Meaning of “idol”

1. Idol — (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."

2. Idolatry — image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object. Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Rom. 1:21-25: men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (1:28). The forms of idolatry are, (1.) Fetishism, or the worship of trees, rivers, hills, stones, etc. (2.) Nature worship, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, as the supposed powers of nature. (3.) Hero worship, the worship of deceased ancestors, or of heroes. In Scripture, idolatry is regarded as of heathen origin, and as being imported among the Hebrews through contact with heathen nations. The first allusion to idolatry is in the account of Rachel stealing her father's teraphim (Gen. 31:19), which were the relics of the worship of other gods by Laban's progenitors "on the other side of the river in old time" (Josh. 24:2). During their long residence in Egypt the Hebrews fell into idolatry, and it was long before they were delivered from it (Josh. 24:14; Ezek. 20:7). Many a token of God's displeasure fell upon them because of this sin. The idolatry learned in Egypt was probably rooted out from among the people during the forty years' wanderings; but when the Jews entered Palestine, they came into contact with the monuments and associations of the idolatry of the old Canaanitish races, and showed a constant tendency to depart from the living God and follow the idolatrous practices of those heathen nations. It was their great national sin, which was only effectually rebuked by the Babylonian exile. That exile finally purified the Jews of all idolatrous tendencies. The first and second commandments are directed against idolatry of every form. Individuals and communities were equally amenable to the rigorous code. The individual offender was devoted to destruction (Ex. 22:20). His nearest relatives were not only bound to denounce him and deliver him up to punishment (Deut. 13:20-10), but their hands were to strike the first blow when, on the evidence of two witnesses at least, he was stoned (Deut. 17:2-7). To attempt to seduce others to false worship was a crime of equal enormity (13:6-10). An idolatrous nation shared the same fate. No facts are more strongly declared in the Old Testament than that the extermination of the Canaanites was the punishment of their idolatry (Ex. 34:15, 16; Deut. 7; 12:29-31; 20:17), and that the calamities of the Israelites were due to the same cause (Jer. 2:17). "A city guilty of idolatry was looked upon as a cancer in the state; it was considered to be in rebellion, and treated according to the laws of war. Its inhabitants and all their cattle were put to death." Jehovah was the theocratic King of Israel, the civil Head of the commonwealth, and therefore to an Israelite idolatry was a state offence (1 Sam. 15:23), high treason. On taking possession of the land, the Jews were commanded to destroy all traces of every kind of the existing idolatry of the Canaanites (Ex. 23:24, 32; 34:13; Deut. 7:5, 25; 12:1-3). In the New Testament the term idolatry is used to designate covetousness (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5).

2 results from Easton's Bible Dictionary

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Bible Search for “idol”

1. Leviticus Chapter 19 Verse 4 — Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

2. Leviticus Chapter 26 Verse 1 — Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

3. Leviticus Chapter 26 Verse 30 — And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

4. Deuteronomy Chapter 29 Verse 17 — And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:

5. 1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verse 23 — For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

6. 1 Samuel Chapter 31 Verse 9 — And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.

7. 1 Kings Chapter 15 Verse 12 — And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

8. 1 Kings Chapter 15 Verse 13 — And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

9. 1 Kings Chapter 21 Verse 26 — And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

10. 2 Kings Chapter 17 Verse 12 — For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

11. 2 Kings Chapter 21 Verse 11 — Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:

12. 2 Kings Chapter 21 Verse 21 — And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:

13. 2 Kings Chapter 23 Verse 5 — And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

14. 2 Kings Chapter 23 Verse 24 — Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

15. 1 Chronicles Chapter 10 Verse 9 — And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people.

16. 1 Chronicles Chapter 16 Verse 26 — For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

17. 2 Chronicles Chapter 15 Verse 8 — And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

18. 2 Chronicles Chapter 15 Verse 16 — And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

19. 2 Chronicles Chapter 24 Verse 18 — And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

20. 2 Chronicles Chapter 33 Verse 7 — And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

21. 2 Chronicles Chapter 33 Verse 15 — And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

22. 2 Chronicles Chapter 34 Verse 7 — And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

23. Psalms Chapter 96 Verse 5 — For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

24. Psalms Chapter 97 Verse 7 — Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.

25. Psalms Chapter 106 Verse 36 — And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

26. Psalms Chapter 106 Verse 38 — And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

27. Psalms Chapter 115 Verse 4 — Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

28. Psalms Chapter 135 Verse 15 — The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

29. Isaiah Chapter 2 Verse 8 — Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:

30. Isaiah Chapter 2 Verse 18 — And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

31. Isaiah Chapter 2 Verse 20 — In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

32. Isaiah Chapter 10 Verse 10 — As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

33. Isaiah Chapter 10 Verse 11 — Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

34. Isaiah Chapter 19 Verse 1 — The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

35. Isaiah Chapter 19 Verse 3 — And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

36. Isaiah Chapter 31 Verse 7 — For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.

37. Isaiah Chapter 45 Verse 16 — They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.

38. Isaiah Chapter 46 Verse 1 — Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.

39. Isaiah Chapter 48 Verse 5 — I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

40. Isaiah Chapter 57 Verse 5 — Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?

41. Isaiah Chapter 66 Verse 3 — He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.

42. Jeremiah Chapter 22 Verse 28 — Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

43. Jeremiah Chapter 50 Verse 2 — Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

44. Jeremiah Chapter 50 Verse 38 — A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.

45. Ezekiel Chapter 6 Verse 4 — And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.

46. Ezekiel Chapter 6 Verse 5 — And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.

47. Ezekiel Chapter 6 Verse 6 — In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.

48. Ezekiel Chapter 6 Verse 9 — And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

49. Ezekiel Chapter 6 Verse 13 — Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.

50. Ezekiel Chapter 8 Verse 10 — So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.

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