Idol

Idol [EBD]

(1.) Heb. aven, "nothingness;" "vanity" (Isa. 66:3; 41:29; Deut. 32:21; 1 Kings 16:13; Ps. 31:6; Jer. 8:19, etc.).

(2.) 'Elil, "a thing of naught" (Ps. 97:7; Isa. 19:3); a word of contempt, used of the gods of Noph (Ezek. 30:13).

(3.) 'Emah, "terror," in allusion to the hideous form of idols (Jer. 50:38).

(4.) Miphletzeth, "a fright;" "horror" (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Chr. 15:16).

(5.) Bosheth, "shame;" "shameful thing" (Jer. 11:13; Hos. 9:10); as characterizing the obscenity of the worship of Baal.

(6.) Gillulim, also a word of contempt, "dung;" "refuse" (Ezek. 16:36; 20:8; Deut. 29:17, marg.).

(7.) Shikkuts, "filth;" "impurity" (Ezek. 37:23; Nah. 3:6).

(8.) Semel, "likeness;" "a carved image" (Deut. 4:16).

(9.) Tselem, "a shadow" (Dan. 3:1; 1 Sam. 6:5), as distinguished from the "likeness," or the exact counterpart.

(10.) Temunah, "similitude" (Deut. 4:12-19). Here Moses forbids the several forms of Gentile idolatry.

(11.) 'Atsab, "a figure;" from the root "to fashion," "to labour;" denoting that idols are the result of man's labour (Isa. 48:5; Ps. 139:24, "wicked way;" literally, as some translate, "way of an idol").

(12.) Tsir, "a form;" "shape" (Isa. 45:16).

(13.) Matztzebah, a "statue" set up (Jer. 43:13); a memorial stone like that erected by Jacob (Gen. 28:18; 31:45; 35:14, 20), by Joshua (4:9), and by Samuel (1 Sam. 7:12). It is the name given to the statues of Baal (2 Kings 3:2; 10:27).

(14.) Hammanim, "sun-images." Hamman is a synonym of Baal, the sun-god of the Phoenicians (2 Chr. 34:4, 7; 14:3, 5; Isa. 17:8).

(15.) Maskith, "device" (Lev. 26:1; Num. 33:52). In Lev. 26:1, the words "image of stone" (A.V.) denote "a stone or cippus with the image of an idol, as Baal, Astarte, etc." In Ezek. 8:12, "chambers of imagery" (maskith), are "chambers of which the walls are painted with the figures of idols;" comp. ver. 10, 11.

(16.) Pesel, "a graven" or "carved image" (Isa. 44:10-20). It denotes also a figure cast in metal (Deut. 7:25; 27:15; Isa. 40:19; 44:10).

(17.) Massekah, "a molten image" (Deut. 9:12; Judg. 17:3, 4).

(18.) Teraphim, pl., "images," family gods (penates) worshipped by Abram's kindred (Josh. 24:14). Put by Michal in David's bed (Judg. 17:5; 18:14, 17, 18, 20; 1 Sam. 19:13).

"Nothing can be more instructive and significant than this multiplicity and variety of words designating the instruments and inventions of idolatry."

Idol [NAVE]

IDOL
Manufacture of, Ex. 20:4; 32:4, 20; Deut. 4:23; Isa. 40:19, 20; 44:9-12, 17; Hab. 2:18; Acts 19:24, 25.
Manufacture of, forbidden, Ex. 20:4; 34:17.
Made of gold, Ex. 32:3, 4; Psa. 115:4-7; 135:15-17; Isa. 2:20; 30:22; 31:7; Hos. 8:4; silver, Isa. 2:20; 30:22; 31:7; Hos. 8:4; wood and stone, Lev. 26:1; Deut. 4:28; 2 Kin. 19:18; Isa. 37:19; 41:6; 44:13-19; Ezek. 20:32.
Coverings of, Isa. 30:22.
Prayer to, unanswered, 1 Kin. 18:25-29; Isa. 16:12.
Things offered to, not to be eaten, Ex. 34:15.
See: Iconoclasm; Shrine.

IDOL [SMITH]

An image or anything used as an object of worship in place of the true God. Among the earliest objects of worship, regarded as symbols of deity, were the meteoric stones,which the ancients believed to have been images of the Gods sent down from heaven. From these they transferred their regard to rough unhewn blocks, to stone columns or pillars of wood, in which the divinity worshipped was supposed to dwell, and which were connected, like the sacred stone at Delphi, by being anointed with oil and crowned with wool on solemn days. Of the forms assumed by the idolatrous images we have not many traces in the Bible. Dagon, the fish-god of the Philistines, was a human figure terminating in a fish; and that the Syrian deities were represented in later times in a symbolical human shape we know for certainty. When the process of adorning the image was completed, it was placed in a temple or shrine appointed for it. Epist. (Jeremiah 12:1; Jeremiah 19:1) ... Wisd. 13:15; (1 Corinthians 18:10) From these temples the idols were sometimes carried in procession, Epist. (Jeremiah 4:26) on festival days. Their priests were maintained from the idol treasury, and feasted upon the meats which were appointed for the idols? use. Bel and the Dragon 3,13.