פֶּ֨ן־תַּשְׁחִת֔וּן וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥ם לָכֶ֛ם פֶּ֖סֶל תְּמוּנַ֣ת כָּל־סָ֑מֶל תַּבְנִ֥ית זָכָ֖ר א֥וֹ נְקֵבָֽה׃
lest ye deal corruptly, and make you a graven image, even the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
Rashbam on Deuteronomy
סמל; a symbol of something, as in Ezekiel 8,3 סמל הקנאה המקנא, “a likeness, a symbol, of the jealousy which provokes jealousy. (an ancient idol)
Sforno on Deuteronomy
תמונת כל סמל, something that would reflect the belief of those who hold that every perishable, ephemeral phenomenon in this world has a counterpart in the celestial regions which it is derived from, and that people made themselves replicas of what they thought the original looked like.