Idol

The Philistine idols are the recipients of Saul's armor as a victory offering — his defeat is framed as a theological statement, proof to their gods that Israel's king has been conquered.

The Philistines' idols are abandoned on the battlefield after their defeat — the gods they carried into battle to protect them are left in the dirt, powerless, and David has them burned.

Idols are addressed here with a careful two-step: Paul agrees they have no real existence, but insists the spiritual forces operating behind them are very real — making idol-temple participation genuinely dangerous.

Idols appear here as part of the running list of crises Paul has already addressed in this letter, contextualizing the head coverings and Lord's Supper issues as the latest in a long series of problems.

Idols appear here as the Corinthians' former frame of reference — mute, powerless objects — contrasted with the living, speaking Spirit they now experience, making the difference unmistakable.

The idol is the immediate flashpoint of the controversy — pagan religious ceremonies meant nearly all market meat passed through an idol ritual, forcing Corinthian Christians to decide whether eating it was spiritually compromising.

An idol is defined here in its broadest sense as the letter's final warning — anything that substitutes for the real thing, whether identity, security, or meaning — making it the last danger John names before signing off.

A household idol — a teraphim — is what Michal uses to fake David's sick body in the bed, a detail that raises quiet questions about what such an object was doing in their home.

Dagon is the idol placed beside the Ark, and his repeated collapse before it illustrates the core point of the chapter: no manufactured deity can stand in the presence of the living God.

Dagon is cited here as the Philistine deity who literally fell on his face before the ark — the most visible sign that this foreign god had no power against Israel's God.

Idols are referenced here in the past tense — Israel has already discarded them, which makes their current crisis a test of whether the commitment they made was genuine or situational.

Idols appear here as what the Thessalonians turned away from — the specific objects of worship they abandoned when they converted, marking the concrete, costly nature of their decision.

Idols appear here as the defining corruption of Jeroboam's religious program — goat idols and golden calves standing in place of genuine worship of the Lord.

Idol worship is portrayed here as so deeply embedded in Judah's culture that most people barely noticed it — making Asa's comprehensive, unapologetic campaign to eradicate it all the more courageous.

Idols appear in the introduction as the objects of false worship Asa has already acted against, framing the chapter's central tension between wholehearted devotion and religious compromise.

Idols are referenced here as the religious corruption Asa courageously dismantled early in his reign, making his later failure to trust God all the more tragic by comparison.

The idols are specifically Jeroboam's golden calves at Bethel and Dan — the ones Jehu conspicuously left standing while eliminating every trace of Baal, exposing a carefully maintained zone of personal compromise.

Idols are named here as part of the indictment that makes God's continued grace so staggering — Israel kept their idols standing throughout, and God showed compassion anyway, grounding his faithfulness in covenant rather than conduct.

Idols are identified here as the spiritual root of Israel's collapse — the author notes that chasing false idols made Israel itself 'false,' emphasizing that what you worship fundamentally reshapes who you become.

Idols are what Hezekiah is actively tearing down at the chapter's opening — the physical objects and high places that had drawn Judah's worship away from God across generations of weak leadership.

The Philistines' abandoned idols represent their routed trust in false gods — David and his men carry them off as trophies of the Lord's decisive victory over the battlefield.

Idols saturate Athens so thoroughly that Paul's spirit is visibly disturbed — the city's celebrated religious culture is, from his perspective, a vast monument to misdirected worship that the true God has long tolerated but is now calling out.

Idolatry is reframed here as systemic injustice rather than religious statues — the chapter identifies the real idol as a social and economic order built on exploitation dressed up with religious legitimacy.

Idols are the implicit problem with the king's food — portions may have been dedicated to Babylonian gods, making consumption an act of participation in pagan worship Daniel refuses to perform.

The idol — the golden calf — is referenced here as the offense Israel committed while Moses was literally on the mountain receiving God's law, making the transgression especially brazen.

Idols are identified as the specific threat that would sever the covenant relationship — Moses warns that turning to other gods would stop the rain entirely, making the land itself barren.

Idols are the subject of Moses's final warning — specifically the silver and gold adorning them, which he identifies as the subtle temptation to retain something attractive from a system that has already been condemned as detestable.

Idol worship is listed here among the foundational prohibitions already delivered at Sinai, establishing the spiritual baseline before God pivots to the social and civil laws of chapter 21.

Idols appear here as the object of forbidden sacrifice — worshiping any god other than the Lord is listed alongside sorcery and bestiality as a boundary-crossing offense that cannot coexist with life in God's community.

The golden calf is the central act of the chapter — a man-made object Aaron fashions from the people's own gold, which the crowd then credits with their liberation from Egypt.

The idol is what the entire nation was dancing around when Moses descended the mountain — the act of worship toward it is the direct cause of God's announcement that He will not travel with Israel personally.