Books left out of the Bible

[Virginia]

Ok all you Bible scholars "Who is Asherah?"

I was watching a show on tv about books left out of the Bible and they were talking about someone named Asherah, Queen of Heaven.

What does this mean?

[Dave]

Left out of the Bible - maybe not


According to Wikipedia:
Asherah in Semitic mythology, is a mother goddess who appears in a number of ancient sources. She appears in Akkadian writings by the name of Ashratum/Ashratu, and in Hittite as Asherdu(s) or Ashertu(s) or Aserdu(s) or Asertu(s). Asherah is generally considered identical with the Ugaritic goddess Athirat (more accurately transcribed as ʼAṯirat).

Asherah is identified as the wife or consort of the Sumerian god Anu and Ugaritic El, the oldest deities of their respective pantheons.

The name Dione, (from the Greek Dionysus, also a female deity) which like 'Elat means "Goddess", is clearly associated with

The Book of Jeremiah, written circa 628 BC, possibly refers to Asherah when it uses the title "Queen of Heaven", stating: "pray thou not for this people...the children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven,

As you can see from Wikipedia a name is a relative thing. Multiple names speak to the same deity. Just as Lord, Father, Christ, Messiah, Holy Spirit, El Shadia, and many more all speak about the Creator.

From my current writing, which you haven’t had the chance to proof read as of yet, I counted 25 “other gods” mentioned by name in the OT, 4 of which are female. There is more if you include the Devil as a deity, and then the NT reference to Mammon.


Ashtoreth
(Judges 10:6-16; 1 Samuel 7:3-4, 12:10, 31:10; 1 Kings 11:2-33)
Ashtoreth was the goddess of the Sidonians and is also the name by which the Canaanite goddess Astarte is called in the Old Testament. She was the consort of the Canaanite storm god, Baal.
Astarte was the goddess of fertility, sexuality, and war. Her symbols were the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, a star within a circle indicating the planet Venus, and has been called the evening star.] Her cult must have been very popular, as it even swayed, or corrupted, the heart of wise King Solomon, for which he was criticized in I Kings 11:5.

Astarte, aka Ishtar, was worshiped by the Greeks as Aphrodite. The worship of Aphrodite was most concentrated on the island of Cyprus, but also held major importance in the city states of Sidon, Tyre, and Byblos. Ugaritic texts speak of the goddess Astarte as the goddess Athtart and is known as the "Face of Baal,” because together with the goddess Anat they restrained Baal from waging war upon deities.

The Queen of Heaven
(Jeremiah 7:18, 44:17-25).
The goddess, Queen of Heaven, is only referred to in the book of Jeremiah. Although unidentified by scripture, she is inferred to be the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, or possibly, the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth. - (Johann Wier, 1563, Pseudomonarchia daemonum. Salomons notes of conjuration, Translation in Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), digital edition by Joseph H. Peterson @ www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/weyer.htm)


Is your goddess Asherah the same as the Hebrew OT goddess Ashtoreth? Wikipedia says your goddess is the consort of Sumerian god Anu and Ugaritic El. The New advent catholic equates both of those gods to Baal. And Ashtoreth is said to be the consort of Baal also – so they do sound like the same deity.

Other gods and female beings in the Judeo-Christian heavens is an interesting subject for me. Are all the angel only male? Is the angel Gabriel male?

Genesis 1:27 And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Hebrew never says - there are no other gods. It says don't worship them, but rather, worship the Creator.

Joshua 22:22 (KJV) The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods...
Joshua 22:22 (YLT) The God of gods--Jehovah, the God of gods--Jehovah...