Deuteronomy 27:5

27:5 Then you must build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones – do not use an iron tool on them.

Deuteronomy 12:27

12:27 You must offer your burnt offerings, both meat and blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; the blood of your other sacrifices ¹  you must pour out on his ²  altar while you eat the meat.

Deuteronomy 26:4

26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you ³  and set it before the altar of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 27:6

27:6 You must build the altar of the Lord your God with whole stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 33:10

33:10 They will teach Jacob your ordinances

and Israel your law;

they will offer incense as a pleasant odor,

and a whole offering on your altar.

Deuteronomy 7:5

7:5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, ⁴  cut down their sacred Asherah poles, ⁵  and burn up their idols.

Deuteronomy 12:3

12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, ⁶  burn up their sacred Asherah poles, ⁷  and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place.

Deuteronomy 16:21

Examples of Legal Cases

16:21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole ⁸  near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself.

[12:27]  ¹ sn These other sacrifices would be so-called peace or fellowship offerings whose ritual required a different use of the blood from that of burnt (sin and trespass) offerings (cf. Lev 3; 7:11-14, 19-21).

[12:27]  ² tn Heb “on the altar of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[26:4]  ¹ tn Heb “your hand.”

[7:5]  ¹ sn Sacred pillars. The Hebrew word (מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the Lord (Gen 28:18, 22; 31:13; 35:14; Exod 24:4), these pillars were usually associated with pagan cults and rituals (Exod 23:24; 34:13; Deut 12:3; 1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 17:10; Hos 3:4; 10:1; Jer 43:13).

[7:5]  ² sn Sacred Asherah poles. 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], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

[12:3]  ¹ sn Sacred pillars. These are the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.

[12:3]  ² sn Sacred Asherah poles. The Hebrew term (plural) is אֲשֵׁרִים (’asherim). See note on the word “(leafy) tree” in v. 2, and also Deut 7:5.

[16:21]  ¹ tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”