Idol

Idol translates several distinct Hebrew words in the Old Testament, each carrying a different nuance of contempt or description: aven (nothingness, vanity; Isaiah 41:29; 66:3), elilim (things of naught; Leviticus 19:4; 26:1), gillulim (logs, dung-pellets; a derogatory term used especially in Ezekiel), atsabim (things causing grief; 1 Samuel 31:9), and matstsebah (a standing pillar or image). The variety of terms reflects the breadth of Israelite opposition to all forms of image worship, expressed through vocabulary that deliberately diminishes the dignity of foreign gods.

The manufacture and veneration of idols was one of the primary covenantal prohibitions for Israel (Exodus 20:4–5; Deuteronomy 5:8–9), and the prophets returned repeatedly to the absurdity of idol-making — a craftsman cutting down a tree, using half for fuel and shaping the other half into a god (Isaiah 44:9–20). In the New Testament, Paul addresses idol meat in Corinth (1 Corinthians 8–10), affirming that an idol is nothing in the world — a restatement of the prophetic polemic — while warning against participation in pagan sacrificial meals as a form of spiritual communion with demons (1 Corinthians 10:19–21).