Abomination () is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
term used to translate the
Biblical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of t ...
terms shiqquts and , which are derived from , or the terms , or (noun) or (verb). An abomination in English is that which is exceptionally loathsome,
hate
Hatred is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hatred is s ...
ful,
sinful,
wicked, or vile.
The term is translated ''abomination'' by almost all translations of the Bible. The similar words, , and , are almost exclusively used to refer to unclean animals.
The common but slightly different Hebrew term, , is also translated as ''abomination'' in the
Authorized King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
, and sometimes in the
New American Standard Bible
The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is an English translation of the Bible. Published by the Lockman Foundation, the complete NASB was released in 1971. The NASB relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew and Gre ...
. Many modern versions of the Bible (including the
New International Version and
New English Translation
The New English Translation (NET Bible) is a free, "completely new" online English translation of the Bible, "with 60,932 translators' notes" sponsored by the Biblical Studies Foundation and published by Biblical Studies Press.
History and text ...
) translate it ''detestable''; the
New American Bible translates it ''loathsome''. It is mainly used to denote idolatry; and in many other cases it refers to inherently
evil
Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...
things such as illicit sex, lying, murder, deceit, etc.; and for unclean foods.
__TOC__
Analysis of the term
Shiqquts
''Shiqquts'' is used in the following ways:
# In prophecies in (cf. 12:11), it is generally interpreted as referring to the fearful calamities that were to fall on the
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
s in the time of
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (; grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής, ''Antíochos ho Epiphanḗs'', "God Manifest"; c. 215 BC – November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his dea ...
, saying, "And they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate." Jerome, and most of the Christian fathers, suppose that the reference is to Antiochus as the type of Antichrist, and that the description passes from the type to the antitype.
[Albert Barnes commentary] Idolatry is presented as the chief
sin in the Bible, and shiqquts is often used to describe such.
# In his campaign of
Hellenization
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the H ...
,
Antiochus caused an altar to be erected on the altar for burnt-offerings of the
Second Temple, on which pig sacrifices were offered to
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
Olympios. (Comp.
1 Maccabees 1:54). Following the wording of , this may have been the
abomination of desolation
Abomination may refer to:
* Abomination (Bible), covering Biblical references
**Abomination (Judaism)
*Abomination (character)
The Abomination is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original ...
of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
#sinful sacrifices ()
#idolatry (, , , )
#witchcraft ()
The word is used with reference to:
#seafood that lacks fins and scales ()
#all insects except for locust, crickets and grasshoppers (, )
#eagles,
ossifrage, and the osprey ()
#other biblically
unclean animals
In some religions, an unclean animal is an animal whose consumption or handling is taboo. According to these religions, persons who handle such animals may need to ritually purify themselves to get rid of their uncleanliness.
Judaism
In Jud ...
or touching certain things,()
Consequently, these animals were unclean and therefore eating them was forbidden. The exception is , where those who eat unclean insects are made abominable (using a verb derived from ).
is rendered in the KJV as follows:
#abominable (, )
#abomination (, )
#abhorred ()
#detest ()
Tōʻēḇā
''Tōʻēḇā'' is used in the following ways:
#Every
shepherd was "an abomination" unto the
Egyptians ().
#
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
was so moved by the
fourth plague, that while he refused the demand of
Moses, he offered a compromise, granting to the
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
permission to hold their festival and offer their sacrifices in Egypt. This permission could not be accepted, because
Moses said they would have to sacrifice "the abomination of the
Egyptians" ().
# lists seven things which are also abominations: "haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers."
''Tōʻēḇā'' is also used in Jewish (and Christian Old Testament) scriptures to refer to:
#
idolatry or idols (, , )
#illicit sex (e.g. prostitution, adultery, incest) (, , )
#illicit marriage ()
#a man "lying with a man as with a woman" (see
Homosexuality in the Hebrew Bible
There are a number of passages in the Hebrew Bible that have been interpreted as involving same-sex sexual acts, desires, and relationships. The passages about homosexual individuals and sexual relations in the Hebrew Bible are found primarily ...
) (, , )
#
temple prostitution
Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, cult prostitution, and religious prostitution are rites consisting of paid intercourse performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite or divine marriage (). Scholar ...
()
#offerings from the above ()
#
child sacrifice
Child sacrifice is the ritualistic killing of children in order to please or appease a deity, supernatural beings, or sacred social order, tribal, group or national loyalties in order to achieve a desired result. As such, it is a form of human ...
to Molech ()
#
cross-dressing ()
#cheating in the market by using rigged weights (, )
#dishonesty ()
#pride ()
#unclean animals ()
#stealing, murder, and adultery, breaking covenants ()
#
usury
Usury () is the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is c ...
, violent robbery, murder, oppressing the poor and needy, etc. ()
''Tâ‛ab'' is rendered the following ways in the KJV
#abhor, 9 Deu 7:26, Deu 23:7 (2), Job 9:31, Job 30:10, Psa 5:6, Psa 119:163, Amo 5:10, Mic 3:9;
#abominable, 6 1Ch 21:6, Job 15:16, Psa 53:1 (2), Isa 14:19, Eze 16:52;
#abhorred, 3 Job 19:19, Psa 106:40, Eze 16:25;
#abhorreth, 2 Psa 107:18, Isa 49:7;
#abominably, 1 1Ki 21:26;
#committed, 1 Eze 16:52.
See also
*
The Bible and homosexuality
There are a number of passages in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament that have been interpreted as involving same-sex sexual activity and relationships. The passages about homosexual individuals and sexual relations in the Hebrew Bible ar ...
*
Damnation
Damnation (from Latin '':wikt:damnatio, damnatio'') is the concept of Divine judgment, divine punishment and torment in an afterlife for actions that were committed, or in some cases, not committed on Earth.
In Ancient Egyptian religion, Anci ...
*
Fire and brimstone
Fire and brimstone ( ''gofrit va’esh'', grc, πυρὸς καὶ θείου) is an idiomatic expression referring to God's wrath found in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament. In the Bible, it often appears in reference t ...
*
Gehinnom
*
Hell
*
Leviticus 18
Leviticus 18 (the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Leviticus) deals with a number of sexual activities considered abominable, including incest, bestiality, and homosexuality (or sodomy). The chapter also condemns Moloch worship. It is part of ...
*
Religion and homosexuality
The relationship between religion and homosexuality has varied greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and denominations, with regard to different forms of homosexuality and bisexuality. The present-day doctrines ...
*
Shiksa
''Shiksa'' ( yi, שיקסע, translit=shikse) is an often disparaging, although not always, term for a Gentile woman or girl. The word, which is of Yiddish origin, has moved into English usage and some Hebrew usage (as well as Polish and Germ ...
and
shegetz
''Sheigetz'' or ''shegetz'' (שייגעץ or in Hebrew שֵׁיְגֶּץ; alternative Romanizations incl. ''shaygetz'', ''shaigetz'', ''sheygets'') with the alternative form ''shkotz'' (plural: ''sheygetses'' and ''shkotzim'', respectivelyPhilo ...
,
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
slang words deriving from
*
Tophet
In the Hebrew Bible, Tophet or Topheth ( hbo, תֹּפֶת, Tōp̄eṯ; grc-gre, Ταφέθ, taphéth; la, Topheth) is a location in Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), where worshipers engaged in a ritual involving "passing a child thro ...
*
Total depravity
Total depravity (also called radical corruption or pervasive depravity) is a Protestant theological doctrine derived from the concept of original sin. It teaches that, as a consequence of man's fall, every person born into the world is enslav ...
*
Abomination (Judaism)
References
External links
{{Wiktionary, abomination
bibletab.com/a/abomination.htmBible concordance for the term
*http://www.paidionbooks.org/girrard/studies/abomnatn.htm#42
Hebrew Bible words and phrases
Religious terminology