The Hebrew word asherah refers both to a Canaanite mother-goddess associated with fertility and to the wooden cultic objects (poles or stylized trees) erected as her symbols. It appears about 40 times in the Old Testament, nearly always in a polemical context condemning Israel's syncretism.
Israel was explicitly commanded to cut down and burn every asherah (Deuteronomy 12:3; 16:21). Their presence alongside Yahweh's altar symbolized the deepest apostasy — reducing God to a fertility deity among many. Kings like Manasseh brought asherahs into the Temple itself (2 Kings 21:7), while reformers like Hezekiah and Josiah destroyed them. The prophets link asherah worship with spiritual adultery against the covenant God.