3. (Heb. tenz-oo-nalv'),rendered "image" in Job iv:16; elsewhere "similitude" (Deut. iv:12); "likeness," (Deut. iv:16); "form" or "shape " would be better (comp. 2 Kings xvii:t6; Exod. xx:4; Num. xii:8).
4. (Heb. mats-tsay-baw', anything set up, a " statue", applied to a memorial stone like those erected by Jacob on four several occasions
Such were the stones set up by Joshua (Josh, iv :9) after the passage of the Jordan, and at Shechem (xxiv :26), and by Samuel when vic torious over the Philistines (I Sam. vii :12). When solemnly dedicated they were anointed with oil, and libations were poured upon them. The word is applied to denote the obelisks which stood at the entrance to the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis (Jer. xliii:13), two of which were a hundred cubits high and eight broad, each of a single stone (Her. ii :III). It is also used of the statues of Baal (2 Kings iii :2), whether of stone (2 Kings x :27) or wood, which stood in the in nermost recess of the temple at Samaria. The Palladium of Troy, the black stone in the Kaaba at Mecca, said to have been brought from heaven by the angel Gabriel, and the stone at Ephesus, "which fell down from Jupiter" (Acts xix :35), are examples of the belief, anciently so common, that the gods sent down their images upon earth.
5. (Heb. :n, aw-tsawb').
6. (Heb. eh'tseb, Jer. xxii:28).
7. (Heb. oh'tseb, ls. xlviii:5), a "figure." (The three immediately foregoing are derived from a, root aw-tsall • signifying "to work," ''to fashion.") 8. (Heb. tseer, once only applied to an idol, Is. xlv:16).
9. (Heb. mas-keeth', Lev. xxvi:t ; Num.
xxxiii:52; Ezek. viii:12).
The opinion is held by some that Eben mas keeth' was originally a smooth elevated stone, employed for the purpose of obtaining from it a freer prospect, and of offering prayer in prostra tion upon it to the deities of heaven. Hence, generally, they conclude it signifies a stone of prayer or devotion, and the "chambers of im agery" of Ezek. viii :i2 are "chambers of devo tion.
10. ( Heb. 017, ter'aw-fenze, teraphim). See TERAPHIM.
(Heb. r;/.;.1, kham-maw-neem'), in the margin of most passages "sun images." it is used in conjunction with the symbols of the nature god dess Asherah (2 Chron. xiv:3., 5; xxxiv:4, 7; Is.
xvii:9; xxvii:8), as was otherwise usual with Baal and Asherah.
They are mentioned with the Asherim, and the latter are coupled with the statues of Baal (1 Kings xiv :23; 2 Kings xxiii :14). The chamminim and statues are used promiscuously (comp. 2 Kings xxiii:14 and 2 Citron. xxxiv;4; 2 Chron. xiv:3, 5), but are never spoken of together. They were probably images of the fire god Baal, and seem to have represented a rising flame of fire, being made of either wood or stone.
3. Material, Etc. Terms denoting the ma terial, tools, workmanship, etc.
1. Heb. neh'sek, or 7;:, naz'sek, and ri.?;';,mas-say-kaw',are evidently synonymous (Is.
xli:29; xlviii:5; Jer. x:i4) in later Hebrew, and denote a "molten" image. ilfas-sav'kaw' is frequently used in distinction from Pell' sel (Deut. xxvii:t5; Judg. xvii:3, ttc).
2. Heb. • ..';;;, fieh'sel,and Pes-eel-eem', usually translated in the A. V. "graven" or "carved" images. In two passages the latter is ambiguously rendered "quarries (Judg. :19, 26).
The verb is used to indicate the finished result of the workmanship of the masons (Ex. xxxiv :4; Kings v Peh-sel was later employed of a figure cast in metal (Is. x1:19 ; xliv :to). These "sculptured" images were probably wood, iron, or stone, covered with gold or silver (Deut. vii :25 •, Is. xxx :22 ; flab. ii :ro), the more costly being.of solid metal (Is. x1:19) brass and clay were em ployed for the same purpose (Dan. ii :33; v :23).
4. Forms of Idols. Among the earliest ob jects of worship, regarded as symbols of deity, were the meteoric stones which the ancients be lieved to have been the images of the gods Fent down from heaven; then rough unhewn blocks; then stone zolumns or pillars of wood, in which the Divinity worshiped was supposed to dwell, and which wcre consecrated, like the sacred stone at Delphi, by being anointed with oil and crowned with wool on solemn days.
We have not many traces of the forms of idolatrous images in the Bible. Dagon, the fish god of the Philistines, was a human figure ter minating in a fish (see DAGON). A few bore some symbolical reference to the worship of the true God, and partook of the nature of idolatry; such, for example, as the golden calf of Aaron comp. Neh. ix :18) ; those of Jeroboam; the singu lar ephods of Gideon and Micah (Judg.
xvii :5). (Mc. & Str. Cyc.; Smith's Bib. Dict.)