1 Kings 14:15

as a reed is shaken For this figure of entire instability, cf. Matthew 11:7 -a reed shaken with the wind". And here the root is planted amid the water, which will make it more tottering still.

beyond the river i.e. The River, par excellence, the Euphrates.

their groves R.V. their Ashêrim. This is a plural form of the word Ashêrah, which is the name of a goddess worshipped with rites similar to those of Baal-worship. The plural probably denotes the wooden images of the goddess, which are mentioned as early as Exodus 34:13, and the worship of which was common in the time of the Judges (cf. 1 Kings 3:7), and then for some interval laid aside, but revived under the kings.