Images of the size and form of a man (1 Sam. 19: 13, 16) used from patriarchal times (Gen. 31: 30, 32) and onwards (Judg. 17: 5; Hosea 3: 4-5; Zech. 10: 2) in worship and for magical purposes both in Israel and in Babylon (Ezek. 21: 21). To use teraphim was probably not to worship strange gods, but to worship the true God in a corrupt manner.