Judges 2:13

Baal. See on v. 11.

Ashtaroth. The plural of Ashtoreth. This goddess was known also by the name of Astarte. In Babylonia she was called Ishtar. She was the goddess of sexual love, maternity, and fecundity. In the Ras Shamra tablets she appears also as a goddess of war and of the chase. Her worship was widespread all over the Near Eastern world, from Moab (her name is found on the Moabite Stone) to Babylonia. She was worshiped in Canaan in the days of Abraham (Gen. 14:5); Saul’s armor was placed by the Philistines in her temple as a trophy of their victory (1 Sam. 31:10); Solomon paid homage to her in his heyday (1 Kings 11:5). The numerous female figurines found by archeologists in Hebrew and Canaanite dwellings are thought to be representations of her in her role of mother goddess. In the OT the names Baal and Ashtoreth are used almost synonymously for all the false gods and goddesses of Palestine. The Hebrew language has no word for goddess. Ashtoreth was apparently used instead for the concept.