Teraphim (Heb. terâfîm, literally “the perishable ones”). Derogatory allusion to idols or images of pagan deities. The Hebrew word is a collective noun, so it can refer to a single object or to several. In the RVR the word is translated as “idols” in 1Sa 15: 23, Gen 31: 19, 34, 35 and Eze 21: 21; for “statue” in 1Sa 19:13 and 16. Instead, it appears transliterated as “teraphs” in Jdg 17:5; 18: 14, 17, 18, 20; 2Ki 23:24; Hos 3:4 and Zec 10:2. The context of these passages makes it clear that the word was generally used to refer to images of various sizes representing pagan deities. The “idols” that Raquel stole from her father and hid in the saddle (“saddle”, RVR) of her camel, were evidently small figures such as those that have turned up in large numbers in the excavations of practically every place in the world. Near East. The most numerous have been of nude goddesses (fig 503), in many of whom the sexual organs are exaggeratedly enlarged. It is generally believed that she had them to promote fertility; many pagan women would have worn them alongside their bodies as amulets or charms for that purpose. Some teraphim were larger than the small figures we refer to, which is evident from the fact that Michal, David’s first wife, had one large enough to represent her husband (1Sa 19:13 ); no teraphim of that size have yet been discovered in excavations in Palestine. According to Eze 21:21, the teraphim or idols were consulted as to what conduct should be followed, although Zec 10:2 1150 states that their advice was in vain. Some documents discovered in Nuzi, in Mesopotamia, indicate that in the patriarchal era the possession of these teraphim, as in the case of Laban, for example, was a guarantee that its possessor was entitled to the title of owner of the properties inherited from him. his father. This was probably the main reason Laban was so anxious to get them back after they were lost (Gen 31:30, 33-35). Mesopotamian law required the death penalty as punishment for theft of sacred objects (Code of Hammurabi, section 6), and Jacob recognized the validity of that law when he said that he who had Laban’s gods must die (31:32). Apparently, he found out later that these gods and others were in the power of his wives, and so he demanded their surrender and then buried them (Jdg 17: 4, 5). These cult objects, later brought to Dan, probably formed the embryo of the idol worship that existed there for centuries (18:14, 30, 31). Samuel declared that self-will, Saul’s sin, could be equated with idolatry (Heb. terâfîm; 1Sa 15:23). Hosea denounced the cult of the teraphim in Israel, the northern kingdom (Hos 3:4). Josiah destroyed all of them that he found during his reform work (2Ki 23:24), but Zec 10:2 suggests that it was still possible to find some of them after the exile. Bib.: ANET 219,220,166. 503. Goddess of the home (mother goddess) from Megiddo.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
(The root and the meaning of the Hebrew of this word are doubtful). It is used to designate a certain type of household god and a means for divination.
It is usually translated idol. Laban’s teraphim stolen by Rachel (Gen 31:19; compare Jdg 17:5; Jdg 18:14-20) was small enough to be hidden on a camel’s saddle (Gen 31:34-35; compare 1Sa 19:13-16). They were a valuable possession, because they involved the inheritance of Laban’s property. In the time of the judges, Micaiah had teraphim among the religious articles of his domestic shrines (Jdg 17:5). In the spiritual revival under King Josiah the teraphim and other abominations in Judah and Jerusalem were removed (2Ki 23:24; compare Eze 21:21; Zec 10:2).
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
These objects are mentioned in all the Old Testament periods: the patriarchs (Gn. 31.19); the judges (Judg. 17.5–18.30); the primitive and late monarchy (1 Sam. 15.23; 19.13–16; 2 Kings 23.24; Os. 3.4; Ez. 21.21); and after the exile (Zech. 10.2). When they are mentioned in Israelite contexts they are almost always condemned, directly (1 Sam. 15.23; 2 Kings 23.24) or indirectly (Judges 17.6; Zac. 10.2). As for their use, they are mostly associated with *divination: note the link between ephod and teraphim in the idolatrous religion of Micaia (Judges 17.5, etc.); the association with divination by means of arrows and hepatoscopy (Ez. 21.21), and with spiritualistic practices (2 R. 23.24). Nowhere are we told how they were consulted, nor what they were like. While Gen. 31.34 suggests that they were small objects, 1 Sam. 19.13–16 suggests a life-size figure, or at least half-length. However, it is possible that Michal placed the teraphim “next to” rather than “on” the bed, and that they were considered to have some prophylactic or curative power. WF Albright (Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, 1942, pp. 114) reasonably considers all available evidence to be contrary to the first view, to the effect that “no ‘idol’ of comparable size has been found never in the Palestinian excavations.” He further suggests (op. cit., pp. 207) that, based on a trp Canaanite, “wear out”, the “teraphs” in question could here not be any kind of figure but “old rags”, possibly used to simulate the recumbent figure of David.
These last two references (tamb. Jue. 17.5ff) associate the terāfı̂m with the house, and Lahán, at least, considered them as penates (Gn. 31.30). However, the suggestion that Rachel’s theft of her father from the gods (Gen. 31.19, 30–35) amounted to a claim to her inheritance, on the basis of Nuzi custom, already can’t stand. Possession of penates in Nuzi probably indicated family leadership, but such privilege was given, not taken (see M. Greenberg, JBL 81, 1962, pp. 239–248; see also MJ Selman, TynB 27, 1976, pp. 123–124). Rachel’s purpose can only be guessed at, but examples from Mesopotamia suggest that she may have wanted protection on the perilous journey to Palestine.
the heb. terāfı̂m it is a plural form, of which the corresponding singular form is unknown. Possible derivations of rāfā˒‘to heal’, or from the postbiblical toref‘obscenity’ (WF Albright, From the Stone Age to Christianity, 1957, pp. 311), but the most likely association is with Hittite tarpis, a type of spirit, sometimes evil, sometimes protective (HA Hoffner, POTT, pp. 215ff; JNES 27, 1968, pp. 61–68). Other suggestions have linked the word terāfı̂m with ancestor worship (B. Stade, Geschichte 1, 1887, pp. 467), perhaps in the form of ancestral masks (A. Phillips, Ancient Israel’s Criminal Law, 1970, pp. 61) or human heads mummified (HL Ellison on Ez. 21.21 in Ezekiel: The Man and his Message, 1956).
Bibliography. K. Seybold, “Idol”, °DTMAT, t
CH Gordon, “Biblical Customs and the Nuzu Tablets”, BA 3, 1940, pp. 1–12.
jam, MJS
Douglas, J. (2000). New Biblical Dictionary: First Edition. Miami: United Bible Societies.
Source: New Bible Dictionary