Abram vs the 12 idols of his father Terah

When Terah had lived 70 years, he begot Abram

And God was ‎with Abram. And Terah his father, was still commander-in-chief of Nimrod's army in those ‎days, and he was yet addicted to worshiping strange gods. And when Abram returned unto his ‎father's house, he saw there the gods of his father, twelve in number, each having a chapel of ‎its own in his father's mansion. And Abram’s wrath was kindled when he saw those twelve ‎idols in the paternal house, and Abram said: So may the Lord who created me do unto me now ‎and in all future, if I shall not break them all to pieces within the next three days. And while his ‎wrath was burning within him, Abram left the house of the idols and hastened into the court ‎of the house and found his father there surrounded by all his servants; and Abram sat down ‎before his father. And Abram asked his father the following questions, saying: Please my ‎father do let me know what God hath created the heavens and the earth and all the sons of ‎man, and who is the God that created thee, and me also, in the earth? And Terah replied: They ‎that created all these things are all in my house. Then Abram said: Wilt thou please to show ‎them unto me my lord? And Terah conducted Abram into the innermost court, into a large ‎chamber, and Abram found it quite filled with idols, gods of wood and of stone. And there ‎were twelve very large gods among them, and the rest were smaller ones beyond number.‎ And Terah said unto Abram: Behold my son, these are they that have created all that thou ‎seest in this world, as also thee and me, and all the sons of man. And thus saying, Terah bowed ‎down before everyone of his gods, and finally left the chamber taking Abram along with him. ‎And when Abram had left the house of the gods, he hastened to his mother and said unto her: ‎Behold my father hath shown unto me those that have created the heavens, the earth, and all ‎the sons of man. And how I pray thee hasten and take a kid from the sheep, and prepare of it ‎a savory meat, so that I may bring it as an offering unto the gods of my father, that they may ‎eat thereof; perhaps that thus I might find grace before them. And his mother hastened to ‎take a kid from the midst of the flock, and she made thereof good and savory meat and she ‎brought it unto Abram. And Abram took the savory meat from the hands of his mother, and ‎brought it before the gods and he served it for them, as if inviting them to eat thereof. But ‎there was no sound and no motion, nor did any one put forth a hand to take and eat. And ‎Terah knew nothing of what Abram hath done. And Abram sat quietly in the house of the ‎gods, but seeing that the gods were not willing to partake of his offering he said: May be that I ‎have brought too little or perhaps my offering is not of the kind to be acceptable unto them. ‎Now therefore to-morrow I will prepare much more and better meats than those I brought to-‎day, to see what the end will be. And in the morning Abram instructed his mother concerning ‎the offering he had decided upon, and his mother took accordingly three kids from the flock, ‎and she made thereof savory meats as it was the desire of her son, and she placed them in the ‎hands of her son Abram, unbeknown to Terah his father. And Abram took the savory meats ‎from the hand of his mother, and he carried them into the chamber of the gods. And he ‎divided the meats among the gods and placing a dish before everyone of them he invited ‎them to eat of his offering. And Abram seated himself before them, and tarried there the ‎whole day to see whether they would eat or not. But there was no sound, and no motion, and ‎none of the gods put forth a hand to taste of the savory meats before him. And the spirit of ‎God came over Abram, on the evening of that day, and he cried out in the midst of the house: ‎Woe unto my father and woe unto this entire wicked generation, whose hearts are bent upon ‎vanities, to worship idols like these here, made of wood and stone; images that can neither ‎eat nor smell, and neither hear nor speak. They have a mouth but cannot speak, eyes and ‎cannot see, ears and cannot hear, hands and cannot grasp, feet and cannot walk. Like unto ‎them may be all those that make them, all those that serve them and bow down before them. ‎And Abram became very wroth at his father, and he hastened and took an axe, and hurried ‎into the chamber to the gods of his father, and broke them all to pieces. And when he had ‎broken them to pieces, he put the axe into the hands of the largest god, which he did not ‎break, and he left the chamber hastily.‎ And Terah heard something like blows with an axe and he hurried into his house, when he ‎noticed that the noise came from the hall of his gods. And Terah hastened into the chamber to ‎ascertain the cause of all that noise, and he met Abram just coming out of it. And when Terah ‎entered the house of his gods, he saw all were shattered to pieces, save the largest one of ‎them which held the axe in his hands; and Terah saw also the savory meat-offerings before ‎each of the idols. And seeing that great destruction, Terah's wrath kindled within him, and he ‎ran out unto Abram. And he found him and said unto him: What is it thou hast done unto all ‎my gods? And Abram replied unto Terah: Not so my Lord, but I have brought a savory meat ‎offering before them. And while I came before them with the meats, each of the gods put ‎forth his hand to eat, before the largest god could take some for himself. And when the large ‎god saw their ill-manners then his anger rose and he seized the axe which was in the house ‎and went and broke them all to pieces. And you can see the axe in his hands even now. And ‎Terah grew furiously angry at his son, and he screamed out bitterly: What is it that thou art ‎saying? Darest thou to come with such falsehood before thy father? Wilt thou try to make me ‎believe such things, as if I did not know that these gods have no soul, and no spirit, and no ‎strength within them? For are these gods anything but pieces of wood and stone which I ‎myself have shaped into images? And now darest thou to tell me the falsehood, that the ‎greatest god among them hath broken all the other ones to pieces, while it is thou that hath ‎done all that mischief, putting finally the axe into the hands of the greatest of the gods, to ‎deceive me. And Abram replied unto his father, saying: Now if thou knowest all that, how ‎canst thou worship these idols which have neither strength nor power to do the least thing? ‎Can those idols, in whom thou trusted, save thee in the hour of danger, can they hear thy ‎prayers when thou callest upon them, or can they deliver thee from the hands of thy enemies, ‎and fight thy battles for thee, that thou art worshiping those idols of wood and stone, which ‎can neither hear nor speak.‎ And now it is not good for thee to do these things, nor for those men that are attached unto ‎thee. Have ye all lost your reason and become fools to worship wood and stone, while ye are ‎forgetting the Lord your God who made heavens and earth, and who hath created you in the ‎earth? And why should ye summon upon your heads the great evil which must follow the ‎worship of wood and stone? Have not your forefathers acted in the same way, in times of old, ‎until the Lord had brought over them the waters of the flood to the destruction of the whole ‎earth. And now how can ye reasonably do again the same wicked things, to worship wood and ‎stone, strange gods, which can neither hear nor speak, nor deliver from trouble, while at the ‎same time ye invite the anger of the Lord against your souls and upon the souls of all your ‎household? And now my father do abstain from doing these things. Thus saying Abram hurried ‎and jumped towards the big idol, took the axe from its hands and chopped the 'god to pieces ‎in the presence of his father Terah, and then he took flight.

וימת תרח בחרן, this line tells us that Terach had not abandoned his idolatry and had moved to Charan only out of love for his son Avraham. Following Avraham who had obeyed instructions given to him in a vision, did not mean that Terach changed his philosophy or lifestyle. This is why he saw nothing wrong in remaining in Charan until the time of his death. [even though his son had attained great prominence in the land of Canaan during the intervening 62 years. Ed.] If he had really done teshuvah, and returned to the G’d of his forefathers, he surely would have followed in his sons footsteps and have moved to Canaan. Possibly, Terach did keep the other Noachide laws, except for his idolatry, seeing that Avraham his son had become his guide in matters of theology as far as it concerned the dealings with is fellow man. The conviction that natural forces represent independent powers, even though they in turn might have to obey a higher law, was something he could not rid himself of, as he, as well as his contemporaries, were too deeply steeped in such a world outlook. We know that Joshua testified concerning Terach (Joshua 25,2) when he addressed the Israelites shortly before his death: ”your forefathers dwelled in the land beyond the river (Euprates), Terach the father of Avram and Nachor. They served alien deities , etc.” If Terach had indeed become a penitent and had returned to monotheism, it is inconceivable that Joshua would not have credited him with such a meritorious deed.

The makers of idolsAll work to no purpose;And the things they treasureCan do no good,As they themselves can testify.They neither look nor think,And so they shall be shamed. Who would fashion a godOr cast a statueThat can do no good? Lo, all its adherents shall be shamed;They are craftsmen, are merely human.Let them all assemble and stand up!They shall be cowed, and they shall be shamed. eThe meaning of parts of vv. 12–13 is uncertain.The craftsman in iron, with his tools,Works itfI.e., the image he is making. over charcoalAnd fashions it by hammering,Working with the strength of his arm.Should he go hungry, his strength would ebb;Should he drink no water, he would grow faint. The craftsman in wood measures with a lineAnd marks out a shape with a stylus;He forms it with scraping tools,Marking it out with a compass.He gives it a human form,The beauty of a man, to dwell in a shrine. For his use he cuts down cedars;He chooses plane trees and oaks.He sets aside trees of the forest;Or plants firs, and the rain makes them grow. All this serves man for fuel:He takes some to warm himself,And he builds a fire and bakes bread.He also makes a god of it and worships it,Fashions an idol and bows down to it! Part of it he burns in a fire:On that part he roastsgTransposing the Heb. verbs for clarity. meat,He eatsgTransposing the Heb. verbs for clarity. the roast and is sated;He also warms himself and cries, “Ah,I am warm! I can feelhLit. “see.” the heat!” Of the rest he makes a god—his own carving!He bows down to it, worships it;He prays to it and cries,“Save me, for you are my god!” They have no wit or judgment:Their eyes are besmeared, and they see not;Their minds, and they cannot think. They do not give thought,They lack the wit and judgment to say:“Part of it I burned in a fire;I also baked bread on the coals,I roasted meat and ate it—Should I make the rest an abhorrence?Should I bow to a block of wood?” He pursues ashes!iLit. “He shepherds ashes.”A deluded mind has led him astray,And he cannot save himself;He never says to himself,“The thing in my hand is a fraud!”

aWith vv. 4–11, cf. Ps. 135.15–20.Their idols are silver and gold,the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak,eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear,noses, but cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot touch,feet, but cannot walk;they can make no sound in their throats. Those who fashion them,all who trust in them,shall become like them.

For aEmendation yields “the objects that the nations fear.”the laws of the nations-a are delusions:For it is the work of a craftsman’s hands.He cuts down a tree in the forest with an ax, He adorns it with silver and gold,He fastens itbHeb. “them.” with nails and hammer,So that it does not totter. They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch,They cannot speak.They have to be carried,For they cannot walk.Be not afraid of them, for they can do no harm;Nor is it in them to do any good.