---
title: סֶמֶל — image · The Tanakh dictionary
description: סֶמֶל (5566), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 5 times: image. BDB 1906: n.m. image, statue. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/5566.html)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/) / [ס](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1505-2.md)‎ / סֶמֶל‎

<!-- .hw dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
# סֶמֶל

<!-- .meta -->
«סֶמֶל» in the Tanakh dictionary: **image** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Used:** 5 times · **Key:** 5566 · **BDB:** סֶ֫מֶל

### Glosses

image (3); of.the.image (1); the.image (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

image [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1505/5566/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. image, statue [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1505/5566/#m2)

<!-- fold -->
**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. Ez 8, 5 perhaps orig. n.pr.div., then gen. image, statue (Ph. סמל id., f. סמלת, Lzb 151, 329, also פנסמלת Id 329; BauRel. i. 88 understands ס׳ to be design. of foreign god);—abs. הַסּ׳ 2 Ch 33:7, 15, סָ֑מֶל Dt 4:16; cstr. סֵ֫מֶל Ez 8:3, 5;—image, figure of anything, פֶּסֶלּ תְּמוּנַת כָּל־ס׳ Dt 4:16; idol-image פֶּסֶל הַסּ׳ 2 Ch 33:7 and (פֶּסֶל om.) v 15; סֵמֶל הַקִּנְאָת Ez 8:3 the statue of jealousy, i.e. that rouses י׳’s jealousy, = v 5.

<!-- .note -->
Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 5 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (1 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (1 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «סֶמֶל» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1505/5566/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Deuteronomy 4:16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.4.16/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
פֶּ֨ן־תַּשְׁחִת֔וּן וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥ם לָכֶ֛ם פֶּ֖סֶל תְּמוּנַ֣ת כָּל־סָ֑מֶל תַּבְנִ֥ית זָכָ֖ר א֥וֹ נְקֵבָֽה׃

*Word for word:* lest you should.act.corruptly and you.will.make for yourselves an.idol a.form of.any image a.likeness of.a.male or a.female

*JPS 1917:* lest ye deal corruptly, and make you a graven image, even the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[2 Chronicles 33:15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/2CH.33.15/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
וַ֠יָּסַר אֶת־אֱלֹהֵ֨י הַנֵּכָ֤ר וְאֶת־הַסֶּ֙מֶל֙ מִבֵּ֣ית יְהוָ֔ה וְכָל־הַֽמִּזְבְּח֗וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּנָ֛ה בְּהַ֥ר בֵּית־יְהוָ֖ה וּבִירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם וַיַּשְׁלֵ֖ךְ ח֥וּצָה לָעִֽיר׃

*Word for word:* and he.removed (et) the.gods of.(the) foreignness and (et) the image from the.house of.Yahweh and all the altars which he.had.built on the.mountain of.the.house of.Yahweh and in Jerusalem and he.threw.\[them\] outside to.\[the\] of the city

*JPS 1917:* And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [סְמַכְיָהוּ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/5565.md)
- next →: [סָמַן](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/5567.md)
- ↑ back to [ס](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1505-2.md)