1 Kings 16:33
in 1 Kings 16Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did yet more to provoke Jehovah, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
KJV
And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
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This verse in 1 Kings 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAhab made a grove - אשרה Asherah, Astarte, or Venus; what the Syriac calls an idol, and the Arabic, a tall tree; probably meaning, by the last, an image of Priapus, the obscene keeper of groves, orchards, and gardens.
This site's exposition
an altar for Baal in the house of Baal
on 1 Kings 16:32-33
Ahab builds Baal an altar and a house in Samaria itself, the capital his father bought, and adds a grove, Asherah, the goddess image the older writers name by different words but the same office. Verse 33's closing line outdoes verse 30's already: Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him, the chapter's third and steepest escalation in nine verses. Manufactured religion has moved from two calves at Bethel and Dan to a state temple for a foreign god inside one royal lifetime.
This site's exposition
he set up an Asherah pole
Adam Clarke notes that the Syriac version renders Asherah as an idol and the Arabic as a tall tree. Deuteronomy 16:21 forbade any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar of the LORD. Ahab set one up in his capital.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Ahab made a grove,.... About the temple of Baal, or elsewhere, in which he placed an idol, and where all manner of filthiness was secretly committed; or rather "Asherah", rendered "grove", is Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, an image of which Ahab made: and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him: his idolatries being more open and barefaced, and without any excuse, presence, or colour, as well as more numerous.
It was bad with the people when every successive king was worse than his predecessor. What would they come to at last? He had seen the ruin of other wicked kings and their families; yet, instead of taking warning, his heart was hardened and enraged against God by it.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אַחְאָ֖ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֲשֵׁרָ֑ה | haasherah | <the> Asherah pole | H842 → | 40 times |
| וַיּ֨וֹסֶף | vaiyosef | and he increased | H3254 → | 212 times |
| אַחְאָ֜ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| לַעֲשׂ֗וֹת | laasot | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לְהַכְעִיס֙ | lehakhis | to provoke to anger | H3707 → | 54 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהֹוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| מִכֹּ֨ל | mikol | more than all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַלְכֵ֣י | malkhei | [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הָי֖וּ | hayu | they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְפָנָֽיו׃ | lefanav | <to> before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
וַיַּ֥עַשׂand he made
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
אַחְאָ֖בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאֲשֵׁרָ֑ה<the> Asherah pole
haasherahH842 →40 times
וַיּ֨וֹסֶףand he increased
vaiyosefH3254 →212 times
אַחְאָ֜בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
לַעֲשׂ֗וֹתto do
laasotH6213 →2628 times
לְהַכְעִיס֙to provoke to anger
lehakhisH3707 →54 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהֹוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
מִכֹּ֨לmore than all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
מַלְכֵ֣י[the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הָי֖וּthey were
hayuH1961 →3559 times
לְפָנָֽיו׃<to> before him
lefanavH6440 →2123 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 34:13Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 18:4
He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 23:24
You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
- Deuteronomy 7:25–26
You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it…
- 2 Kings 18:4
Through
1 Kings 21:25(Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel.
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:14
The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
- 1 Kings 21:20
When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of…
- 1 Kings 16:30–33
However, Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.
- Proverbs 22:14
Through
1 Kings 22:6So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and the Lord will…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:19
Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
- 1 Kings 18:19
Through
2 Kings 21:3For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:16
They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served…
- 2 Kings 17:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.