What Does Deuteronomy 16:21 Mean in the King James?

Thou 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 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

KJV’s “grove” here is ⁨אֲשֵׁרָה⁩ (ʾăšērāh, an Asherah cult symbol), and the verb “plant” reveals it as a deliberate rival installation beside the altar.

THE MEANING

The verse speaks now wherever devotion is shaped by what stands beside the altar. The Asherah is deliberately planted next to the altar, so its placement joins the symbol to the offering. What is set beside the place of sacrifice participates in the meaning the offering carries.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that sincere intent makes every religious sign compatible: a symbol beside the altar can divide the allegiance the offering expresses.

THE ROOT

תִּטַּע

tittaʿ

GROWS FROM

נטע

To plant; to set into the ground.

“plant” in this verse is tittaʿ. The same root describes the garden planted in Eden and the vine planted after being brought out of Egypt. Here it makes the Asherah’s position an intentional installation beside the altar, rather than a passing presence.

ALSO GROWS

wayyittaʿ: He planted a garden.

וַיִּטַּע

The same verb marks the deliberate setting of something in a place, giving “plant” the force of an installation.

wattittāʿehā: You planted it, the vine.

וַתִּטָּעֶהָ

The vine planted after being brought out of Egypt shows that planting itself is not the issue; what is planted beside the altar carries the revelatory weight.

מִזְבֵּחַ

mizbēaḥ

GROWS FROM

זבח

To slaughter or sacrifice.

“Altar” can sound like a general sacred platform, while ⁨מִזְבֵּחַ⁩ keeps sacrifice inside the word. The verse therefore places the Asherah beside the site of an offering, where its presence can shape what that offering expresses.

ALSO GROWS

zevaḥ: Sacrifice or offering.

זֶבַח

This noun makes explicit the sacrificial act already contained in the altar’s name.

zōvēaḥ: One who sacrifices.

זֹבֵחַ

The related form brings the person making the offering into view, showing that the altar’s meaning involves both the place and the act of giving.

THE PATTERN

A place of offering cannot hold two competing objects of devotion without its meaning becoming divided.

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

Deuteronomy 12:3 · KJVThe verse treats rival sacred objects as part of what gives an altar its meaning, so they are removed from the place.

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

1 Kings 18:21 · KJVThe divided objects of devotion become a divided allegiance, just as the planted symbol divides the altar’s space.

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

1 Corinthians 10:21 · KJVThe shared table makes the same pattern plain: one place of participation cannot express two rival allegiances.

THE THREAD

Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

Psalm 80:8 · KJV

Psalm 80 uses the same root ⁨נטע⁩ (nāṭaʿ, to plant) for the vine brought out of Egypt and planted by God. The connection shows that planting is not condemned in itself; what matters here is what is planted beside the altar and the devotion it represents.

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