Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa 1 Samuel 19:13

ותגנב רחל את התרפים, “Rachel stole the teraphim.” According to Rashi, she intended to wean her father from idolatry by removing the idol from him. Nachmanides admits that it is possible that Lavan had been using the teraphim in his worship of idolatry. It is however by no means certain that teraphim served only as idols. We certainly would not expect to come across idols in King David’s residence, and yet we are told in Samuel I 19,13 that Michal, David’s wife placed such teraphim in David’s bed, feigning that it was he who was sleeping in that bed. Surely, David did not keep idolatrous figures in his home. It is most likely that the teraphim were objects which enabled people to know the time of day, and in that connection they were also used to help them to predict future events. The root of the word is from רפה, “weak” as in רפי ידים, “weak-handed,” or נרפים אתם, “you are weak” (in the sense of lazy, not pulling one’s weight.) The reason people call these objects תרפים is to hint that the reliability of these objects in predicting future events is not very strong, although in the majority of instances the predictions prove more or less accurate. Only people who do not pray to the Lord, the Creator, would be foolish enough to put their trust in them. Some people argue that astrologers possess the power to summon up certain images at a time which they can accurately predict. Ibn Ezra writes that teraphim are objects made of copper which are designed to help us determine portions of an hour, such as minutes. Some people claim that some astrologers possess the skill to raise some life-like shapes at a predetermined hour, and that apparition appears to speak intelligently. Personally, I believe that teraphim are replicas of human beings, constructed in a manner designed to endow them with some divine powers. Some commentators believe that Rachel stole the teraphim in order to wean her father from practicing idolatry. If that were so indeed, why did she keep these teraphim with her instead of at least burying them? It is far more likely that Rachel, being aware that her father was an astrologer, was afraid that by a combination of astrology and the teraphim he would succeed in tracking the movements of Yaakov and his family and he would overtake them in short order. Another view is that she took the teraphim so that these would not reveal to him where Yaakov was at that time. [according to that view she did not really ”steal” them but denied him their use at a critical point in time. Ed.]

AND RACHEL STOLE THE TERAPHIM. Her intention was to wean her father from idol-worship. This is the language of Rashi.
Now it is possible that Laban used the teraphim for idol worship, as he himself said, Why hast thou stolen my gods?¹⁹³Further, Verse 30. But not all teraphim were for the purpose of worship, for how could one find idolatry in the house of our lord David.¹⁹⁴See I Samuel 19:13, where it states that there were teraphim in David’s house. That which the commentators¹⁹⁵R’dak, in his Commentary on the verse here. say seems reasonable, namely, that these are vessels to receive¹⁹⁶“Receive.” According to the Tur, “determine.” a knowledge of the hours, and they divine with them in order to gain knowledge of future events. The word teraphim is derived from the expressions: ‘rephai’ (weak) handed;¹⁹⁷II Samuel 17:2. ‘nirpim’ (idle) ye are, idle.¹⁹⁸Exodus 5:17. They are called “teraphim” in order to hint by their name that their words are like a weak prophecy, usually occurring as a prophecy for many days hence¹⁹⁹Ezekiel 12:27. and turning out to be false, just as the prophets have said, For the teraphim have spoken vanity.²⁰⁰Zechariah 10:2. People of little faith set them up for themselves as gods. They do not seek to know by the glorious name of the Eternal, nor do they offer their prayers to Him. Rather, their deeds are guided by divination revealed to them by the teraphim. Thus it is written, And the man Micah had a house of G-d, and he made an ephod, and teraphim,²⁰¹Judges 17:5. and it is further written there, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of G-d that we may know whether our way which we are going shall be prosperous,²⁰²Ibid., 18:5. for they used to ask of the teraphim. Such also was the case in Israel with the ephod, for, having been accustomed to the sacred ephod²⁰³See Exodus 25:6-12. they made something similar in form, and they would seek guidance of it, believe in its words, and blunder after it. Even in sickness they sought not G-d but only them.²⁰⁴See II Chronicles 16:12. This is the meaning of the verse, And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah; and all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house,²⁰⁵Judges 8:27. for they turned aside from following the Eternal. Now Laban was a diviner and an enchanter, just as he said, I have divined.²⁰⁶Above, 30:27. His country, too, was ever a land of diviners, as it is written, For they are replenished from the east, and with soothsayers like the Philistines,²⁰⁷Isaiah 2:6. Laban’s city Haran was in the land of the children of the east (above, 29:1). and Balaam the son of Beor the diviner was from his city.²⁰⁸See Numbers 23:7. And this is the meaning of, Why hast thou stolen my gods?¹⁹³Further, Verse 30.