Isaiah 17:8

the work of his hands… that which his fingers have made phrases used of idols in ch. Isaiah 2:8; Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 31:7.

the altars … either the groves or the images These words overburden the rhythm of the verse and are probably explanatory glosses. An allusion to the brazen-altar of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:10-13) is far-fetched, even if not absolutely excluded by the date. The two last-mentioned objects are never referred to elsewhere by Isaiah.

the groves R.V., rightly, the Asherim. The Ashçrahor Sacred Pole was an emblem of divinity which seems to have stood regularly by the side of the altar in a Canaanitish sanctuary (Judges 6:13; Judges 6:25; Deuteronomy 16:21; 2 Kings 18:4, &c.). It is regarded by some as an artificial survival of the sacred tree, under which the altar stood; by others as the symbol (or image) of a goddess of the same name. Whether a goddessAshçrah was actually worshipped is a much controverted point; if so, she was probably nothing more than an impersonation of the material symbol here referred to. (See Robertson Smith, Relig. of the Semites, Revd. Ed. pp. 187 ff.)

images probably sun-pillars: R.V. "sun-images." The word (ḥammânîm, pl.) only occurs in ch. Isaiah 27:9; 2 Chronicles 14:5; 2Ch 34:4; 2 Chronicles 34:7; Ezekiel 6:4; Ezekiel 6:6; Leviticus 26:30. It seems to be connected with Baal-Ḥammân, a Phœnician deity (best known from the Carthaginian inscriptions) whose name appears to designate him as "Lord of the sun's heat," (cf. the Hebrew ḥammâhused in poetry of the sun: Psalms 19:6; Job 30:28; Song of Solomon 6:10; Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 30:26). The "sun-pillars" were probably emblems of this deity.