He broke down the houses of the male temple prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women did weaving for Asherah — the 'male temple prostitutes' (קְדֵשִׁים, *qedeshim*, literally 'holy ones') were cultic functionaries serving in the fertility-goddess worship. The phrase 'where the women did weaving for Asherah' (וַיִּקְרְעוּ שָׁם בָּתִּים, *way-yikre'u sham battim*, 'tore down the houses there') indicates that Asherah worship involved formal institutional structures and labor. The destruction of these houses removes the institutional apparatus of Canaanite goddess worship.

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