194. Idol Groves

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Deuteronomy 16:2121Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. (Deuteronomy 16:21). Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Idol temples and altars were surrounded by thick groves and trees, which became the resort of the abandoned of both sexes, and in which, under plea of idolatrous worship, excesses of the vilest kind were perpetrated. For this reason God forbade the planting of trees near his altars, lest his people should become, or seem to be, like the heathen. See also Isaiah 57:5; 65:3; 66:175Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? (Isaiah 57:5)
3A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; (Isaiah 65:3)
17They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord. (Isaiah 66:17); Jeremiah 2:20; 3:620For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. (Jeremiah 2:20)
6The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. (Jeremiah 3:6); Ezekiel 6:13; 20:2813Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savor to all their idols. (Ezekiel 6:13)
28For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savor, and poured out there their drink offerings. (Ezekiel 20:28); Hosea 4:1313They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. (Hosea 4:13). Some suppose the word “grove” here to mean a high wooden pillar, planted in the ground. See note on Judges 3:77And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. (Judges 3:7) (#222).