Reference: Teraphim
American
Small idols or superstitious figures, from the possession, adoration, and consultation of which extraordinary benefits were expected. See margin 2Ki 23.24; Eze 21.21. The Eastern people are still much addicted to this superstition of talismans. The ancient teraphim appear to have been household gods, and their worship was sometimes blended with that of Jehovah, Jg 17. They seem in one case to have resembled the human form in shape and size, 1Sa 19:13,16. The images of Rachel,
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And Laban went to shear his sheep; and Rachel will steal the family gods which were to her father.
And now going thou didst go, for desiring thou didst greatly desire after the house of thy father; for what didst thou steal my gods?
And the man Micah to him a house of gods; and he will make an ephod and a teraphim, and he will fill the hand of one of his sons, and he will be to him for priest
And the five men going to search the land of Laish will answer and say to their brethren, Knew ye that there is in these houses an ephod, and a teraphim, and a carved thing, and a molten? and now know ye what ye will do.
And the priest's heart will be joyous, and he will take the ephod, and the teraphim, and the carved thing, and will go in the midst of the people.
And Michal will take a teraphim and put into the bed, and put a braiding of goat's hair at its head, and will cover with a garment
And the messengers will come in, and behold, the teraphim in the bed, and the braiding of goats hair at its head.
For many days shall the sons of Israel dwell, not a king and not a chief and not a sacrifice and not a pillar and it one ephod and teraphim
Easton
givers of prosperity, idols in human shape, large or small, analogous to the images of ancestors which were revered by the Romans. In order to deceive the guards sent by Saul to seize David, Michal his wife prepared one of the household teraphim, putting on it the goat's-hair cap worn by sleepers and invalids, and laid it in a bed, covering it with a mantle. She pointed it out to the soldiers, and alleged that David was confined to his bed by a sudden illness (1Sa 19:13-16). Thus she gained time for David's escape. It seems strange to read of teraphim, images of ancestors, preserved for superstitious purposes, being in the house of David. Probably they had been stealthily brought by Michal from her father's house. "Perhaps," says Bishop Wordsworth, "Saul, forsaken by God and possessed by the evil spirit, had resorted to teraphim (as he afterwards resorted to witchcraft); and God overruled evil for good, and made his very teraphim (by the hand of his own daughter) to be an instrument for David's escape.", Deane's David, p. 32. Josiah attempted to suppress this form of idolatry (2Ki 23:24). The ephod and teraphim are mentioned together in HO 3:4. It has been supposed by some (Cheyne's Hosea) that the "ephod" here mentioned, and also in Jg 8:24-27, was not the part of the sacerdotal dress so called (Ex 28:6-14), but an image of Jehovah overlaid with gold or silver (comp. Jg 17; 17:13; 9/type/juliasmith'>1Sa 21:9; 23:6,9; 30:7-8), and is thus associated with the teraphim. (See Thummim.)
Illustration: Teraphim
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And they shall make the ephod of gold, cerulean purple, and red purple, and double scarlet, and twisted byssus, the work of the artificer. Two shoulder pieces shall be joined to it, to its two ends: and it being joined together. read more. And the girdle of its ephod, which is upon it, shall be according to the making of it from it; gold, cerulean purple, red purple, double scarlet, and twisted byssus. And take two stones of onyx, and engrave upon them the names of the sons of Israel. Six from their names upon the one stone, and the six remaining names upon the second stone, according to their generations. The work of a stone engraver, the engravings of a signet, engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel: surrounded with textures of gold thou shalt make them. And put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod, stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel: and for Aaron to lift up their names before Jehovah upon his two shoulders for a remembrance. And make textures of gold. And two chains of pure gold being wreathed, thou shalt make them a work interlaced, and give the chains interlaced upon the textures.
And Gideon will say to them, I will ask of you an asking, and ye shall give to me a man the rings of his spoil: for gold rings to them, because they were Ishmaelites. And they will say, Giving, we will give. And they will spread a garment, and they will cast there each the rings of his spoil. read more. And the weight of the gold rings which he asked will be a thousand and seven hundred of gold; besides of little moons and earrings and purple robes which were upon the kings of Midian, and besides from the collars which upon their camels' necks. And Gideon will make it into an ephod, and he will put in his city, Ophrah: and all Israel will commit fornication after it there: and it will be to Gideon and to his house for a snare.
And Michal will take a teraphim and put into the bed, and put a braiding of goat's hair at its head, and will cover with a garment And Saul will send messengers to take David, and she will say, He sick. read more. And Saul will send the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up in his bed to me to kill him. And the messengers will come in, and behold, the teraphim in the bed, and the braiding of goats hair at its head.
And the priest will say, The sword of Goliah the rover, whom thou didst strike in the valley of the oak, behold, it wrapped up in a garment behind the ephod: if thou wilt take it to thee, take, for no other beside it here. And David will say, None like it; thou shalt give it to me.
And it will be in the fleeing of Abiathar son of Ahimelech, to David to Keilah, he brought down an ephod in his hand.
And David knew that Saul was working evil against him; and he will say to Abiathar the priest, Bring near the ephod.
And David will say to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, Bring now near to me the ephod. And Abiathar will bring near the ephod to David. And David will ask in Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I hedge it in? and he will say, Pursue: and hedging, thou shalt hedge in, and taking away, thou shalt take away.
And also the necromancers, and the wizards and the family gods, and the blocks, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah took away in order to set up the words of the law written upon the book which Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Jehovah.
Fausets
(See IDOL.) Sometimes left untranslated; elsewhere "images ... idolatry" (Ge 31:19,30,34; 35:2, "strange gods".) Worshipped by Abram's kindred in Mesopotamia (Jos 24:14). Images in human form; Maurer thinks busts, cut off at the waist, from taaraph "to cut off," tutelary household gods; small enough to be hidden beneath the camel's furniture or palanquin on which Rachel sat. Michal put them in David's bed to look like him (1Sa 19:13; Jg 17:5; 18:14,17-18,20). Condemned as idolatrous (1Sa 15:23; 2Ki 23:24).
Used for divination (Eze 21:21; Zec 10:2), and to secure good fortune to a house, as the penates. From Arabic tarafa, "to enjoy the good things of life," according to Gesenius. The Syriac teraph means "to inquire" of an oracle, Hebrew toreph "an inquirer" (Ho 3:4-5). The Israelites used the teraphim for magic purposes and divination, side by side with the worship of Jehovah. Related perhaps to seraphim, the recognized symbol attending Jehovah; so perverted into a private idol meant to represent Him, a talisman whereby to obtain responses, instead of by the lawful priesthood through the Urim and Thummim. (See GATE.)
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And Laban went to shear his sheep; and Rachel will steal the family gods which were to her father.
And now going thou didst go, for desiring thou didst greatly desire after the house of thy father; for what didst thou steal my gods?
And Rachel took the family gods, and she will put them in the camel's saddle and will sit upon them. And Laban will feel all the tent, and he found not
And Jacob will say to his house, and to all which are with him, Put away the strange gods which are among you, and be cleansed and change your garments.
And, now fear ye Jehovah and serve him in uprightness and in truth; and remove the gods which your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt; and serve ye Jehovah.
And the man Micah to him a house of gods; and he will make an ephod and a teraphim, and he will fill the hand of one of his sons, and he will be to him for priest
And the five men going to search the land of Laish will answer and say to their brethren, Knew ye that there is in these houses an ephod, and a teraphim, and a carved thing, and a molten? and now know ye what ye will do.
And the five men having gone to search the land will go up; they will come in there; they took the carved thing and the ephod, and the teraphim and the molten thing: and the priest stood at the door of the gate, and the six hundred men girded with weapons of war. And these came in to Micah's house, and they will take the carved thing, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten thing; and the priest will say to them, What are ye doing?
And the priest's heart will be joyous, and he will take the ephod, and the teraphim, and the carved thing, and will go in the midst of the people.
For the sin of divination, rebellion; and deceit, and the family gods of stubbornness. Because thou didst reject the word of Jehovah, and he will reject thee from being king.
And Michal will take a teraphim and put into the bed, and put a braiding of goat's hair at its head, and will cover with a garment
For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver.
For many days shall the sons of Israel dwell, not a king and not a chief and not a sacrifice and not a pillar and it one ephod and teraphim Afterward the sons of Israel shall turn back and they sought Jehovah their God, and David their king; and they trembled at Jehovah and at his goodness in the last of the days.
For the family gods spake vanity, and the diviners saw falsehood, and they will speak dreams of falsehood they will comfort in vain: for this, they removed as a flock, they were afflicted for there was no shepherd.
Hastings
Morish
This is a Hebrew word in the plural. It refers to domestic idols, as for instance those Rachel stole from her father; there the word, as elsewhere, is translated 'images' with'teraphim' in the margin. Ge 31:19,34-35. Michal the wife of David had one in her house, and laid it in the bed when David escaped. 1Sa 19:13,16. Micah also had them in his house, and regarded them as 'gods.' Jg 17:5; 18:14-20. They were used in some way for divination, and are included among the images and idols which Josiah cleared from the land. 2Ki 23:24; Eze 21:21; Zec 10:2. In Ho 3:4 the Jews are described as having neither king, nor prince, nor sacrifice, nor image, nor ephod, nor teraphim
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And Laban went to shear his sheep; and Rachel will steal the family gods which were to her father.
And Rachel took the family gods, and she will put them in the camel's saddle and will sit upon them. And Laban will feel all the tent, and he found not And she will say to her father, My lord will not be angry in his eyes, that I shall not be able to rise from thy face, for the way of women is to me. And he will search and he found not the family gods,
And the man Micah to him a house of gods; and he will make an ephod and a teraphim, and he will fill the hand of one of his sons, and he will be to him for priest
And the five men going to search the land of Laish will answer and say to their brethren, Knew ye that there is in these houses an ephod, and a teraphim, and a carved thing, and a molten? and now know ye what ye will do. And they will turn aside there and come to the house of the youth the Levite, of the house of Micah, and they will ask him for peace. read more. And the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, stood at the door, which were of the sons of Dan. And the five men having gone to search the land will go up; they will come in there; they took the carved thing and the ephod, and the teraphim and the molten thing: and the priest stood at the door of the gate, and the six hundred men girded with weapons of war. And these came in to Micah's house, and they will take the carved thing, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten thing; and the priest will say to them, What are ye doing? And they will say to him, Be silent; put thy hand upon thy mouth and go with us, and be to us for father and for priest: is it good for thee to be priest to the house of one man, or for thee to be priest to a tribe and to a family in Israel? And the priest's heart will be joyous, and he will take the ephod, and the teraphim, and the carved thing, and will go in the midst of the people.
And Michal will take a teraphim and put into the bed, and put a braiding of goat's hair at its head, and will cover with a garment
And the messengers will come in, and behold, the teraphim in the bed, and the braiding of goats hair at its head.
And also the necromancers, and the wizards and the family gods, and the blocks, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah took away in order to set up the words of the law written upon the book which Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Jehovah.
For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver.
For many days shall the sons of Israel dwell, not a king and not a chief and not a sacrifice and not a pillar and it one ephod and teraphim
For the family gods spake vanity, and the diviners saw falsehood, and they will speak dreams of falsehood they will comfort in vain: for this, they removed as a flock, they were afflicted for there was no shepherd.
Smith
Teraphim.
This word occurs only in the plural, and denotes images connected with magical rites. The derivation of the name is obscure. In one case --
--a single statue seems to be intended by the plural. The teraphim, translated "images" in the Authorized Version, carried away from Laban by Rachel were regarded by Laban as gods, and it would therefore appear that they were used by those who added corru
Teraphim were consulted for oracular answers by the Israelites,
comp. Judg 18:5,6; 1Sam 15:22,23; 19:13,16, LXX., and 2Kin 23:24 and by the Babylonians in the case of Nebuchadnezzar.
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And they will say to him, Ask now of God, and we shall know whether our way shall prosper which we go upon it. And the priest will say to them, Go for peace: before Jehovah, your way which ye shall go in it.
And Michal will take a teraphim and put into the bed, and put a braiding of goat's hair at its head, and will cover with a garment
And the messengers will come in, and behold, the teraphim in the bed, and the braiding of goats hair at its head.
And also the necromancers, and the wizards and the family gods, and the blocks, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah took away in order to set up the words of the law written upon the book which Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Jehovah.
And thou son of man, set to thee two ways for the sword of the king of Babel to come: from one land shall come forth they two, and form thou a hand, form upon the head of the way of the city. Thou shalt set the way for the sword to come to Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified. read more. For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver. In his right hand was the divination of Jerusalem, to set battering-rams, to open the mouth in breaking in pieces, to lift up the voice with a loud noise, to set battering-rams against the gates, to throw up a mound, to build a watch-tower.
For the family gods spake vanity, and the diviners saw falsehood, and they will speak dreams of falsehood they will comfort in vain: for this, they removed as a flock, they were afflicted for there was no shepherd.
Watsons
TERAPHIM. It is said, Ge 31:19, that Rachel had stolen the images (teraphim) of her father. What then were these teraphim? The Septuagint translate this word by "oracle," and sometimes by "vain figures." Aquila generally translates it by figures." It appears, indeed, from all the passages in which this word is used, that they were idols or superstitious figures. Some Jewish writers tell us the teraphim were human heads placed in niches, and consulted by way of oracles. Others think they were talismans or figures of metal cast and engraven under certain aspects of the planets, to which they ascribed extraordinary effects. All the eastern people are much addicted to this superstition, and the Persians still call them telefin, a name nearly approaching to teraphim. M. Jurieu supposes them to have been a sort of dii penates, or household gods; and this appears to be, perhaps, the most probable opinion.
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And Laban went to shear his sheep; and Rachel will steal the family gods which were to her father.