b. rg, an abomination,' used of idols in both sing. and pl. The form is the same as that of c. 'shame,' hence an idol,' as a shameful thing, or as making the worshippers ashamed, or as connectcd with shameful worship.
ris.Sno, probably meaning a fearful or hor rible thing, is a term by which the idol of Maachah, Asa's grandmother, or mother, is designated (1 Kings xv. 13 ; 2 Chron. xv. 16). It was made for a grove,' and there is therefore some reason in the idea that it was a Priapic image [IIIGH PLACES AND GROVES] ; but it is not impossible that the Vulg. translation, in the second place, simulacrum Priapi, was influenced by the sound of the He brew.
e. a terror,' is a like term, used in the pl.
1:1'1VV, for idols (Jer. 1. 38), and it is noticeable that, in the pl., it is also the name of a primitive Palestinian people destroyed by the Moabites (Gen. xiv. 5 ; Deut. 11). As idols are apparently spoken of as the dead' (Ps. cvi. 28), this connec tion is worth noticing.
3. Terms indicating the form of idols :— a. nin, or 'an image' or 'idol,' of un „ known derivation. Gesenius compares ; it may be cognate to nI:4;. It is impossible to assign any more special signification to it.
b. 1:93, literally 'a shadow,' signifies a like ness,' image,' and hence an idol.' It is pro bably represented in Arabic by an idol,' unless this is related to c. VS1/, rinvv, the second in pl. only, ' an idol ' or 'idols,' from the root ZY3), he or it laboured, formed, fashioned, toiled with pain.' Gesenius supposes these appellations to indicate that idols were cut or carved.
d. an idol,' from the root 11'1, in its sense of forming, or possibly from a stone,' but we have found no evidence in favour of the idea that sacred stones were thus designated.
c. rinvn, 'a pillar' or 'statue,' from VS), he or it set, placed,' used of the stone Jacob set up at Bethel (Gen. xxviii. 18, 22), of the twelve pillars set up by Moses at Sinai (Exod. xxiv. 4), but also used of idolatrous statues, as, for instance, of the image of Baal (2 Kings iii. 2, cf x. 26). In Jen xliii. 13, the pillars [or statues'J of Beth shemesh,' or Heliopolis, in Egypt, which were to be broken by Nebuchadnezzar, have been not un reasonably conjectured to be the obelisks which were numerous at that ancient city. As obelisks,
though not representing any divinity, Are won. shipped, this, in the sense of an idolatrous pillar, is a very fit appellation, but it might as well desig nate the statues of Heliopolis. It must be ob served that, though originally applied to stone pillars, the term is afterwards used for wooden images, as images thus called are said to have been burnt (2 Kings x. 26). —lin.* is applied to the sacrificial stone set up by Jacob at Bethel on his return (Gen. xxxv. 14), as well as to Absalom's memorial-pillar (2 Sam. xviii. 18).
f. pl. of a lost sing. 11F, images, con nected with the groves, and which stood upon the altar of Baal (2 Chron. xxxiv. 4). Gesenius (Thes. s.v.) explains them to be statues of the sun, citing the Plicenician name of Baal, inn9yz ; but this planation is unsatisfactory, as we find in Hebrew geography the name flnri which Gesenius him self considers the same as sacred to Jupiter mon,' whose name is written in rin4 g), the name of Thebes, and referred to where l'ION (jer. xlvi. 25) and rinz:j (Ezek. xxx. 15) are used for the multitude' of that city : we should, therefore, expect to find C41Crl, or nnsl, rather than nnri. All that can be certainly said is that these images or upright objects were set up like the groves,' but it may be conjectured that their name is connected with that of KHEM, the Egyptian god of produc tiveness, which is related to the root rinri, from which the word under consideration is held to be derived.
is the term rendered imagery' in the • : A. V. in the description by Ezekiel of the 4-1-01 n#,,n, or chambers of imagery (viii. 7-12): The root.is unused, but found in the Chaldee he or it looked at,' and is traceable in related words. The exact meaning may be reasonably inferred from the description of the idols portrayed upon the walls of these chambers, and from the expression ptst roztvn, Lev. xxvi. 1, a stone pictured,' that is, bearing idolatrous pictures. Comp. also the use of the term in Prov. xxv. r, 'apples of gold in chased work [I of silver,' like the inlaid silver in brazen vessels of this period (that of Hezekiah, ver. I), brought from Nineveh, and now in the British Museum.