Reference: Images
Hastings
1. The making of an image implies a definite conception and the application of art to religion. The earliest Semitic religion (like that of Greece, Rome, etc.) was accordingly imageless. The first images were the stone pillar and the wooden pole or asherah (a tree fetish possibly of phallic significance). Then came real idols, at first for domestic use (as probably the teraphim, portable household gods), and subsequently those of greater size for public worship.
2. About 15 words in OT are used specifically for images. The earliest point to the process of manufacture
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Listen to everything Jehovah has said to you. Do not pray to other gods! Do not even mention their names.
Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest.
Their idols are made of silver and gold. Human hands made them. They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have eyes, but they cannot see. read more. They have ears, but they cannot hear. They have noses, but they cannot smell. They have hands, but they cannot feel. They have feet, but they cannot walk. They cannot even make a sound with their throats. Those who make idols end up like them. So does everyone who trusts them.
The craftsman encourages the goldsmith. He who smooths with the hammer spurs on him who strikes the anvil. He says of the welding: It is good. He nails down the idol so it will not topple.
The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a red chalk marker. He roughs it out with chisels and marks it with a compass. He shapes it in the form of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.
It is man's fuel for burning so he takes some to warm himself. He kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it. Yes he makes an idol and bows down to it.
They lift it to their shoulders and carry it. They set it up in its place and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer. It cannot save him from his troubles!
But as for you who forsake Jehovah and forget my holy mountain, which spread a table for the God of Fortune (Babylonian diety) and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire. The women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to spite me.
They decorate it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not tip over. They are like scarecrows in cucumber fields. They cannot speak. They must be carried, for they cannot walk! Do not fear them! For they can do no harm and they can do no good.
Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. It is the work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith. Violet and purple are their clothing. They are all the work of skilled men.
You took your beautiful gold and silver jewelry that I had given you and made male idols for yourself. Then you committed adultery with them. You took off your embroidered clothes and covered the idols with them. You offered my olive oil and incense in their presence.
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold. He set it up in the plain of Dura, the province of Babylon. It was ninety feet tall and nine feet wide.
They chose their own kings. I did not approve. They chose their own princes. Princes I did not know. They made idols with their own silver and gold. Because of this, they will be destroyed!
They sin more and more. They make idols from silver for themselves. These idols are skillfully made. All of them are the work of craftsmen. People say this about the Israelites: They offer sacrifices and kiss calf-shaped idols.