You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations that you are dispossessing served their gods: on the high mountains and on the hills and under every leafy tree.
English: “And under every leafy tree” — It was taught: R’ Akiva says: Scripture comes only to inform you that wherever you find a high mountain, an elevated hill, or a leafy tree, it is certain that idolatry is present there.
On the daf / in context: The typical sites of Canaanite worship become diagnostic signs of the presence of idolatry.
Type of Learning
Derash on the verse (Sifrei) — the locations as indicators of idolatry.
What Is Learned
A high mountain, elevated hill, or leafy tree is a reliable sign that idolatry was practised there.