1 Samuel 19:13

an image The teraphim. These were the penatesor house-hold images of the Israelites, brought originally from their Chaldean home (Genesis 31:19). In spite of the strict prohibition of idols, they were used by those who professed to worship Jehovah in the time of the Judges (Judges 17:5; Judges 18:14 ff.), and even down to the later days of the Kings (2 Kings 23:24). They seem to have been a kind of fetish or household charm for good luck, rather than an object of worship, and were used in divination (Zechariah 10:2; Ezekiel 21:19-22). It is surprising to find teraphim in David's house. It has been conjectured that Michal, like Rachel, kept them secretly on account of her barrenness. The plural teraphimhere denotes a single image, in human form, apparently of life-size.

put a pillow, &c. Put the quilt of goat's hair at its head, and covered it with the coverlet. Michal wrapped the head of the image in a rough rug, either to hide it, or to imitate a man's hair, and covered up the whole with the beged, a square piece of woollen cloth, which was used for an upper garment, or for a bed-covering. Cp. Deuteronomy 24:12-13.