"Asherah and the Asherim: Goddess or Cult Symbol?"
"While some readers might find the idea that Yahweh had a wife disturbing, it was common in the ancient world to believe that gods married and even bore children.
This popular connection between Yahweh and Asherah, and the eventual purging of Asherah from the Israelite cult, is likely a reflection of the emergence of monotheism from the Israelites’ previous polytheistic worldview."
This quote is from Ellen White’s* Biblical Archaeology Society article at http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/asherah-and-the-asherim-goddess-or-cult-symbol/
*Hebrew Bible Ph. D. Professor at University of St. Michael's College