tselem · image

What it means

tselem (צֶלֶם) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “image”.

Something that represents another, that shows what he is like. The human being was made "in the image of God", the only creature of which this is said. It does not mean that God has a body or that the human being is a god. In other passages the same word names statues and idols, which the Bible forbids.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. What shows what another is like; humans reflect God.
2. A shadow without substance.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• images ×10
• image ×7

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×5
• Numbers×1
• 1 Samuel×3
• 2 Kings×1
• 2 Chronicles×1
• Psalms×2
• Ezekiel×3
• Amos×1

• Genesis 1:26

  And Elohim said, “Let us make the human being in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

• Genesis 1:27

  And Elohim created the human being in his image; in the image of Elohim he created him; male and female he created them.

• Genesis 5:3

  And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years and fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and called his name Seth.

• Genesis 9:6

  Whoever sheds the blood of the human being, by the human being his blood will be shed; for in the image of Elohim he made the human being.

• Numbers 33:52

  you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and do away with all their carved stones, and all their molten images you shall do away with, and all their high places you shall destroy.

• 1 Samuel 6:5

  So you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice that are destroying the land, and give glory to the Elohim of Israel; perhaps he will lighten his hand from upon you and from upon your gods and from upon your land.

• 1 Samuel 6:11

  And they put the ark of YHWH on the cart, and the chest and the mice of gold and the images of their tumors.

• 2 Kings 11:18

  All the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down; its altars and its images they smashed thoroughly, and Mattan, the priest of Baal, they killed before the altars. And the priest set guards over the house of YHWH.

• 2 Chronicles 23:17

  All the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; its altars and its images they smashed, and Mattan, the priest of Baal, they killed before the altars.

• Psalms 39:6

  Only as an image does a man walk about; only for vapor are they agitated; he heaps up and does not know who will gather it.

• Psalms 73:20

  Like a dream on waking, Adonai, when you rouse yourself you will despise their image.

• Ezekiel 7:20

  And the beauty of its ornament they set for pride, and the images of their abominations, their detestable things, they made with it; therefore I have made it for them an impurity.

• Ezekiel 16:17

  And you took your objects of beauty, of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of a male, and prostituted yourself with them.

• Ezekiel 23:14

  And she added to her prostitutions; and she saw men carved on the wall, images of Chaldeans engraved in vermilion,

• Amos 5:26

  And you carried Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods, which you made for yourselves.

And 2 more times.