The KJV translation has "groves." The literal meaning was "wooden symbols of the female deity" (BDB 81). This was a carved wooden pole or a live tree which was planted beside the raised stone pillar of Ba'al, the male fertility god. Asherah or Astartes was the female consort and was represented by this wooden pole. This was meant to represent "the tree of life," which was common in ANE literature.
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