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Comparison
and
frequency
are two fundamental factors in Bible word study. Write
down the passages that you are comparing. Do not be afraid to look up all of the
occurrences of a particular word. The time you spend will open up your Bible as it has
never been opened before.
WILLIAM WHITE, JR.
A
ABOMINATION
A. Noun.
(
, 8441), “abomination; loathsome, detestable thing.” Cognates of
this word appear only in Phoenician and Targumic Aramaic. The word appears 117 times
and in all periods.
First,
defines something or someone as essentially unique in the sense of
being “dangerous,” “sinister,” and “repulsive” to another individual. This meaning
appears in Gen. 43:32 (the first occurrence): “… The Egyptians might not eat bread with
the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.” To the Egyptians, eating
bread with foreigners was repulsive because of their cultural or social differences (cf.
Gen. 46:34; Ps. 88:8). Another clear illustration of this essential clash of disposition
appears in Prov. 29:27: “An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is
upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.” When used with reference to God, this
nuance of the word describes people, things, acts, relationships, and characteristics that
are “detestable” to Him because they are contrary to His nature. Things related to death
and idolatry are loathsome to God: “Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing” (Deut.
14:3). People with habits loathsome to God are themselves detestable to Him: “The
woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a
woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God” (Deut.
22:5). Directly opposed to
are such reactions as “delight” and “loveth” (Prov.
15:8-9).
Second,
is used in some contexts to describe pagan practices and objects:
“The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire; thou shalt not desire the silver
or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an
abomination to the Lord thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine
house …” (Deut. 7:25-26). In other contexts,
describes the repeated failures to
observe divine regulations: “Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round
about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither
have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; … because
of all thine abominations” (Ezek. 5:7, 9).
may represent the pagan cultic
practices themselves, as in Deut. 12:31, or the people who perpetrate such practices: “For