Topical Bible: Groves

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In biblical literature, "groves" often refer to places associated with idolatrous worship, particularly in the context of ancient Israel's religious practices. The term is frequently linked to the worship of Asherah, a Canaanite goddess, and is mentioned numerous times in the Old Testament as a symbol of Israel's apostasy and syncretism with pagan religions.

Hebrew Terminology and Translation:
The Hebrew word often translated as "groves" is "Asherah" (אֲשֵׁרָה), which can refer to both the goddess and the wooden symbols or poles associated with her worship. In some translations, "Asherah" is rendered directly, while in others, it is translated as "groves" or "sacred trees."

Biblical References:
Groves are frequently mentioned in the context of Israel's disobedience to God's commandments. In Deuteronomy 16:21, the Israelites are explicitly commanded, "Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God." This directive underscores the prohibition against incorporating pagan elements into the worship of Yahweh.

The Book of Judges records the Israelites' repeated lapses into idolatry, including the worship of Baal and Asherah. Judges 3:7 states, "The Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs."

Reform Efforts:
Throughout Israel's history, several kings undertook religious reforms to eradicate idolatry, including the destruction of groves. King Asa of Judah is noted for his efforts in 1 Kings 15:13, where he "removed Maacah his grandmother from her position as queen mother because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley."

Similarly, King Josiah's reforms are highlighted in 2 Kings 23:6, where he "brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people."

Symbolism and Theological Implications:
The presence of groves in Israelite worship is emblematic of the nation's struggle with idolatry and the temptation to adopt the religious practices of surrounding nations. The repeated condemnation and destruction of groves in the biblical narrative serve as a reminder of the call to exclusive worship of Yahweh and the rejection of all forms of idolatry.

Prophetic Denunciations:
The prophets frequently denounced the worship conducted in groves, associating it with spiritual adultery and covenant unfaithfulness. For instance, Isaiah 1:29 warns, "You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen."

Conclusion:
While the physical groves have long since disappeared, their symbolic representation of idolatry and syncretism remains a powerful reminder of the need for faithfulness to God's commandments and the dangers of compromising with worldly influences.

ATS Bible Dictionary

Groves

Were very early used for religious worship, Genesis 21:33. "The groves were God's first temples," and seem naturally fitted for such purposes. Groves were also resorted to by heathen idolaters. Some elevated spot was generally chosen for this purpose. "They sacrifice upon the tops of mountains, and burn incense upon the hills; under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow hereof is good," Hosea 4:13. It should be noticed, however, that the Hebrew word Asherah, which occurs in many passages, and is rendered grove in the English version, rather signifies an image of Astarte, 1 Kings 18:19 2 Kings 13:6; etc. See ASHTORETH, plural ASH-TAROTH. The "high places" spoken of in Scripture were used first, for the worship of Jehovah, 1 Kings 3:3,4; etc. This was, strictly speaking, and irregularity, since, according to the Law of Moses, every sacrifice was required to be brought to the altar of the sanctuary, Le 17:8,9 De 11:13,16. The "high places" were also used, secondly, for the worship of idols, 2 Kings 23:15, etc.

Strong's Hebrew

2132. zayith -- olive tree, olive
... Word Origin of uncertain derivation Definition olive tree, olive NASB Word Usage
groves (1), olive (10), olive grove (1), olive groves (5), olive tree (9 ...
/hebrew/2132.htm - 6k

Library

Christian Devotedness
... By Anthony Norris Groves (1795 -- 1853). Second Edition,. ... Before this second edition
was issued Groves had taken the step which he here had advocated. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/groves/christian devotedness/title page.htm

Transcribers Notes:
... Anthony Norris Groves, Saint and Pioneer. London: Thynne & Co. ... [Footnotes enclosed
in brackets are comments made by Lang rather than Groves. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/groves/christian devotedness/transcribers notes .htm

Footnotes:
... [7] [In 1842 Mr. and Mrs. Groves adopted a child of eight as daughter, "an orphan
who was commended to their care by her father on his death-bed. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/groves/christian devotedness/footnotes .htm

Christian Devotedness
Christian Devotedness. <. Christian Devotedness Anthony Norris Groves. Produced
by David Haslam Table of Contents. Title Page. PREFACE. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/groves/christian devotedness/

Preface
Christian Devotedness. <. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/groves/christian devotedness/preface.htm

Christian Devotedness, Etc.
Christian Devotedness. <. ...
/.../groves/christian devotedness/christian devotedness etc.htm

Appendix (Referred to in Note 1)
Christian Devotedness. <. ...
/.../groves/christian devotedness/appendix referred to in note.htm

Carmel
... he commanded, "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 ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 11 carmel.htm

The Coast of the Asphaltites, the Essenes. En-Gedi.
... Below these, was the town Engadda, the next to Jerusalem for fruitfulness,
and groves of palm-trees, now another burying-place. ...
/.../lightfoot/from the talmud and hebraica/chapter 6 the coast of.htm

Josiah
... he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began
to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/josiah.htm

Thesaurus

Groves (32 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Groves (32 Occurrences). Exodus 34:13 But ye shall destroy
their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: (KJV WBS). ...
/g/groves.htm - 16k

Orchards (7 Occurrences)
... (DBY RSV). 1 Samuel 8:14 He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your
olive groves, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. (See RSV). ...
/o/orchards.htm - 8k

Baalim (18 Occurrences)
... Judges 3:7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat
the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves. (KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT). ...
/b/baalim.htm - 12k

Vineyards (55 Occurrences)
... live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn't plant.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV). Judges 9:27 ...
/v/vineyards.htm - 25k

Graven (61 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 7:5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars,
and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven ...
/g/graven.htm - 27k

Grove (23 Occurrences)
... In the earliest times groves are mentioned in connection with religious
worship. The heathen consecrated groves to particular gods ...
/g/grove.htm - 16k

Brake (80 Occurrences)
... 2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the
groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto ...
/b/brake.htm - 34k

Asherah (40 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary And pl. Asherim in Revised Version, instead of
"grove" and "groves" of the Authorized Version. This was ...
/a/asherah.htm - 24k

Olive (61 Occurrences)
... live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn't plant.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV). Judges 9 ...
/o/olive.htm - 37k

Carved (36 Occurrences)
... he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began
to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the ...
/c/carved.htm - 17k

Resources

Who was Asherah / Ashtoreth? | GotQuestions.org

Who was Gehazi in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Groves (32 Occurrences)

Exodus 34:13
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
(KJV WBS)

Deuteronomy 6:11
and houses full of all good things, which you didn't fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn't dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn't plant, and you shall eat and be full;
(See NIV)

Deuteronomy 7:5
But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
(KJV WBS)

Deuteronomy 12:3
And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
(KJV WBS)

Joshua 24:13
I gave you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you didn't build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn't plant.'
(WEB NAS NIV)

Judges 3:7
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
(KJV WBS)

Judges 15:5
When he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves.
(WEB NAS NIV)

1 Samuel 8:14
He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive groves, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
(WEB NAS NIV)

1 Kings 14:15
For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
(KJV WBS)

1 Kings 14:23
For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
(KJV WBS)

1 Kings 18:19
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.
(KJV WBS)

2 Kings 5:26
He said to him, "Didn't my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male servants and female servants?
(WEB NAS NIV)

2 Kings 17:10
And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
(KJV WBS)

2 Kings 18:4
He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
(KJV WBS)

2 Kings 23:14
And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 14:3
For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 17:6
And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 19:3
Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 24:18
And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 31:1
Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 33:3
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 33:19
His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 34:3
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 34:4
And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
(KJV WBS)

2 Chronicles 34:7
And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
(KJV WBS)

Nehemiah 5:11
Please restore to them, even this day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that you exact of them.
(WEB NAS NIV)

Nehemiah 9:25
They took fortified cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, and olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance: so they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
(WEB NAS NIV)

Ecclesiastes 2:6
I made pools to give water for the woods with their young trees.
(See NIV)

Isaiah 17:8
And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.
(KJV WBS)

Isaiah 27:9
By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.
(KJV WBS)

Jeremiah 17:2
Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
(KJV WBS)

Micah 5:14
And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.
(KJV WBS)

Subtopics

Groves

Groves for Idol Worship Planted by Ahab

Groves for Idol Worship Planted by Israelites

Groves for Idol Worship Planted by Manasseh

Groves of Canaanites, to be Destroyed

Groves: Antiquity of

Groves: Destroyed by Asa

Groves: Destroyed by Gideon

Groves: Destroyed by Hezekiah