1 Kings 16:33

33 And Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more to provoke Jehovah the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

1 Kings 16:33 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 16:33

And Ahab made a grove
About the temple of Baal, or elsewhere, in which he placed an idol, and where all manner of filthiness was secretly committed; or rather "Asherah", rendered "grove", is Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, an image of which Ahab made:

and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all
the kings of Israel that were before him:
his idolatries being more open and barefaced, and without any excuse, presence, or colour, as well as more numerous.

1 Kings 16:33 In-Context

31 And it came to pass, as if it was a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshipped him.

32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria.

33 And Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more to provoke Jehovah the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

34 In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundation in Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates in Segub his youngest, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke through Joshua the son of Nun.

Footnotes

• [a]. Image of the Phoenician Astarte; see Judg. 2.13.