| Geneva Study Bible Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Wesley's Notes 16:21 Thou shalt not plant - Because this was the practice of idolaters, and might be an occasion of reviving idolatry. Scofield Reference Notes Margin grove The groves (Heb. Asherim) Song often mentioned in the OT were devoted to the worship of Ashtereth, the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the Aphrodite of the Greeks, the Roman Venus. CF. See Scofield Note: "Jud 2:13". Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 21. Thou shalt not plant thee a grove-A grove has in Scripture a variety of significations-a group of overshadowing trees, or a grove adorned with altars dedicated to a particular deity, or a wooden image in a grove (Jud 6:25; 2Ki 23:4-6). They might be placed near the earthen and temporary altars erected in the wilderness, but they could not exist either at the tabernacle or temples. They were places, which, with their usual accompaniments, presented strong allurements to idolatry; and therefore the Israelites were prohibited from planting them. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 16:18-22 Care is taken for the due administration of justice. All personal regards must be laid aside, so that right is done to all, and wrong to none. Care is taken to prevent following the idolatrous customs of the heathen. Nothing belies God more, or tends more to corrupt the minds of men, than representing and worshipping, by an image, that God, who is an almighty and eternal Spirit, present every where. Alas! even in gospel days, and under a better dispensation, established upon better promises, there is a tendency to set up idols, under one form or another, in the human heart. | 
