POV: date=December 2007

Etymology

The word idolatry comes (by haplology) from the Greek word eidololatria, a compound of eidolon, "image" or "figure", and latreia, "worship". Although the Greek appears to be a loan translation of the Hebrew phrase avodat elilim, which is attested in rabbinic literature (e.g., bChul., 13b, Bar.), the Greek term itself is not found in the Septuagint, Philo, Josephus, or in other Hellenistic Jewish writings. It is also not found in Greek literature. In the New Testament, the Greek word is found only in the letters of Paul, 1 Peter, 1 John, and Revelation, where it has a derogatory meaning. Hebrew terms for idolatry include avodah zarah (foreign worship) and avodat kochavim umazalot (worship of planets and constellations).

In today's context, idolatry is not limited to religious concepts, however, and considered more of a social phenomena where false perceptions are created and worshipped, or even used as a term in the entertainment industry.

Ironically enough, the usage and repetitive appearance of the Cross in modern culture bears perfect example of a graven image.

Idolatry in the Bible

According to the Bible, idolatry originated in the age of Eber,Fact: date=July 2007 though some interpret the text to mean in the time of Serug; traditional Jewish lore traces it back to Enos, the second generation after Adam. Image worship existed in the time of Jacob, from the account of Rachel taking images along with her on leaving her father's house, which is given in the book of Genesis. According to the midrash Genesis Rabba, Abraham's father, Terah, was both an idol manufacturer and worshipper. It is recounted in both traditional Jewish texts and in the Quran that when Abraham discovered the true God, he destroyed his father's idols.

The commandments in the Hebrew Bible against idolatry forbade the adoption of the beliefs and practices of the pagans who lived amongst the Israelites at the time, especially the religions of ancient Akkad, Mesopotamia, and Egypt.

[Note: As historians (including Arab/Muslim historians) have faithfully recorded, the spread of Christianity and Islam was accompanied by a good measure of killing of pagans and destruction of their places of worship. Also, many schools of Islam view the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity itself as idolatrous needed. Thus there are some differences between the three major Abrahamic religions on how to view other religions on the issue of idolatory].

Some of these pagan religions, it is claimed in the Bible, had a set of practices which were prohibited under Jewish law, such as sex rites, cultic male and female prostitution, passing a child through a fire to Molech, and child sacrifice.