Description
The molten image was an idol made by pouring molten metal into a mold. The sizes and shapes of these images could vary widely. See the illustration at Teraphim, household idol above, where an image is shown with its mold.
Translation
The Hebrew words listed above indicate the act of pouring, and in fact the word nesek refers far more often to a drink offering or libation that is poured out (see Wine). Some translations try to reflect this with a qualifier such as “molten” or “cast.” In most passages it will be sufficient to use a general term for “idol.”
NAM 1:14: This verse and others refer to two kinds of images. Graven images were carved from stone or, more commonly, from wood. Molten images were made by melting metal and pouring it into a mold. Few languages today have separate words for these two different kinds of image. REB uses two words in English, “image and idol,” but there is no particular need to do this. The use of the two words together in Hebrew is a way of referring to all kinds of images (compare DEU 27:15; ISA 48:5; JER 10:14; HAB 2:18), and a general expression for these images is quite adequate (the way they were made had no spiritual significance). GNT uses just one English word, saying “idols.” Some translations succeed in expressing the two separate objects in simple language; for example, NIV has “carved images and cast idols,” and ITCL says “idols [made] of wood and metal.”