Small idols or superstitious figures, from the possession, adoration, and consultation of which extraordinary benefits were expected. See margin 2 Kings 23.24; Ezekiel 21.21 . The Eastern people are still much addicted to this superstition of talismans. The ancient teraphim appear to have been household gods, and their worship was sometimes blended with that of Jehovah, Judges 17:1-13 .
They seem in one case to have resembled the human form in shape and size, 1 Samuel 19:13,16 . The images of Rachel, Genesis 31:19,30 , were teraphim. So Judges 17:5 18:14,20 Hosea 3:4 .