In Genesis 31 we read that Rachel steals her father’s household gods. What is going on here? These objects are teraphim תְּרָפִים or images of gods that Laban used in some capacity. What were these objects?
From the Jewish Encycopedia we read the following:
Plural word of unknown derivation used in the Old Testament to denote the primitive Semitic house-gods whose cult had been handed down to historical times from the earlier period of nomadic wanderings. The translation of the term “teraphim” by the Greek versions, as well as its use in the Scriptures, gives an excellent idea of the nature of these symbols. Thus Aquila renders the word by “figures”; the Septuagint in Genesis by “images,” in Ezekiel by “carved images,” in Zechariah by “oracles,” and in Hosea by “manifest objects” (δῆλοι). The Authorized Version often simply transcribes the word, as in Judges xvii. 5, xviii. 14 et seq., and Hos. iii. 4, but frequently translates it “images,” as in Gen. xxxi. 19 et passim. The rendering “images” occurs in I Sam. xix. 13 also, “idols” in Zech. x. 2, and “idolatry” in I Sam. xv. 23.
The form of the word in Hebrew must be regarded as a plural of excellence. Just as “Elohim” denotes “gods” and “God,” the form “teraphim” is applicable to each single object as well as to the entire class (comp. I Sam. xix. 13 and Gen. xxxi. 19).
Moshe Greenberg wrote this article that lays out several intriguing possibilities. One is that these household gods or teraphim enabled Rachel the ability to claim the land inheritance. Another is that these teraphim represented the gods of those that carried them to offer protection to the travelers. Whatever the reason, Greenberg makes his point that the author of the text would have assumed that the reason for Rachel’s taking of these teraphim would have been obvious to his listeners of the story.