Exodus Chapter 34 verse 13 Holy Bible
but ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their Asherim;
read chapter 34 in ASV
But their altars are to be overturned and their pillars broken and their images cut down:
read chapter 34 in BBE
but ye shall demolish their altars, shatter their statues, and hew down their Asherahs.
read chapter 34 in DARBY
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
read chapter 34 in KJV
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves.
read chapter 34 in WBT
but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherim;
read chapter 34 in WEB
for their altars ye break down, and their standing pillars ye shiver, and its shrines ye cut down;
read chapter 34 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 13. - Ye shall destroy their altars, etc. This command is more sweeping than the corresponding one in the "Book of the Covenant" (Exodus 23:24), which expressly mentions only the "images." Here the destruction of idol-altars and idol-groves is further commanded. On idol-altars, see Numbers 23:1, 29; Judges 2:2; 1 Kings 16:32; 1 Kings 18:26, etc. Groves are here for the first time mentioned. They appear to have been artificial constructions, either of wood or metal, or both, more or less imitative of trees, and regarded as emblems of the Oriental nature-deities, especially Baal and Astarte or Ashtoreth. The word translated "grove" (asherah) is a modification of the name Ashtoreth. The well-known "sacred tree" of the Assyrians is probably an asherah.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) Ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves.--In the "Book of the Covenant" the command had been simply to "quite break down their images" (Exodus 23:24). Now, after the Israelites had displayed their idolatrous leanings, it is added that they are likewise to destroy the "altars" and the "groves." Altars were common among all the idolatrous nations, sometimes attached to temples (1Kings 16:32; 2Kings 21:4-5), sometimes separate from them (Numbers 23:1; Numbers 23:29; 2Kings 16:10-11), and were used for much the same purposes as the Hebrew altars: i.e., for sacrifices, bloody and unbloody, and for burning incense. "Groves"--here mentioned for the first time--were peculiar to a limited number of nations, as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Ph?nicians, Syrians, and a few others. They appear to have been artificial constructions, either of wood or stone, or both, imitative of vegetable forms, and probably emblematic of the productive powers of nature. The worship connected with the "groves" was of a peculiarly gross and licentious character. The very name, asherah, was a modification of Ashtoreth, or Astarte. It is remarkable that nothing is said of destroying Canaannite temples--an indication that as yet they did not exist, and a mark of the high antiquity of the book. . . .
