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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When Laban went to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household idols.
It appears that you are going because your heart's desire is for your father's house. But why have you taken my gods?
Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest.
The five men who had gone to spy on the country around Laish said to their companions: Did you know that here in one of these houses there is a wooden idol covered with silver? There are also other idols and an ephod. Consider what you should do.
This filled the priest with joy. He took the sacred objects and went along with them.
Then Michal took some idols, laid them in the bed, put a goat-hair blanket at its head, and covered the idols with a garment.
The messengers entered. There, on the bed was the household idol with the quilt of goats' hair at its head.
For the children of Israel will live many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without pillar, and without ephod or 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/nsb'>1Sa 21:9; 23:6,9; 30:7-8), and is thus associated with the teraphim. (See Thummim.)
Illustration: Teraphim
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prepare the ephod with fine linen yarn. Embroider gold, violet, purple, and bright red yarn into the fabric. It should have two shoulder straps attached at the top corners so it can be fastened. read more. Make the belt that is attached to the ephod from the same fabric. Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on two onyx stones. Engrave them in order of their birth. Place six names on each stone. Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the same way a jeweler engraves a signet ring. Mount them in gold settings. Then fasten them on the shoulder straps of the ephod as reminders of who the Israelites are. In this way Aaron will carry their names on his shoulders as a reminder in Jehovah's presence. Make gold settings. Also make two chains of pure gold. These gold chains should be twisted like ropes. Fasten these chains to the settings.
He also said: Let me ask one thing of you. Every one of you must give me the earrings you took. (The Midianites wore gold earrings.) They answered: We will gladly give them to you. They spread out a cloth, and everyone put the earrings that he had taken on it. read more. The gold earrings that Gideon got weighed over forty pounds. This did not include the ornaments, necklaces, and purple clothes that the kings of Midian wore. It also did not include the collars that were around the necks of their camels. Gideon made an idol from the gold and placed it in his hometown, Ophrah. The Israelites abandoned God and went there to worship the idol. It was a trap for Gideon and his family.
Then Michal took some idols, laid them in the bed, put a goat-hair blanket at its head, and covered the idols with a garment. Saul sent messengers to get David. Michal said: He is sick. read more. Then Saul sent messengers to see David. They said: Bring him up to me on his bed. I will put him to death. The messengers entered. There, on the bed was the household idol with the quilt of goats' hair at its head.
The high priest answered: The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Elah Valley, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the priestly ephod. Take it if you want. There is no other weapon here. David said: There is none like it. Let me have the sword.
When Ahimelech's son Abiathar fled to David at Keilah, Abiathar brought a priestly ephod with him.
David learned that Saul was planning to harm him. He told the priest Abiathar: Bring the ephod!
David told Abiathar the priest: Please bring me the priestly ephod. So Abiathar brought David the ephod. David asked Jehovah: Should I pursue these troops? Will I catch up with them? Pursue them! Jehovah told him: You will certainly catch up with them and rescue the captives.
Josiah removed all the spirit mediums, the foretellers, the images, and the false gods, and all the disgusting things seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. That way he could establish the words of the agreement recorded in the book Hilkiah the priest discovered in the Temple 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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When Laban went to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household idols.
It appears that you are going because your heart's desire is for your father's house. But why have you taken my gods?
Rachel took the images. She put them in the camels' basket and was seated on them. Laban searched through the tent and did not find them.
Jacob said to his family and those who were with him: Get rid of the foreign gods that you have. Wash yourselves until you are ritually clean. Change your clothes.
Honor Jehovah and serve him sincerely and in truth. Get rid of the gods that your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only Jehovah.
Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest.
The five men who had gone to spy on the country around Laish said to their companions: Did you know that here in one of these houses there is a wooden idol covered with silver? There are also other idols and an ephod. Consider what you should do.
The five spies went straight into the house. They took the wooden idol covered with silver, the other idols, and the ephod. The priest stayed at the gate with the six hundred armed men. The men went into Micah's house and took the sacred objects. The priest asked them: What are you doing?
This filled the priest with joy. He took the sacred objects and went along with them.
The sin of divination is rebellion. Wickedness and idolatry are arrogance. They are evil. Because you rejected the word of Jehovah, he rejects you as king.
Then Michal took some idols, laid them in the bed, put a goat-hair blanket at its head, and covered the idols with a garment.
The king of Babylon will stand where the roads branch off, at the fork in the road. Then he will look for omens. The king will stand at the branch of the roads where he will use divination. He will shake the arrows and ask the teraphim and look into the liver.
For the children of Israel will live many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel will return and seek Jehovah their God. David their king will come with trembling to Jehovah and to his goodness in the last days.
For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie. They have told false dreams! They comfort in vain. They go their way like sheep. They are afflicted because there is 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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When Laban went to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household idols.
Rachel took the images. She put them in the camels' basket and was seated on them. Laban searched through the tent and did not find them. Rachel said to her father: Do not be angry, Father, but I cannot get up to greet you. I am having my period. So even though Laban had made a thorough search, he did not find the idols.
Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest.
The five men who had gone to spy on the country around Laish said to their companions: Did you know that here in one of these houses there is a wooden idol covered with silver? There are also other idols and an ephod. Consider what you should do. They went into Micah's house, where the young Levite lived. They greeted the Levite. read more. The six hundred soldiers from the tribe of Dan, ready for battle, stood at the gate. The five spies went straight into the house. They took the wooden idol covered with silver, the other idols, and the ephod. The priest stayed at the gate with the six hundred armed men. The men went into Micah's house and took the sacred objects. The priest asked them: What are you doing? They told him: Be quiet. Do not say a word. Come with us and be our priest and adviser. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel? This filled the priest with joy. He took the sacred objects and went along with them.
Then Michal took some idols, laid them in the bed, put a goat-hair blanket at its head, and covered the idols with a garment.
The messengers entered. There, on the bed was the household idol with the quilt of goats' hair at its head.
Josiah removed all the spirit mediums, the foretellers, the images, and the false gods, and all the disgusting things seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. That way he could establish the words of the agreement recorded in the book Hilkiah the priest discovered in the Temple of Jehovah.
The king of Babylon will stand where the roads branch off, at the fork in the road. Then he will look for omens. The king will stand at the branch of the roads where he will use divination. He will shake the arrows and ask the teraphim and look into the liver.
For the children of Israel will live many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim.
For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie. They have told false dreams! They comfort in vain. They go their way like sheep. They are afflicted because there is 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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They said to him: Please ask God if our journey will be successful. The priest answered: Do not worry. Jehovah is taking care of you on this trip.
Then Michal took some idols, laid them in the bed, put a goat-hair blanket at its head, and covered the idols with a garment.
The messengers entered. There, on the bed was the household idol with the quilt of goats' hair at its head.
Josiah removed all the spirit mediums, the foretellers, the images, and the false gods, and all the disgusting things seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. That way he could establish the words of the agreement recorded in the book Hilkiah the priest discovered in the Temple of Jehovah.
Son of man, mark two roads that the king of Babylon and his sword can take. Both of these roads should start from the same country. Make a signpost and put it at the fork of the roads that go toward the cities. Mark the road that the king and his sword can take to the Ammonite city of Rabbah. Then mark the road that leads to Judah and the fortified city of Jerusalem. read more. The king of Babylon will stand where the roads branch off, at the fork in the road. Then he will look for omens. The king will stand at the branch of the roads where he will use divination. He will shake the arrows and ask the teraphim and look into the liver. The divination (omens) will indicate that he should go to the right, to Jerusalem. So he will set up his battering rams there, and give the order to kill. He will raise a battle cry and aim the battering rams against the city gates. He will put up ramps and set up blockades (siege walls).
For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie. They have told false dreams! They comfort in vain. They go their way like sheep. They are afflicted because there is 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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When Laban went to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household idols.