Translations
KJVPrimary
King James VersionAnd they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GThey set up for themselves standing-stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree,
F.O.G.M
F.O.G MessageThey erected stone pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every leafy tree—
BSB
Berean Standard BibleThey set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
Footnotes
מַצֵּבוֹת (*matsevot*, 'standing-stones') were upright stone pillars associated with Canaanite male deity worship; אֲשֵׁרִים (*asherim*) were wooden poles or stylised trees representing Asherah, the goddess-consort of El in the Ugaritic pantheon. Both are explicitly prohibited in Deuteronomy 16:21–22. Their placement on hills and under trees reflects the ancient Near Eastern perception that sacred space required elevation and natural canopy—the divine encountered in landscape rather than in YHWH's appointed sanctuary. FOG renders 'standing-stones' to preserve the physical reality; FOG Message uses 'stone pillars.'
