“in the house of Yahweh.” The fact that Manasseh and Amon allowed cult prostitutes to live and serve in the Temple of Yahweh shows how far from God Judah had turned before Josiah’s reforms, and why, even after his reforms, the sins of Manasseh, which had become part of the culture of Judah, had dire consequences (2 Kings 24:3-4).

“coverings.” The word is difficult because it literally means “houses,” but the women did not weave houses. It could have been coverings that were used to “house” the Asherah from the elements, they could have been little enclosures to set the Asherah apart from the rest of the shrine, or they could have been coverings like clothing around the Asherah. The ancients sometimes decorated the statues of their gods and goddesses.