Teraphim

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(images). Little images kept in Eastern households for private consultation and worship. This species of idolatry or superstition was in favor with Hebrews, though often denounced (Gen. 31:19,34-3519And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. (Genesis 31:19)
34Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not. 35And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images. (Genesis 31:34‑35); Judg. 18:1717And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. (Judges 18:17); 1 Sam. 15:23; 19:13,1623For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (1 Samuel 15:23)
13And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. (1 Samuel 19:13)
16And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster. (1 Samuel 19:16); 2 Kings 23:2424Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied 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. (2 Kings 23:24); Hos. 3:44For 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: (Hosea 3:4); Zech. 10:22For 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. (Zechariah 10:2)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

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 (Gen. 31:19, 34-3519And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. (Genesis 31:19)
34Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not. 35And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images. (Genesis 31:34‑35)). Michal the wife of David had one in her house, and laid it in the bed when David escaped (1 Sam. 19:13, 1613And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. (1 Samuel 19:13)
16And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster. (1 Samuel 19:16)). Micah also had them in his house, and regarded them as “gods” (Judg. 17:55And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. (Judges 17:5); Judg. 18:14-2014Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. 15And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. 16And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. 17And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. 18And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? 19And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? 20And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. (Judges 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 (2 Kings 23:2424Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied 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. (2 Kings 23:24); Ezek. 21:2121For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. (Ezekiel 21:21); Zech. 10:22For 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. (Zechariah 10:2)). In Hosea 3:44For 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: (Hosea 3:4) the Jews are described as having neither king, nor prince, nor sacrifice, nor image, nor ephod, nor teraphim—as they are at this day bereft of their sacrifices, and without even the divination and false gods they once had. But the prophecy speaks also of a coming day when they will seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and enter into blessing.

Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names:

idols (literally enfeeblers, or healers)

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

These “images” (teraphim) are supposed to have been rude representations of the human form; perhaps the statuettes of deceased ancestors. Nothing definite is known as to their size. They could not have been very large, or Rachel would not have been able to conceal them under the baggage; nor could they have been very small, or they would not have served Michal’s purpose of deception. See 1 Samuel 19:13,1613And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. (1 Samuel 19:13)
16And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster. (1 Samuel 19:16). They may have been of different sizes. Their use is very ancient; the Israelites adopted them from the Ara-means. They were household gods which were consulted as oracles. Micah the Ephraimite placed them in his “house of gods” (Judg. 17:5; 18:14,17-18,205And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. (Judges 17:5)
14Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. (Judges 18:14)
17And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. 18And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? (Judges 18:17‑18)
20And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. (Judges 18:20)).
Some Jewish writers believe that the teraphim were supposed, on consultation, to be able to give any information desired, and that Rachel stole them from her father for fear he should learn, by consulting them, what route Jacob and his family had taken. Whether or not the teraphim were actually worshiped is a disputed question. The Hebrews certainly kept up the worship of Jehovah in connection with the use of the teraphim. It was not until the reign of Josiah that this singular custom was abolished (2 Kings 23:2424Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied 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. (2 Kings 23:24)). We even find traces of it afterward as late as the time of Hosea (Hosea 3:44For 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: (Hosea 3:4)). The practice became deeply rooted, and extended over large regions of country. The Laers and Penates of the Romans are supposed to have been used for the same purposes as these teraphim. “The Penates were divinities or household gods, who were believed to be the creators or dispensers of all the well-being and gifts of fortune enjoyed by a family, as well as an entire community.” “Every family worshiped one or more of these, whose images were kept in the inner part of the house.” The Laers were “guardian spirits whose place was the chimney-piece, and whose altar was the domestic hearth.” Laers and Penates were worshiped “in the form of little figures or images of wax, earthenware, or terra cotta, and of metal, more especially silver” (Barker's Laves and Penates, pp. 146-147).
Faber supposes the teraphim to be identical with the cherubim. He thinks that those which belonged to Laban were images resembling the cherubim which were afterward put on the ark (Origin of Pagan Idolatry, vol. 3, p. 621).

Related Books and Articles:

60. Teraphim
Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 3min