idol
e.lil denotes cult objects made and worshiped in contrast to the LORD, and occasionally marks worthlessness in rebuke.
The attested use chiefly names cult objects associated with human manufacture, worship, rejection, and destruction. A smaller set of singular occurrences appears in condemnatory contexts of false prophecy, deceptive speech, and an abandoning shepherd, where the APB uses terms for worthlessness.
Senses in use
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Cult objects made and worshiped · dominant
Plural forms occur for objects made by human hands and treated as objects of worship: in Isaiah 2:8 the APB renders the land as filled with them and says people bow to what their fingers made. In Leviticus 26:1 they are forbidden alongside carved images, pillars, and figured stones, while Isaiah 2:20 depicts objects of silver and gold being cast away. Habakkuk 2:18 places the plural form in a clause about a maker's carved work and mute objects.
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Worthlessness in condemnation · occasional
The singular absolute form appears in three rebuking contexts: Jeremiah 14:14 concerns false prophecy, Job 13:4 addresses speakers called physicians, and Zechariah 11:17 addresses a shepherd who abandons the flock. The APB uses “worthlessness” in Jeremiah 14:14 and “worthless” in Job 13:4 and Zechariah 11:17; Its precise contribution within each clause cannot be isolated further.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the cult-object passages, the APB commonly renders the term as “idols,” including objects of silver and gold. In the three condemnatory singular contexts it instead uses “worthlessness” or “worthless”.