Astoreth, also known as Ashtoreth, is a prominent figure in the religious practices of the ancient Near East, particularly among the Canaanites and Phoenicians. She is often identified as a goddess of fertility, love, and war. The worship of Astoreth is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament as a significant temptation and source of idolatry for the Israelites.

Biblical References:

Astoreth is first mentioned in the context of the Israelites' struggle with idolatry. In Judges 2:13 , it is recorded, "They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths." This verse highlights the Israelites' abandonment of Yahweh in favor of foreign deities, including Astoreth. The plural form "Ashtoreths" suggests the widespread worship of this goddess in various forms or local manifestations.

King Solomon's reign marks a significant period when the worship of Astoreth infiltrated Israelite society. In 1 Kings 11:5 , it is noted, "Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites." Solomon's alliances through marriage to foreign women led him to accommodate their religious practices, including the worship of Astoreth, which ultimately contributed to his spiritual decline.

The worship of Astoreth was characterized by rituals that were often sensual and licentious, reflecting her association with fertility and love. This is further evidenced in 2 Kings 23:13 , where King Josiah, in his reforms, "desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem, on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians." Josiah's actions were part of a broader effort to purify Israel from idolatrous practices.

Cultural and Religious Context:

Astoreth was often equated with the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar and the Greek goddess Aphrodite, sharing similar attributes and functions. Her worship involved various rites, including temple prostitution and possibly child sacrifice, practices that were abhorrent to the monotheistic faith of Israel.

The name "Astoreth" is believed to be a deliberate Hebrew alteration of the original name "Ashtart" or "Astarte," incorporating the vowels from the Hebrew word "bosheth," meaning "shame," to express contempt for the goddess and her worship. This linguistic modification underscores the biblical authors' disdain for idolatry and its corrupting influence on the covenant people.

Theological Significance:

The recurring mention of Astoreth in the Old Testament serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of syncretism and the seductive allure of pagan worship. The Israelites' repeated lapses into idolatry, despite the clear commandments against it, illustrate the persistent challenge of maintaining covenant faithfulness in a polytheistic environment.

The prophets frequently condemned the worship of Astoreth and other foreign deities, calling the people back to exclusive devotion to Yahweh. The struggle against idolatry, as exemplified by the worship of Astoreth, is a central theme in the narrative of Israel's history, highlighting the tension between cultural assimilation and religious fidelity.

In summary, Astoreth represents a significant challenge to the spiritual integrity of the Israelites, embodying the broader conflict between the worship of the one true God and the pervasive influence of surrounding pagan cultures. Her presence in the biblical text serves as a reminder of the constant vigilance required to uphold the purity of faith in the face of external pressures.ASTARTE; ASTORETH

ash'-to-reth, ash-to reth (`ashtoreth; plural `ashtaroth; Astarte):

1. Name and Origin

2. Attributes of the Goddess

3. Ashtoreth as a Moon-Goddess

4. The Local Ashtaroth

1. Name and Origin:

The name of the supreme goddess of Canaan and the female counterpart of Baal.

The name and cult of the goddess were derived from Babylonia, where Ishtar represented the evening and morning stars and was accordingly androgynous in origin. Under Semitic influence, however, she became solely female, but retained a memory of her primitive character by standing, alone among the Assyro-Bab goddesses, on a footing of equality with the male divinities. From Babylonia the worship of the goddess was carried to the Semites of the West, and in most instances the feminine suffix was attached to her name; where this was not the case the deity was regarded as a male. On the Moabite Stone, for example, `Ashtar is identified with Chemosh, and in the inscriptions of southern Arabia `Athtar is a god. On the other hand, in Atar-gatis or Derketo (2 Macc 12:26), Atar, without the feminine suffix, is identified with the goddess `Athah or `Athi (Greek Gatis). The cult of the Greek Aphrodite in Cyprus was borrowed from that of Ashtoreth; whether the Greek name also is a modification of Ashtoreth, as has often been maintained, is doubtful.

2. Attributes of the Goddess:

In Babylonia and Assyria Ishtar was the goddess of love and war. An old Babylonian legend related how the descent of Ishtar into Hades in search of her dead husband, Tammuz, was followed by the cessation of marriage and birth in both earth and heaven, while the temples of the goddess at Nineveh and Arbela, around which the two cities afterward grew up, were dedicated to her as the goddess of war. As such she appeared to one of Assur-bani-pal's seers and encouraged the Assyrian king to march against Elam. The other goddesses of Babylonia, who were little more than reflections of the god, tended to merge into Ishtar who thus became a type of the female divinity, a personification of the productive principle in nature, and more especially the mother and creatress of mankind. The chief seat of the worship of Ishtar in Babylonia was Erech, where prostitution was practiced in her name, and she was served with immoral rites by bands of men and women. In Assyria, where the warlike side of the goddess was predominant, no such rites seem to have been practiced, and, instead, prophetesses were attached to her temples to whom she delivered oracles.

3. Ashtoreth as a Moon-Goddess:

In Canaan, Ashtoreth, as distinguished from the male `Ashtar, dropped her warlike attributes, but in contradistinction to Asherah, whose name and cult had also been imported from Assyria, became, on the one hand, the colorless consort of Baal, and on the other hand, a moon-goddess. In Babylonia the moon was a god, but after the rise of the solar theology, when the larger number of the Babylonian gods were resolved into forms of the sun-god, their wives also became solar, Ishtar, the daughter of Sin the moon-god, remaining identified with the evening-star. In Canaan, however, when the solar theology had absorbed the older beliefs, Baal, passing into a sun-god and the goddess who stood at his side becoming a representative of the moon--the pale reflection, as it were, of the sun- -Ashtoreth came to be regarded as the consort of Baal and took the place of the solar goddesses of Babylonia.

4. The Local Ashtaroth:

Hence there were as many Ashtoreths or Ashtaroth as Baals. They represented the various forms under which the goddess was worshipped in different localities (Judges 10:6; 1 Samuel 7:4; 12:10, etc.). Sometimes she was addressed as Naamah, the delightful one, Greek Astro-noe, the mother of Eshmun and the Cabeiri. The Philistines seem to have adopted her under her warlike form (1 Samuel 31:10 the King James Version reading Ashtoreth, as Septuagint), but she was more usually the moon-goddess (Lucian, De Dca Syriac., 4; Herodian, v.6, 10), and was accordingly symbolized by the horns of a cow. See ASHTEROTH-KARNAIM. At Ashkelon, where Herodotus (i.105) places her most ancient temple, she was worshipped under the name of Atar-gatis, as a woman with the tail of a fish, and fish were accordingly sacred to her. Elsewhere the dove was her sacred symbol. The immoral rites with which the worship of Ishtar in Babylonia was accompanied were transferred to Canaan (Deuteronomy 23:18) and formed part of the idolatrous practices which the Israelites were called upon to extirpate.

A. H. Sayce

The Greek Versions as Aids to Biblical Study.
... Ararat, land of, 'rts'rrt, Armenia, Isaiah 37:38. Astoreth strt, Astarte
(the Phoenician 'Ashtart), Jud. 2.13, 4 Regn. xxiii.13. ...
/.../chapter iv the greek versions.htm

Astoreth
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia ASTARTE; ASTORETH. ash'-to-reth, ash-to
reth (`ashtoreth; plural `ashtaroth; Astarte): 1. Name and ...
/a/astoreth.htm - 10k

Astounded (12 Occurrences)

/a/astounded.htm - 9k

Astarte (2 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (n.) A genus of bivalve mollusks, common on the coasts
of America and Europe. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. ASTARTE; ASTORETH. ...
/a/astarte.htm - 11k

Astonishment (51 Occurrences)

/a/astonishment.htm - 24k

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