612 to Go

(Deu 16:21 KJV)  Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.

You may have heard of the 613 laws that we are supposed to keep if we want to follow the law.  The number is a creation of the rabbis.  We can go into that some other time.  One of those laws is listed here.

This law says something to the effect that you are not to plant a tree in the courtyard of the temple.  Two of the lists I have state it slightly different.

    Not to plant trees near the altar.
    Not to plant a tree in the Temple courtyard

Unfortunately, that’s not what the verse actually says, either in the King James, or the New American Standard.  It is certainly not what the Hebrew says.  The word used for “grove” in the KJV is given literally in the NASB, “Asherah” (842).  It is the proper name of a deity of the area.  They are not supposed to build idols of this deity around the altar.  This is not a different law.  This is simply an application of the commandment to not make idols.

The 613 Commandment people seem to have developed their list from the Septuagint.  This is  common problem with the Rabbis and Talmud.

So?  Just because something has been passed down from centuries in the past does not make it accurate.  Keep thinking and doing your homework.