tc The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, reads מְרַק (mÿraq, “broth”), while the consonantal text (Kethib) has פְרַק (feraq, “fragment”).
[66:17] 14 tn Heb “the ones who consecrate themselves and the ones who purify themselves toward the orchards [or “gardens”] after the one in the midst.” The precise meaning of the statement is unclear, though it is obvious that some form of idolatry is in view.
[66:17] 15 tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”
[66:17] 16 tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”
[17:2] 17 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.”
[17:2] 18 tc This reading follows many Hebrew
[17:2] 19 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).
