Reference: Images
Hastings
1. The making of an image implies a definite conception and the application of art to religion. The earliest Semitic religion (like that of Greece, Rome, etc.) was accordingly imageless. The first images were the stone pillar and the wooden pole or asherah (a tree fetish possibly of phallic significance). Then came real idols, at first for domestic use (as probably the teraphim, portable household gods), and subsequently those of greater size for public worship.
2. About 15 words in OT are used specifically for images. The earliest point to the process of manufacture
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Pay strict attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.
This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols, and installed one of his sons to be his priest.
Their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. read more. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throats. Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them.
The craftsman encourages the metalworker; the one who flattens with the hammer [supports] the one who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good." He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over.
The woodworker stretches out a measuring line, he outlines it with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He makes it according to a human likeness, like a beautiful person, to dwell in a temple.
It serves as fuel for man. He takes some of it and warms himself; also he kindles a fire and bakes bread; he even makes it into a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and bows down to it.
They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands; it does not budge from its place. They cry out to it but it doesn't answer; it saves no one from his trouble.
But you who abandon the Lord, who forget My holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven,and they pour out drink offerings to other gods so that they provoke Me to anger.
He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won't totter. Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm- and they cannot do any good.
Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz from the hands of a goldsmith, the work of a craftsman. Their clothing is blue and purple, all the work of skilled artisans.
You also took your beautiful jewelry made from the gold and silver I had given you, and you made male images so that you could engage in prostitution with them. Then you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set My oil and incense before them.
King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue, 90 feet high and nine feet wide. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
They have installed kings, but not through Me. They have appointed leaders, but without My approval. They make their silver and gold into idols for themselves for their own destruction.
Now they continue to sin and make themselves a cast image, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say about them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves."