Lexical Definition

‎עַשְׁתֹּרֶת‎ ʻAshtôreth (ash-to'reth) Ashtoreth ^N:N-F-T
probably for ‎עַשְׁתְּרָה‎

Ashtoreth.

• § Ashtoreth = "star"
• Ashtoreth, the Phoenician goddess of love (and increase)

1) the principal female deity of the Phoenicians worshipped in war and fertility
1a) also 'Ishtar' of Assyria and 'Astarte' by the Greeks and Romans

See Greek: ποίμνιον

Extended Information

• A female deity in the time of the Old Testament, first mentioned at 1Ki.11.5 also known as Astarte

Brown-Driver-Briggs

Also see: בֵּית עַשְׁתָּרוֹת

‎עַשְׁתֹּ֫רֶת‎ proper name, of deities ±Aštœreth, < ±Ašt¹rt, ±Aštéreth (see below) (MI¹⁷ ‎עשתר כמש‎; Phoenician ‎עשתרת‎ (+ often in proper names), proper name ‎עבד עשתר‎ Cook^{Acad. Jan.18, 1896} Sabean proper name, of deity ‎עתֿתר‎ see especially Os^{ZMG xx (1866), 279 f.} DHM^{ib. xxxvii (1883), 376} Fell^{Sab. Gotternamen, ZMG liv (1900), 231 ff., especially 237 ff.}; Assyrian Ištar; Old Aramaic, Palmyrene ‎עתר‎ (= ‎עתֿתר‎) in proper name; in Egyptian ±astirati WMM^As.u.Eur.313; Greek Ἀστάρτη; on their Greek equivalents (e.g. Ἀφροδίτη) compare Lewy^{Fremdw. 148, 186 f, 250}); — ‎ֶֹ֯‎ probably artificial, to suggest ‎בּשֶׁת‎, originally ‎תַּרְתְּ‎-, ‎תֶּרֶת‎-, compare Ištar, Ασταρτη, etc.; ‎׳‎‎ע‎ 1Kgs 11:5 + 2 t.; plural ‎תָּרוֺת‎- Judg 2:13 + 3t.+ ‎רֹת‎- 1Sam 7:4; 1Sam 31:10 read probably singular (Dr and others); — ±Aštart, ±Aštereth (Ασταρτη, plural Ασταρται, but Judg 10:6; 1Sam 7:4 Ασταρωθ), ancient Semitic goddess (with male counterpart in Moabite, Sabean and apparently Phoenician); Phoenician deity, ‎עשׁתרת אֱלֹהֵי צִדֹנִים‎ 1Kgs 11:5; 1Kgs 11:33, ‎׳‎‎שִׁקֻּץ צ‎ ‎׳‎‎ע‎ 2Kgs 23:13 so probably ‎׳‎‎בֵּית ע‎ 1Sam 31:10 (reading singular; see especially Dr); elsewhere plural, of various local goddesses, called ‎עֲשְׁתָּרוֺת‎ (compareAssyrian ilâni u ištarat = gods and Ištars (i.e. goddesses), usually + ‎בעל(יםׅ‎, as Canaanitish deities Judg 2:13; Judg 10:6; 1Sam 7:4; 1Sam 12:10 || ‎אֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָר‎ 1Sam 7:3. — See especially Dr^{Ashtoreth in} Hast^DB; on Išitar Jastr^Rel. Babylonian passive especially 202 f.; on `Athtar Bae<sup>Rel. 117 f</sup>; on Phoenician on `Aštart Pietschm^{Geschichte. Phön. 184 f.}; on ±Ashtoreth Barton^{JBL x (1891), 73 ff.} GFM^{Ency. Bib}.

Brown-Driver-Briggs References