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,
Ge 31:19,30, were teraphim. So 2000'>Jg 17:5; 2000'>18:14,20; Ho 3:4.
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And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's.
And now, though you would wish to be gone, because you greatly longed after your father's house, yet why have you stolen my gods?
And the man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod, and household gods, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and household gods, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what you have to do.
And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the household gods, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his head, and covered it with a cloth.
And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his head.
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without 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/kj2000'>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, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with skillful work. It shall have its two shoulder pieces joined at their two edges; and so it shall be joined together. read more. And the skillfully woven band of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same workmanship, according to its work; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And you shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel: Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: you shall make them to be set in settings of gold. And you shall put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial. And you shall make settings of gold; And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of braided work shall you make them, and fasten the braided chains to the settings.
And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that you would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his spoil. read more. And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went there and played the harlot with it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his head, and covered it with a cloth. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. read more. And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his head.
And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you slew in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if you will take that, take it: for there is no other except that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it to me.
And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
And David knew that Saul secretly plotted evil against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring here the ephod.
And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray you, bring me here the ephod. And Abiathar brought there the ephod to David. And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
Moreover the workers with mediums, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
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 had stolen the images that were her father's.
And now, though you would wish to be gone, because you greatly longed after your father's house, yet why have you stolen my gods?
Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's saddle, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.
Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, and in Egypt; and serve you the LORD.
And the man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod, and household gods, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and household gods, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what you have to do.
And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the household gods, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men that were armed with weapons of war. And these went into Micah's house, and took the carved image, the ephod, and the household gods, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What are you doing?
And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the household gods, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.
And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his head, and covered it with a cloth.
For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook his arrows, he consulted with images, he looked at the liver.
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because 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 had stolen the images that were her father's.
Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's saddle, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not. And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before you; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.
And the man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod, and household gods, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and household gods, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what you have to do. And they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and greeted him. read more. And the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the household gods, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men that were armed with weapons of war. And these went into Micah's house, and took the carved image, the ephod, and the household gods, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What are you doing? And they said unto him, Hold your peace, lay your hand upon your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel? And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the household gods, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his head, and covered it with a cloth.
And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his head.
Moreover the workers with mediums, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook his arrows, he consulted with images, he looked at the liver.
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because 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
2000'>Jg 17:3-5; 2000'>18:17-18,20
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 said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray you, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: the LORD is before your way in which you go.
And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his head, and covered it with a cloth.
And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his head.
Moreover the workers with mediums, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
Also, you son of man, mark you two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both of the two shall come forth out of one land: and choose you a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. Mark the way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified. read more. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook his arrows, he consulted with images, he looked at the liver. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up a siege mound, and to build a wall.
For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because 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 had stolen the images that were her father's.