1 Kings 16:33

1 Kings 16:33 

And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

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

b. YLT: And Ahab maketh the shrine, and Ahab addeth to do so as to provoke Jehovah, God of Israel, above all the kings of Israel who have been before him.

c. Amplified Bible Classic: And Ahab made an Asherah [idolatrous symbol of the goddess Asherah]. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.

d. Septuagint: And Achaab made a grove; and Achaab did yet more abominably, to provoke the Lord God of Israel, and [to sin against] his own life so that he should be destroyed: he did evil above all the kings of Israel that were before him.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: Ahab mad an Asherah-tree; and Ahab did more to anger HASHEM, God of israel, than all the kings of Israel who had preceded him.

1. And Ahab made a grove

a. [And] Ahab [Strong: 256 ʼAchʼâb, akh-awb'; once (by contraction) אֶחָב ʼEchâb (Jeremiah 29:22); from H251 and H1; brother (i.e. friend) of (his) father; Achab, the name of a king of Israel and of a prophet at Babylon:—Ahab.]

b. made [Strong: 6213  ʻâsâh, aw-saw'; a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application:—accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, × certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, (fight-) ing man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold (a feast), × indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, ×sacrifice, serve, set, shew, × sin, spend, × surely, take, × thoroughly, trim, × very, vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

c. [a] grove [Strong: 842 ʼăshêrâh, ash-ay-raw'; or אֲשֵׁירָה ʼăshêyrâh; from H833; happy; Asherah (or Astarte) a Phoenician goddess; also an image of the same:—grove. [BLB: Ashera(h) = "groves (for idol worship)", a Babylonian (Astarte)-Canaanite goddess (of fortune and happiness), the supposed consort of Baal, her images, the goddess, goddesses, her images sacred trees or poles set up near an altar.]

1). Unger’s Bible Dictionary: “At Byblos on the Mediterranean, north of Sidon, a center dedicated to this goddess has been excavated. She and her colleagues specialized in sex and war and her shrines were temples of legalized vice. Her degraded cult offered a perpetual danger of pollution  to Israel and must have sunk to sordid depths as lust and murder were glamorized” 

2. “...and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” 

a. [and] Ahab [Strong: 256 ʼAchʼâb, akh-awb'; once (by contraction) אֶחָב ʼEchâb (Jeremiah 29:22); from H251 and H1; brother (i.e. friend) of (his) father; Achab, the name of a king of Israel and of a prophet at Babylon:—Ahab.]

b. did [Strong: 6213  ʻâsâh, aw-saw'; a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application:—accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, × certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, (fight-) ing man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold (a feast), × indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, ×sacrifice, serve, set, shew, × sin, spend, × surely, take, × thoroughly, trim, × very, vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

c. more [Strong: 3254 yâçaph, yaw-saf'; a primitive root; to add or augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing):—add, × again, × any more, × cease, × come more, conceive again, continue, exceed, × further, × gather together, get more, give more-over, × henceforth, increase (more and more), join, × longer (bring, do, make, much, put), × (the, much, yet) more (and more), proceed (further), prolong, put, be (strong-) er, × yet, yield.

d. [to] provoke [Strong: 3707 ka`ac kaw-as' a primitive root; to trouble; by implication, to grieve, rage, be indignant:--be angry, be grieved, take indignation, provoke (to anger, unto wrath), have sorrow, vex, be wroth.]

e. [the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

f. God [Strong: 430 ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.]

g. [of] Israel [Strong: 3478 Yisrâʼêl, yis-raw-ale'; from H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisraël, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity:—Israel.]

h. [to] anger [Strong: 3707 ka`ac kaw-as' a primitive root; to trouble; by implication, to grieve, rage, be indignant:--be angry, be grieved, take indignation, provoke (to anger, unto wrath), have sorrow, vex, be wroth.]

i. [than] all [Strong: 3605  kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

j. [the] kings [Strong: 4428 melek, meh'-lek; from H4427; a king:—king, royal.]

k. [of] Israel [Strong: 3478 Yisrâʼêl, yis-raw-ale'; from H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisraël, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity:—Israel.]

l. that [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

m. were [Strong: 1961 hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.

n. before [him] [Strong: 6440 pânîym, paw-neem'; plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun פָּנֶה pâneh; from H6437); the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.):— accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, × as (long as), at, battle, because (of), beseech, countenance, edge, employ, endure, enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, × him(-self), honourable, impudent, in, it, look(-eth) (-s), × me, meet, × more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), × on, open, out of, over against, the partial, person, please, presence, prospect, was purposed, by reason of, regard, right forth, serve, × shewbread, sight, state, straight, street, × thee, × them(-selves), through ( -out), till, time(-s) past, (un-) to(-ward), upon, upside ( down), with(-in, -stand), × ye, × you.]

1). In a little over 70 years Israel went from one nation to two nations, the northern 10 tribes under Jeroboam descended into an invented perverted imitation of Judaism. The sins of Jeroboam were basically he invented a counterfeit Judaism, complete with idols, a priesthood and feast days. It sounds a lot like what Christianity descended into with Catholicism, with idols, a priesthood and feast days (1 Kings 12:25-33).  Then under Ahab they descended into Baal worship, complete with a Temple and altar. 

a). 1 Kings 16:30-32 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.

16:31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

16:32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

16:33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.