And Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed and put a goat's hair blanket as his head covering — Michal's placement of the *teraphim* (household idol, a figure representing a god or ancestor) in the bed is a deception meant to fool the assassins into believing David is sleeping. The *teraphim* itself is theologically problematic—idolatrous imagery—yet Michal uses it as a tool of salvation. The *seir ha'izim* (goat's hair) for a pillow suggests hurried improvisation, the use of whatever is at hand to create the appearance of a sleeping man.

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