TERAPHIM. - Latin transcription (Vulgate) of the Hebrew tērāphim in Judg. 17:5; 18:14, 17; Hos. 3:4, which occurs, variously translated, in 10 other passages.
It probably did not always indicate the same thing; the ancient versions employ various terms, and even today opinions differ. The etymology of the name is unknown (grammatically it may be a simple segolate noun tērāph, or a formation with the prefix ta-: it has been connected with rēphā-īm, Vulg. Gigantes, e.g., Is. 14:9). The names T., 'Urīm and Tummīm, Sanuērīm seem not to be plurals, but singulars with mimation: the presence of this phenomenon in the north-western Semitic languages around 2100-1800 B.C. would also be proved by proper names in which the older form ends in -m (in the Bible itself: Lefem of Josh. 19:47 and Lajif).
In Gen. 31:19, 34, 35 the t. are secretly carried off by Rachel, at the moment of departing with Jacob from Laban's house: they must have been objects of small dimensions, because easily hidden: it is commonly understood as "idols" (Vulg. idolo); the Chaldean tersāhites (v. THARE) were in fact in some way idolatrous (Josh. 24:2; Jdt. 5:5 ff.), although a true cult paid to the t. never appears. In Judg. 17:5; 18:14, 17, 18, 20 the t., together with the ephod (v.) and a "molten image," are "made" by a certain Micah, who founds a "sanctuary" among the Ephraimites: the "image" was probably meant to represent Yahweh; the pairing of t. with ephod suggests that more than idols (the Vulg. three times transcribes the Hebrew, twice renders idolo) it is a matter of an object for mantle purposes. In a proverbial saying of Samuel (1 Sam. 15:23) it is placed alongside the terms "witchcraft, malice," apparently in the sense of "idolatry" (so already the Vulg.: but the text is somewhat uncertain); the semantic evolution is notable, on account of the indication of the judgment of prophetic orthodoxy at that beginning of the anti-syncretistic struggle. In 1 Sam. 19:13, 16, a t. is placed in a bed, with a goat's skin on its head, to simulate a sick man: the context well supports the translation "dummy" (A. Vaccari), which at least must have had a life-sized (bald) head: for these passages figures (busts?) of ancestors have been thought of (Vulg. statua and simulacrum) and a connection with répâtim, manes: the singular use of the name, plural in itself, is notable. In 2 Kings 23:24, they are destroyed by Josiah together with the idols (Vulg.: figura idolorum); a similar pairing in Hos. 3:4. This was probably the evolution of the name and object among the common people.
In two prophetic passages, Ezek. 21:26 (Vulg. idola) and Zech. 10:2 (Vulg. simulacra), the t. are mentioned as means for obtaining oracles, in the first case on the part of the king of Babylon, in the second as deceptive (cf. Judg. 17:5 etc.); which use perhaps confirms that they were human figures, perhaps originally a reminder (mask?) of ancestors. The designation of t. given to certain Israelite statuettes found in excavations is entirely conventional.
Bibliography3 works
Giovanni Rinaldi