059 
as though Ashtaroth and the oroves were convertible terms. 
We cannot suppose that all this has reference to mere groves 
of trees, even though trees were often sacred, and the 
Hebrew word for " grove," viz., " ashera," militates against 
such an interpretation. It signifies " erect," and is now 
generally interpreted to be either synonymous with Astarte, 
or the trunk of a tree, as a symbol of her, or of Baal. 
The Septuagint and Vulgate translations bear out this 
interpretation, as e.g., 1 Kings xv. ; v. 13; and its parallel 
passage, 2 Chron. xv. 16, where Queen Maachah is deposed 
from being queen because she had made an idol in her 
grove. No great offence, one would think, in the eyes of 
most of the kings of Israel and Judah. In the Septuagint 
the passage from Chronicles is thus translated : Toy thai, 
Ty 'Acolptyi XuTovfyouron ; and the Vulgate, " Eo quod fecisset in 
luco ' Simulacrum Priapi.' " The passage in Kings is xa^w? 
c7ror/;<rs SvmIm h km a\s-n, words capable of implying a grievous 
sin, and perhaps similar to the union of the Lingam and 
Yotii in India. The Vulgate reads : " Ne esset princeps in 
sacris Priapi, et in luco ejus, et confregit simulacrum turpis- 
simum." The Hebrew for "idol" in this passage implies an 
" object of shame." St. Jerome, too, similarly translates the 
passage. Thus Phallic Worship — the worship of Baal 
Peor — is clearly pointed out, especially when we read of 
Sodomites (literally "consecrated ones") in connection with 
the groves. What the " turpissimum simulacrum" was is 
not told; most probably that which Herodotus (ii. 102) 
states that he saw on certain pillars. It is sad to reflect 
upon; but, from the history of Israel's sin with Moab, at 
the suggestion of Balaam, it is quite evident that sensuality 
and impurity were as much a part of religious worship in 
the nations of Canaan as among the Lydians and Babylo- 
nians. It was probably from the very general practice among 
the heathen of associating impurity and sensuality with 
