Scripture Notes | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 28, 1868

Scripture Notes.

WHY GROVES WERE FORBIDDEN.

JUDGES iii, 7. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.

[Baalim and the groves.] The same as Baal and Ashtaroth. Probably the word rendered groves, is erroneous, or wrongly translated, for the groves were not worshiped, but the gods to whom they were consecrated.—Dodd. Some take groves literally for trees, which were anciently consecrated to heroes, their sepulchers being sometimes among them, and the trees trimmed with ribbons, adorned with lights, and hung with the spoils of conquered enemies; but Selden thinks they mean images of gods in the groves, as it is certain they must in some places. It is evident these deities, whatever they were, were different from Baalim; for the prophets of Baalim and the prophets of the groves were distinct. 1 Kings xviii, 19.—Patrick. As the word is used in place of Ashtaroth, which, in chap. ii, 13, is found in connection with Baalim, the conclusion is very clear, that groves are consecrated to this goddess.—John. The worship of a male and female principle of the universe, has been in all ages and still is astonishingly prevalent. Gibbon thus describes it, as it was in a later age: “Five miles from Antioch, the Macedonian kings of Syria had consecrated to Apollo one of the most elegant places of devotion in the pagan world. A magnificent temple rose in honor of the god of light; and his colossal figure almost filled the capacious sanctuary, which was enriched with gold and gems, and adorned by the skill of the Grecian artists. The deity was represented in a bending attitude, with a golden cup in his hand, pouring out a libation on the earth; as if he supplicated the venerable mother to give to his arms the cold and beauteous Daphne; for the spot was ennobled by fiction; and the fancy of the Syrian poets had transported the amorous tale from the banks of the Peneus to those of the Orontes. The ancient rites of Greece were imitated by the royal colony of Antioch. A stream of prophecy, which rivaled the truth and reputation of the Delphic oracle, flowed from the Castalian fountain of Daphne. In the adjacent fields a stadium was built, by a special privilege which had been purchased from Elis; the Olympic games were celebrated at the expense of the city; and a revenue of £30,000 was annually applied to the public pleasures. The perpetual resort of pilgrims and spectators insensibly formed, in the neighbourhood of the temple, the stately and populous village of Daphne. The temple and village were deeply embosomed in a thick grove of laurels and cypresses, which formed, in the most sultry summers, a cool and impenetrable shade. A thousand streams of the purest water, issuing from every hill, preserved the verdure of the earth, and the temperature of the air; the senses were gratified with harmonious sounds and aromatic odors; and the peaceful grove was consecrated to health and joy, to luxury and love [or rather lust]. The vigorous youth pursued, like Apollo, the object of his desires; and the blushing maid was warned by the fate of Daphne, to shun the folly of unseasonable coyness. The soldier and the philosopher wisely avoided the temptation of this sensual paradise; where pleasure, assuming the character of religion, imperceptibly [note Ex. xx, 14.] dissolved the firmness of manly virtue. But the groves of Daphne continued for many ages to enjoy the veneration of natives and strangers; the privileges of the holy ground were enlarged by the munificence of succeeding emperors; and every generation added new ornaments to the splendor of the temple.” While we justly blame, pity, and despise the Israelites for being so often led away from the pure and simple worship of God, by such allurements to impure rites, are we watchful to keep our own hearts free from the dominion of our lower propensities—from the lust of the flesh—the lust of the eye—and the pride of life—which so often debased them, and brought them to misery?—Jenks.