Teraphim
Teraphim ( "tərāf"; plural: "tərāfīm") is a Hebrew word from the Bible, found only in the plural, of uncertain etymology. Despite being plural, "Teraphim" may refer to singular objects, using the Hebrew plural of excellence. The word "Teraphim" is explained in classical rabbinical literature as meaning "disgraceful things" (dismissed by modern etymologists), and in many English translations of the Bible it is translated as "idols", or "household god(s)" although its exact meaning is more specific than this, but unknown precisely. Teraphim in the Hebrew Bible. Rachel. According to Genesis 31, Rachel takes the teraphim belonging to her father Laban when  her husband Jacob escapes. She hides them in a saddle bag and sits on them when Laban comes looking for them, and claims that she cannot get up because she is menstruating. From this it can be deduced that they were small, perhaps . Her exact motive in doing so is subject to controversy amongst the commentators: Some argue she took the teraphim in order for her father to not have idolatrous paraphernalia, while others explain that she wanted to use them herself. Others say it was at the direction of her husband Jacob. Michal. In 1 Samuel 19, Michal  helps her husband David to escape from her father Saul. She lets him out through a window, and then tricks Saul's men into thinking that a teraphim in her bed is actually David. This suggests the size and shape is that of a man. It also refers to "the" teraphim, which implies that there was a place for teraphim in every household. Van der Toorn claims that "there is no hint of indignation at the presence of teraphim in David's house." However, the same word is used in 1 Samuel 15:23 where Samuel rebukes Saul and tells him  that "presumption is as iniquity and "teraphim"". Here the idea is that rebellion is just as bad as teraphim, the use of which is thus denounced as idolatry. Others explain that the teraphim in this context refer to decorative statues, not to idolatrous ritual items. Other passages. Teraphim are mentioned in Hosea 3:4, where it says that "the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or "teraphim"." As in the narrative of Micah's Idol the teraphim is closely associated with the ephod, and both are mentioned elsewhere in connection with  divination; it is thus a possibility that the "Teraphim" were involved with the process of cleromancy. The teraphim were outlawed in Josiah's reform (2 Kings 23:24). In the Book of Zechariah () it states: "For the teraphim utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; the dreamers tell false dreams, and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for want of a shepherd." In the Book of Ezekiel 21:21, Nebuchadrezzar uses divination to determine which rebel to attack first: belomancy (i.e., casting of arrows inscribed with names of projected victims); necromancy (teraphim were religious images sometimes  expected to convey messages to the living [see Zech 10.2]); and hepatoscopy (making predictions based on the configurations and markings of animal livers). In post-biblical writing. Josephus mentions that there was a custom of carrying "housegods" on journeys to foreign lands, and it is thus possible that the use of teraphim continued in popular culture well into the Hellenistic period and possibly beyond. According to Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, "Teraphim" were made from the heads of slaughtered first-born male adult humans. The heads were shaved, salted, spiced, with a golden plate placed under the tongue, and magic words engraved  upon the plate. It was believed that the "Teraphim", mounted on the wall, would talk to people. Similar explanations are cited in the writings of Eleazar of Worms and Tobiah ben Eliezer. During the excavation of Jericho by Kathleen Kenyon, evidence of the use of plastered human skulls as cult objects was uncovered, lending credence to the rabbinical conjecture. The implied size and the fact that Michal could pretend that one was David, has led to the rabbinical conjecture that they were heads, possibly mummified human heads. Suggested meaning and use. Casper Labuschagne claims that it comes via metathesis from  the root פתר, "to interpret". Karel Van der Toorn argues that they were ancestor figurines rather than household deities, and that the "current interpretation of the teraphim as household deities suffers from a onesided use of Mesopotamian material." That Micah, who worshipped Yahweh, used the "Teraphim" as an idol, and that Laban regarded the Teraphim as representing "his gods", is thought to indicate that they were evidently images of Yahweh. It is considered possible that they originated as a fetish, possibly initially representative of ancestors, but gradually becoming oracular. Benno Landsberger and later Harry Hoffner derive the word from Hittite  tarpiš, "the evil daemon".