13:6 But they did not repudiate14 the sinful ways of the family15 of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins.16 There was even an Asherah pole17 standing in Samaria.
tcHeb “in it he walked.” The singular verb (הָלַךְ, halakh) is probably due to an error of haplography and should be emended to the plural (הָלְכּוּ, halÿku). Note that a vav immediately follows (on the form וְגַם, végam).
17
tn Or “an image of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “the Asherah”; NCV “the Asherah idol.”
snAsherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, 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. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).