the Berasit Hebrew Dictionary

צלמ

'xelem' is traditionally translated as image, but this is a mistranslation.¹⁾ Instead, the etymological and contextual evidence point to 'xelem' meaning “shadow” or “the shadows”, based on the root word, xel.

When 'xelem' appears in Genesis chapter 1, the phrase does not mean “in the image of god”, but rather “in the shadows of the Alehim”.

Mauro Biglino gives a definition of “cut out” or “cut off”, for 'tselem'.²⁾. Rather than “in his image”, he compares the cutting out of man from the elohim in Genesis 1:26-27, with the parallel cutting out³⁾ of woman from man in Genesis 2:22. There does not appear to be any etymological evidence for his claim though. Instead, both Genesis 1 and 2 can be understood as referring to the shadows of the Alehim

LexID 6754