Lexical Summary
pasil: Idol, graven image
Original Word:פְסִיל
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:pciyl
Pronunciation:pah-SEEL
Phonetic Spelling:(pes-eel')
KJV: carved (graven) image, quarry
NASB:idols, graven images, carved images, engraved images, images
Word Origin:[fromH6458 (פָּסַל - cut)]
1. an idol
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
carved graven image, quarry
Frompacal; an idol -- carved (graven) image, quarry.
see HEBREWpacal
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
pasalDefinitionan idol, image
NASB Translationcarved images (6), engraved images (1), graven images (7), idols (8), images (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
[]
23Deuteronomy 7:25 id.; — plural ( serving as singular)
Judges 3:19 +;
Hosea 11:2 +; construct
Jeremiah 51:47 +; suffix
Micah 5:12, etc.; —
idols,
Hosea 11:2;
Isaiah 10:10 10t., + (of wood, with )
Deuteronomy 7:5,25, so (with )
Deuteronomy 12:3; of stone
Isaiah 21:9 (with ),
Judges 3:19,26 (compare GFM), stone or metal
Micah 1:7; 2Chronicles 34:7 (), compare
2 Chronicles 34:3;
2 Chronicles 34:4; (sheathed with) silver
Isaiah 30:22.
I. (√ of following; perhaps comparespread; compare Phoenician (Punic)tablet; Aramaic ,
, =Biblical Hebrew).
Topical Lexicon
Overviewפְסִיל (pesil) designates a carved image fashioned for religious devotion. Every occurrence ties the term to idolatry, never to legitimate worship. Scripture therefore presents each pesil as a concrete violation of the first and second commandments and as a stark rival to the glory of the living God.
Geographic and Historical Setting
The word surfaces in contexts that range from the conquest period (Deuteronomy) to the post-exilic prophetic age (Jeremiah, Micah). Israel encountered a world saturated with manufactured deities—Canaanite fertility symbols, Aramean household gods, Assyrian and Babylonian imperial icons. The pesil thus became the physical emblem of cultural pressure to syncretize. Reoccurring calls to destroy these images underscore the perpetual tension between covenant fidelity and surrounding pagan practice.
Distribution in Scripture
1. Deuteronomic legislation (Deuteronomy 7:5; 7:25; 12:3) lays down the foundational ban: Israel must “break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and burn their idols” (Deuteronomy 12:3).
2. The judges period records the nation living at the margin of obedience. Ehud maneuvers “near the idols” at Gilgal (Judges 3:19, 26), and the Danites plunder Micah’s household pesil (Judges 18:17).
3. Under divided-kingdom politics, pesilim multiply. Samaria’s mixed population “feared the LORD, yet they served their idols” (2 Kings 17:41).
4. Royal reform highlights two opposite kings. Manasseh fills Judah with pesilim (2 Chronicles 33:19, 22). His grandson Josiah pulverizes them (2 Chronicles 34:3-7).
5. Poetic and prophetic literature employ the term in polemic.Psalm 78:58 links idolatry to national apostasy;Isaiah 42:8 records the divine ultimatum: “My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to idols.” Jeremiah foretells Babylon’s fall “for it is a land of idols” (Jeremiah 50:38).
Theological Themes
Exclusive worship
Pesil encapsulates man’s attempt to confine transcendence within wood or stone. By outlawing carved images, the covenant insists that Yahweh cannot be manipulated, domesticated, or visualized (compareExodus 20:4).
Jealous divine love
Idols provoke “jealousy” (Psalm 78:58), a relational term signalling covenant betrayal. The imagery of marriage (Hosea 11:2) and vengeance (Jeremiah 51:47-52) reveals God’s personal investment in His people’s purity.
Judgment and liberation
Prophets announce cosmic reversal: “Babylon has fallen… all the images of its gods are shattered on the ground!” (Isaiah 21:9). Breaking the pesil becomes the first step toward national renewal (Isaiah 30:22).
Ministry Significance
1. Preaching against modern idolatry
While Western culture rarely bows to literal statues, the heart still fabricates substitutes—wealth, pleasure, power. The biblical assault on pesil exposes all such rivals.
2. Discipleship and repentance
Josiah’s reforms illustrate that idols must be removed decisively, not managed. Discipleship therefore involves rigorous identification and destruction of any allegiance competing with Christ.
3. Missions and cultural engagement
Missionaries enter societies where carved images still dominate. The Old Testament offers both a model of uncompromising monotheism and a pastoral caution: confront idols without dismissing the people ensnared by them.
4. Worship practice
The pesil prohibition safeguards the principle that faith comes by hearing, not by sight. A Word-centered liturgy remains the safest guard against substituting sensory appeal for spiritual truth.
Christological Fulfillment
The incarnate Son is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Ironically, the very prohibition that protected divine transcendence prepares the way for the true, God-given image. In Him the longing for tangible presence is satisfied without idolatry.
Eschatological Outlook
Micah’s vision culminates in a world cleansed of pesilim: “I will destroy your carved images” (Micah 5:13). Revelation echoes the theme, portraying final judgment on all idolaters and universal worship of the Lamb. Thus the trajectory that begins with Deuteronomy’s call to smash carved images ends in the new creation’s undivided devotion.
Forms and Transliterations
בִּפְסִלֵיהֶ֖ם בפסליהם הַפְּסִילִ֔ים הַפְּסִילִ֗ים הַפְּסִילִים֙ הַפֶּ֙סֶל֙ הפסילים הפסל וְהַפְּסִלִ֔ים וְהַפְּסִלִ֖ים וְהַפְּסִלִ֤ים וְהַפְּסִלִים֙ וְלַפְּסִלִ֖ים וּ֝בִפְסִילֵיהֶ֗ם וּפְסִ֣ילֵיהֶ֔ם וּפְסִילֵ֥י וּפְסִילֵיהֶ֖ם ובפסיליהם והפסלים ולפסלים ופסילי ופסיליהם לַפְּסִילִֽים׃ לפסילים׃ פְּסִֽילֵיהֶ֖ם פְּסִילֵ֣י פְּסִילֵ֥י פְּסִילֶ֑יהָ פְּסִילֶ֣יהָ פְּסִלִים֙ פְסִילֶ֛יךָ פסילי פסיליה פסיליהם פסיליך פסלים bifsileiHem bip̄·si·lê·hem bip̄silêhem fesiLeicha hap·pe·sel hap·pə·sî·lîm happesel happesiLim happəsîlîm lap·pə·sî·lîm lappesiLim lappəsîlîm pə·sî·lê pə·sî·le·hā pə·sî·lê·hem p̄ə·sî·le·ḵā pə·si·lîm pəsîlê pəsîlehā pəsîlêhem pesiLei pesiLeiha pesileiHem p̄əsîleḵā pesiLim pəsilîm ū·ḇip̄·sî·lê·hem ū·p̄ə·sî·lê ū·p̄ə·sî·lê·hem ūḇip̄sîlêhem ufesiLei ufesileiHem ūp̄əsîlê ūp̄əsîlêhem uvifsileiHem vehappesiLim velappesiLim wə·hap·pə·si·lîm wə·lap·pə·si·lîm wəhappəsilîm wəlappəsilîm
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