Bible Dictionary
Teraphim
Teraphim were household images associated with idolatry, magical practices, and attempts to obtain divine guidance. They appear in patriarchal households and were later condemned among Israel’s forbidden religious objects.
Definition
Teraphim were household images associated with idolatry, magical rites, and attempts to obtain divine answers. The term occurs in the plural, though one statue may sometimes be intended.
Biblical Usage
Rachel carried teraphim from Laban’s household. Michal used a teraphim image to deceive Saul’s messengers and help David escape. Teraphim appear among Micah’s images, were consulted for oracles, and were later suppressed by Josiah.
Historical Background
Teraphim were regarded by Laban as gods and were connected with corrupt practices added to patriarchal religion. Their association with the ephod reflects the use of images and objects in seeking religious or oracular guidance.
Scripture References
1 Samuel 19:13-16
2 Kings 23:24
Hosea 3:4
Judges 8:24-27
Exodus 28:6-14
Judges 17
Judges 18
1 Samuel 21:9
1 Samuel 23:6
1 Samuel 23:9
1 Samuel 30:7
1 Samuel 30:8
1 Samuel 19:13
1 Samuel 19:16
Judges 17:3-5
Judges 18:17
Judges 18:18
Judges 18:20
Zechariah 10:2
Judges 18:5
Judges 18:6
1 Samuel 15:22
1 Samuel 15:23
Ezekiel 21:19-22
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
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 (1 Sam. 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 (2 Kings 23:24). The ephod and teraphim are mentioned together in Hos. 3:4. It has been supposed by some (Cheyne’s Hosea) that the “ephod” here mentioned, and also in Judg. 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. Judg. 17, 18; 1 Sam. 21:9; 23:6, 9; 30:7, 8), and is thus associated with the teraphim. (See THUMMIM.)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
This word occurs only in the plural, and denotes images connected with magical rites. The derivation of the name is obscure. In one case— (1 Samuel 19:13,16)—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 corrupt practices to the patriarchal religion. Teraphim again are included among Micah’s images. (Judges 17:3-5; 18:17,18,20) Teraphim were consulted for oracular answers by the Israelites, (Zechariah 10:2) 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. (Ezekiel 21:19-22)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ter'-a-fim.</p><p>See ASTROLOGY; DIVINATION; IMAGES.</p>