Ashtaroth, Ashterathite

A town of Bashan, which was the home of King Og, as well as Edrei (Deuteronomy 1:4; Joshua 9:10; 12:4; 13:12, 31).

Ashtaroth is the plural form of Ashtoreth, the name of a Canaanite fertility goddess who was worshiped there. After Og was defeated by the Israelites (Deuteronomy 3:1–11), Moses gave Ashtaroth to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:12, 31; Deuteronomy 3:13). Later, it became a Levitical city inhabited by the Gershonites (1 Chronicles 6:71).

Ashteroth-karnaim (Genesis 14:5) is probably the same town as Ashtaroth. Its location is usually identified as modern-day Tell Ashtarah, 21 miles or 34 kilometers east of the Sea of Galilee. In 1 Chronicles 11:44, one of David’s mighty men, Uzzia, is called an Ashterathite.