<P> The English word "idol" in translations of the Bible may represent any of several Hebrew words . In the commandment "You shall not make for yourselves an idol", the word is pesel, indicating something carved or hewn . In subsequent passages, pesel was applied to images of metal and wood, as well as those of stone . Other terms, such as nēsek and massēkâ, massēbâ, ōseb, and maskit also indicate a material or manner of manufacture . </P> <P> Some terms represent the consistently negative moral view with which idols are portrayed by the Bible . For example, idols are referred to as "non-God," "things of naught," "vanity," "iniquity," "wind and confusion," "the dead," "carcasses," and "a lie". Other terms are deliberately contemptuous, such as elilim, "powerless ones", and gillulim, "pellets of dung". </P> <P> The idols of the Ancient Near East were central figures of the tribal cults around the Israelites . They are said to have been placed upon pedestals, clothed and colored, and fastened with chains of silver or nails of iron lest they should fall over or be carried off . To demonstrate victory over an enemy's idols, it was customary to take away the idols of the vanquished, and a similar custom is frequently mentioned in the cuneiform texts . </P> <P> Scholars have discussed whether idol worshipers made a distinction between a spiritual being that existed independently of idols and the physical idols themselves . Some scholars opine that the pagans in the Hebrew Bible did not literally worship the objects themselves, so that the issue of idolatry is really concerned with whether one is pursuing a "false god" or "the true God". In addition to the spiritual aspect of their worship, peoples in the Ancient Near East took great care to physically maintain their cult idols and thought that the instructions for their manufacture and maintenance came from the spirit of the god . Magical ceremonies were performed through which the people believed the spirit of the god came to live in the physical idol . When idols were captured or not cared for, the associated religious practices also flagged . So while scholars may debate the relative importance of belief in the physical object or the spirit it represented or housed, in practice the distinction was not easy to discern . </P>

Thou shalt not have any graven images before me