Bible Strands
1 Samuel 19:16
And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the goat hair on its head.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records the moment Saul’s assassins enter David’s house to carry out his orders.
The words — The text notes the תְּרָפִים (teraphim) placed on the bed, a term denoting household idols or divinatory objects.
The thread — This object appears elsewhere as a marker of household authority or illicit divination, specifically in Judges 17:5, Judges 18:14–20, and Ezekiel 21:26.
Why it lands — The passage demands the reader note how a constructed visual substitute replaces a living target to deceive those carrying out violence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster.