Abomination

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

This term was used with regard to the Hebrews, who, being shepherds, are said to have been an abomination to the Egyptians; because they sacrificed the animals held sacred by that people, as oxen, goats, sheep, &c., which the Egyptians esteemed unlawful. This word is also applied in the sacred writings to idolatry and idols, not only because the worship of idols is in itself an abominable thing, but likewise because the ceremonies of idolaters were almost always of an infamous and licentious nature. For this reason, Chrysostom affirms, that every idol, and every image of a man, was called an abomination among the Jews. The "abomination of desolation" foretold by the Prophet Daniel 10:27, 11:31, is supposed by some interpreters to denote the statue of Jupiter Olympius, which Antiochus Epiphanes caused to be erected in the temple of Jerusalem. The second of the passages above cited may probably refer to this circumstance, as the statue of Jupiter did, in fact, "make desolate," by banishing the true worship of God, and those who performed it, from the temple. But the former passage, considered in its whole connexion, bears more immediate reference to that which the evangelists have denominated the "abomination of desolation,"  Matthew 24:15-16;  Mark 13:14 . This, without doubt, signifies the ensigns of the Roman armies under the command of Titus, during the last siege of Jerusalem. The images of their gods and emperors were delineated on these ensigns; and the ensigns themselves, especially the eagles, which were carried at the heads of the legions, were objects of worship; and, according to the usual style of Scripture, they were therefore an abomination. Those ensigns were placed upon the ruins of the temple after it was taken and demolished; and, as Josephus informs us, the Romans sacrificed to them there. The horror with which the Jews regarded them, sufficiently appears from the account which Josephus gives of Pilate's introducing them into the city, when he sent his army from Caesarea into winter quarters at Jerusalem, and of Vitellius's proposing to march through Judea, after he had received orders from Tiberius to attack Aretas, king of Petra. The people supplicated and remonstrated and induced Pilate to remove the army, and Vitellius to march his troops another way. The Jews applied the above passage of Daniel to the Romans, as we are informed by Jerome. The learned Mr. Mede concurs in the same opinion. Sir Isaac Newton, Obs. on Daniel xi, xii, observes, that in the sixteenth year of the emperor Adrian. B.C. 132, the Romans accomplished the prediction of Daniel by building a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, where the temple of God in Jerusalem had stood. Upon this occasion the Jews, under the conduct of Barchochab, rose up in arms against the Romans, and in the war had fifty cities demolished, nine hundred and eighty-five of their best towns destroyed, and five hundred and eighty thousand men slain by the sword; and in the end of the war, B.C. 136, they were banished from Judea upon pain of death; and thenceforth the land remained desolate of its old inhabitants. Others again have applied the prediction of Daniel to the invasion and desolation of Christendom by the Mohammedans, and to their conversion of the churches into mosques. From this interpretation they infer, that the religion of Mohammed will prevail in the east one thousand two hundred and sixty years, and be succeeded by the restoration of the Jews, the destruction of Antichrist, the full conversion of the Gentiles to the church of Christ, and the commencement of the millennium.

In general, whatever is morally or ceremonially impure, or leads to sin, is designated an abomination to God. Thus lying lips are said to be an abomination to the Lord. Every thing in doctrine or practice which tended to corrupt the simplicity of the Gospel is also in Scripture called abominable; hence Babylon is represented,   Revelation 17:4 , as holding in her hand a cup "full of abominations." In this view, to "work abomination," is to introduce idolatry, or any other great corruption, into the church and worship of God,  1 Kings 11:7 .

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

A. Noun.

Tô‛êbah ( תּוֹעֵבָה , Strong'S #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, tô‛êbah 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 tô‛êbah are such reactions as “delight” and “loveth” (Prov. 15:8-9).—

Second, tô‛êbah 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, tô‛êbah 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). tô‛êbah may represent the pagan cultic practices themselves, as in Deut. 12:31, or the people who perpetrate such practices: “For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee” (Deut. 18:12). If Israelites are guilty of such idolatry, however, their fate will be worse than exile: death by stoning (Deut. 17:2-5).Third, tô‛êbah is used in the sphere of jurisprudence and of family or tribal relationships. Certain acts or characteristics are destructive of societal and familial harmony; both such things and the people who do them are described by tô‛êbah  : “These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him: … a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, … and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:16-19). God says, “The scorner is an abomination to men” (Prov. 24:9) because he spreads his bitterness among God’s people, disrupting unity and harmony.

B. Verb.

Tâ‛ab ( תָּעַב , Strong'S #8581), “to abhor, treat as abhorrent, cause to be an abomination, act abominably.” This verb occurs 21 times, and the first occurrence is in Deut. 7:26: “Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house.…”

Easton's Bible Dictionary

• To express the idea that the Egyptians considered themselves as defiled when they ate with strangers ( Genesis 43:32 ). The Jews subsequently followed the same practice, holding it unlawful to eat or drink with foreigners ( John 18:28;  Acts 10:28;  11:3 ).
• Every shepherd was "an abomination" unto the Egyptians ( Genesis 46:34 ). This aversion to shepherds, such as the Hebrews, arose probably from the fact that Lower and Middle Egypt had formerly been held in oppressive subjection by a tribe of nomad shepherds (the Hyksos), who had only recently been expelled, and partly also perhaps from this other fact that the Egyptians detested the lawless habits of these wandering shepherds.
• Pharaoh was so moved by the fourth plague, that while he refused the demand of Moses, he offered a compromise, granting to the Israelites 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" ( Exodus 8:26 ); i.e., the cow or ox, which all the Egyptians held as sacred, and which they regarded it as sacrilegious to kill.
• ( Daniel 11:31 ), in that section of his prophecies which is generally interpreted as referring to the fearful calamities that were to fall on the Jews in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, says, "And they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate." Antiochus Epiphanes caused an altar to be erected on the altar of burnt-offering, on which sacrifices were offered to Jupiter Olympus. (Compare  1 Maccabees 1:57 ). This was the abomination of the desolation of Jerusalem. The same language is employed in  Daniel 9:27 (Compare   Matthew 24:15 ), where the reference is probably to the image-crowned standards which the Romans set up at the east gate of the temple (A.D. 70), and to which they paid idolatrous honours. "Almost the entire religion of the Roman camp consisted in worshipping the ensign, swearing by the ensign, and in preferring the ensign before all other gods." These ensigns were an "abomination" to the Jews, the "abomination of desolation."

  Isaiah 66:3 Revelation 17:4 Ezekiel 22:11

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Abominable, Abomination . 1. All abomination, or an abominable thing, is a thing hateful or detestable, as the employment or calling of shepherds was to the Egyptians.  Genesis 46:34. 2. Under the Mosaic law those animals and acts are called abominable the use or doing of which was prohibited.  Leviticus 11:13 and  Deuteronomy 23:18. 3. Idolatry of every kind is especially denoted by this term.  Jeremiah 44:4 and  2 Kings 23:13. 4. So of sins in general.  Isaiah 66:3. The Abomination of Desolation, literally The Abomination Of The Desolator. This was Daniel's prediction of the pollution of the temple at Jerusalem, by Antiochus Epiphanes, who set up in it the altar and the statue of Jupiter Olympus: the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate drove ail the true worshippers of God from the temple.  Daniel 11:31;  Daniel 12:11. But the prophecy had, to say the least, a further reference. For our Lord appeals to it,  Matthew 24:15-18;  Mark 13:14-16, and declares that its fulfillment was to be the warning for his disciples to flee from the doomed city. This would be simultaneous with the Investment of Jerusalem.  Luke 21:20-21. Some have believed the investment (when Cestius Gallus first encamped around Jerusalem, 66 a.d., and then withdrew) the abomination of desolation itself; the Roman standards (objects of worship to the soldiers) being then planted on holy ground. But these standards had been there before: and so it is more likely that the abominable thing was something done by the Jews themselves. Now Josephus mentions a profanation by the Zealots who had got possession of the temple; and to this or some similar deed our Lord, we may suppose, referred. The Christians, it may be added, took the warning, the opportunity being afforded by the retirement of Gallus, and fled to Fella.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ABOMINATION . Four Hebrew words from three different roots are rendered in EV [Note: English Version.] by ‘abomination’ and, occasionally, ‘abominable thing.’ In almost all cases (for exceptions see   Genesis 43:32;   Genesis 46:34 ) the reference is to objects and practices abhorrent to J″ [Note: Jahweh.] , and opposed to the moral requirements and ritual of His religion. Among the objects so described are heathen deities such as Ashtoreth (Astarte), Chemosh, Milcom, the ‘abominations’ of the Zidonians (PhÅ“nicians), Moabites, and Ammonites respectively (  2 Kings 23:13 ); images and other paraphernalia of the forbidden cults (  Deuteronomy 7:25;   Deuteronomy 27:15 , and often in Ezk.); and the flesh of animals ritually taboo (see esp.   Leviticus 11:10 ff. and art. Clean and Unclean). Some of the practices that are an ‘abomination unto J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ,’ are the worship of heathen deities and of the heavenly bodies (  Deuteronomy 13:14;   Deuteronomy 17:4 and often), the practice of witchcraft and kindred arts (  Deuteronomy 18:12 ), gross acts of immorality (  Leviticus 18:22 ff.), falsification of weights and measures (  Proverbs 11:1 ), and ‘evil devices’ generally (  Proverbs 15:26 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ).

One of the four words above referred to ( piggûl ) occurs only as a ‘technical term for stale sacrificial flesh, which has not been eaten within the prescribed time’ (Driver, who would render ‘refuse meat’ in   Leviticus 7:18;   Leviticus 19:7 ,   Ezekiel 4:14 ,   Isaiah 65:4 ).

A. R. S. Kennedy.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

An object of disgust ( Leviticus 18:22); a detestable act ( Ezekiel 22:11); a ceremonial pollution ( Genesis 43:32); especially an idol ( 1 Kings 11:5-7;  2 Kings 23:13); food offered to idols ( Zechariah 9:7). The Egyptians regarded it an abomination, i.e. ceremonially polluting, to eat with the Hebrew as foreigners ( Genesis 43:32), because, as Herodotus says ( Genesis 2:41), the cow was eaten and sacrificed by foreign nations. So when Pharaoh told Israel to offer sacrifice to Jehovah in Egypt without going to the wilderness, Moses objected: "we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes" (the cow, the only animal which all the Egyptians held sacred), "and will they not stone us?" ( Exodus 8:26) compare the Jews' own practice in later times ( Acts 10:28).

The Hebrew, not only as foreigners, accounted by the intolerant mythology of Egypt as unfit for intercourse except that of war or commerce, but also as nomad shepherds, were an "abomination" to the Egyptians ( Genesis 46:34). Therefore Joseph tells his brethren to inform Pharaoh, "Our trade hath been about cattle, both we and also our fathers," i.e. hereditarily; for Pharaoh would be sure then to plant them, not in the heart of the country, but in Goshen, the border land. The Egyptians themselves reared cattle, as Pharaoh's offer to make Joseph's brethren "overseers of his cattle" proves ( Genesis 47:6), and as their sculptures and paintings show; but they abominated the nomad shepherds, or Bedouins, because the Egyptians, as being long civilized, shrank, and to the present day shrink, from the lawless predatory habits of the wandering shepherd tribes in their vicinity.

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(βδέλυγμα)

Like the word ‘taste’-originally a physical, then a mental term,-‘abomination’ denotes that for which God and His people have a violent distaste. It refers in the OT to the feeling: of repulsion against prohibited foods ( Leviticus 11:10,  Deuteronomy 14:3), then to everything connected with idolatry ( Deuteronomy 7:25,  Romans 2:22 [Gr.]).*[Note: the well-known expression, ‘abomination of desolation,’ applied to a heathen altar ( Daniel 12:11; cf.  1 Maccabees 1:54,  Matthew 24:15,  Mark 13:14). See art. ‘Abomination of Desolation’ in HDB.] Thence it acquires a moral meaning, and together with fornication stigmatizes all the immoralities of heathendom ( Revelation 17:4-5). Its intensest use is reserved for hypocrisy, the last offence against religion ( Luke 16:15,  Titus 1:16,  Revelation 21:27).

Sherwin Smith.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The word 'abomination' is used in the O.T. in reference to any iniquity as viewed by a holy God. It also designates what was unfit to be presented in the service of God, such as an animal with any sort of blemish being brought as a sacrifice; the price of a dog being put into the treasury, etc.  Deuteronomy 17:1;  Deuteronomy 23:18 . The divine service became itself an abomination to God when it had fallen into a mere outward observance or was in association with iniquity.  Isaiah 1:13;  Proverbs 28:9 . But idolatry was the special thing that was declared to be abomination to Jehovah. The idols themselves are thus designated:  2 Kings 23:13;  Isaiah 44:19; and  Ezekiel 8 . shows the idolatry that was carried on in secret, and the 'greater abomination,' of bringing it actually into the inner court of the Lord's house, between the porch and the altar! The word is but seldom used in the N.T. and applies then to wickedness in general.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

In the language of Scripture, the word abomination for the most part means idolatry. Thus we read, ( 2 Kings 23:13,) that Ashtoreth was the abomination (that is the idol) of the Zidonians; Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites; and Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. Hence our Lord forewarned his disciples, that when they saw the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, in the holy place, namely, the temple, they should accept this, as a token, that Jerusalem would be destroyed, and should accordingly then take their flight. And this was done, when Titus Vespasian's army put up the image of idolatry in the temple. Compare ( Daniel 9:27 with  Matthew 24:15. and  Mark 13:14.)

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A term applied in Scripture to objects of great detestation. Idols and their worship were so named, because they robbed God of his honor, while the rites themselves were impure and cruel,  Deuteronomy 7:25,26   12:31 . The term was used respecting the Hebrews in Egypt,  Genesis 43:32   Exodus 8:26 , either because they ate and sacrificed animals held sacred by the Egyptians, or because they did not observe those ceremonies in eating which made a part of the religion of Egypt; and in  Genesis 46:34 , because they were "wandering shepherds," a race of whom had grievously oppressed Egypt.

King James Dictionary

ABOMINA'TION, n.

1. Extreme hatred detestation. 2. The object of detestation, a common signification in scripture.

The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.  Proverbs 15

3. Hence, defilement, pollution, in a physical sense, or evil doctrines and practices, which are moral defilements, idols and idolatry, are called abominations. The Jews were an abomination to the Egyptians and the sacred animals of the Egyptians were an abomination to the Jews. The Roman army is called the abomination of desolation.  Matthew 24:13 . In short, whatever is an object of extreme hatred, is called an abomination.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) A cause of pollution or wickedness.

(2): (n.) The feeling of extreme disgust and hatred; abhorrence; detestation; loathing; as, he holds tobacco in abomination.

(3): (n.) That which is abominable; anything hateful, wicked, or shamefully vile; an object or state that excites disgust and hatred; a hateful or shameful vice; pollution.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a - bom - i - nā´shun ( פּגּוּל , tō‛ēbhāh , שׁקץ , sheḳec (שׁקּוּץ , shiḳḳūc )): three distinct Hebrew words are rendered in the English Bible by "abomination," or "abominable thing," referring (except in  Genesis 43:32;  Genesis 46:34 ) to things or practices abhorrent to Yahweh, and opposed to the ritual or moral requirements of His religion. It would be well if these words could be distinguished in translation, as they denote different degrees of abhorrence or loathsomeness.

The word most used for this idea by the Hebrews and indicating the highest degree of abomination is תּועבה , tō‛ēbhāh , meaning primarily that which offends the religious sense of a people. When it is said, for example, "The Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians," this is the word used; the significance being that the Hebrews were repugnant to the Egyptians as foreigners, as of an inferior caste, and especially as shepherds ( Genesis 46:34 ).

The feeling of the Egyptians for the Greeks was likewise one of repugnance. Herodotus (ii.41) says the Egyptians would not kiss a Greek on the mouth, or use his dish, or taste meat cut with the knife of a Greek.

Among the objects described in the Old Testament as "abominations" in this sense are heathen gods, such as Ashtoreth (Astarte), Chemosh, Milcom, the "abominations" of the Zidonians (Phoenicians), Moabites, and Ammonites, respectively ( 2 Kings 23:13 ), and everything connected with the worship of such gods. When Pharaoh, remonstrating against the departure of the children of Israel, exhorted them to offer sacrifices to their God in Egypt, Moses said: "Shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians (i.e. the animals worshipped by them which were taboo , tō‛ēbhāh , to the Israelites) before their eyes, and will they not stone us?" ( Exodus 8:26 ).

It is to be noted that, not only the heathen idol itself, but anything offered to or associated with the idol, all the paraphernalia of the forbidden cult, was called an "abomination," for it "is an abomination to Yahweh thy God" ( Deuteronomy 7:25 ,  Deuteronomy 7:26 ). The Deuteronomic writer here adds, in terms quite significant of the point of view and the spirit of the whole law: 'Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thy house and thus become a thing set apart ( ḥērem = tabooed ) like unto it; thou shalt utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is a thing set apart' ( tabooed ). Tō‛ēbhāh is even used as synonymous with "idol" or heathen deity, as in  Isaiah 44:19;  Deuteronomy 32:16;  2 Kings 23:13; and especially  Exodus 8:22 .

Everything akin to magic or divination is likewise an abomination tō‛ēbhāh  ; as are sexual transgressions ( Deuteronomy 22:5;  Deuteronomy 23:18;  Deuteronomy 24:4 ), especially incest and other unnatural offenses: "For all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you" ( Leviticus 18:27; compare  Ezekiel 8:15 ). It is to be noted, however, that the word takes on in the later usage a higher ethical and spiritual meaning: as where "divers measures, a great and a small," are forbidden ( Deuteronomy 25:14-16 ); and in Proverbs where "lying lips" ( Proverbs 12:22 ), "the proud in heart" ( Proverbs 16:5 ), "the way of the wicked" ( Proverbs 15:9 ), "evil devices" ( Proverbs 15:26 ), and "he that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the righteous" ( Proverbs 17:15 ), are said to be an abomination in God's sight. At last prophet and sage are found to unite in declaring that any sacrifice, however free from physical blemish, if offered without purity of motive, is an abomination: 'Bring no more an oblation of falsehood - an incense of abomination it is to me' ( Isaiah 1:13; compare  Jeremiah 7:10 ). "The sacrifice of the wicked" and the prayer of him "that turneth away his ear from hearing the law," are equally an abomination (see  Proverbs 15:8;  Proverbs 21:27;  Proverbs 28:9 ).

Another word rendered "abomination" in the King James Version is שׁקץ , sheḳec or שׁקּוּץ , shiḳḳuc ̌ . It expresses generally a somewhat less degree of horror or religious aversion than tō‛ēbhāh , but sometimes seems to stand about on a level with it in meaning. In  Deuteronomy 14:3 , for example, we have the command, "Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing," as introductory to the laws prohibiting the use of the unclean animals (see [[Clean And Unclean Animals]] ), and the word there used is tō‛ēbhāh ̌ . But in  Leviticus 11:10-13 ,  Leviticus 11:20 ,  Leviticus 11:23 ,  Leviticus 11:41 ,  Leviticus 11:42;  Isaiah 66:17; and in  Ezekiel 8:10 sheḳec is the word used and likewise applied to the prohibited animals; as also in  Leviticus 11:43 sheḳec is used when it is commanded, "Ye shall not make yourselves abominable." Then sheḳec is often used parallel to or together with tō‛ēbhāh of that which should be held as detestable, as for instance, of idols and idolatrous practices (see especially  Deuteronomy 29:17;  Hosea 9:10;  Jeremiah 4:1;  Jeremiah 13:27;  Jeremiah 16:18;  Ezekiel 11:18-21;  Ezekiel 20:7 ,  Ezekiel 20:8 ). It is used exactly as tō‛ēbhāh is used as applied to Milcom, the god of the Ammonites, which is spoken of as the detestable thing sheḳec of the Ammonites ( 1 Kings 11:5 ). Still even in such cases to'ebhah seems to be the stronger word and to express that which is in the highest degree abhorrent.

The other word used to express a somewhat kindred idea of abhorrence and translated "abomination" in the King James Version is פגול , piggūl  ; but it is used in the Hebrew Bible only of sacrificial flesh that has become stale, putrid, tainted (see  Leviticus 7:18;  Leviticus 19:7;  Ezekiel 4:14;  Isaiah 65:4 ). Driver maintains that it occurs only as a "technical term for such state sacrificial flesh as has not been eaten within the prescribed time," and, accordingly, he would everywhere render it specifically "refuse meat." Compare leḥem meghō'āl , "the loathsome bread" (from gā'al , "to loathe")  Malachi 1:7 . A chief interest in the subject for Christians grows out of the use of the term in the expression "abomination of desolation" ( Matthew 24:15 and   Mark 13:14 ), which see. See also Abhor .

Literature

Commentators at the place Rabbinical literature in point. Driver; Weiss; Gratz, Gesch. der Juden , IV, note 15.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

This word describes generally any object of detestation or disgust ( Leviticus 18:22;  Deuteronomy 7:25); and is applied to an impure or detestable action ( Ezekiel 22:11;  Ezekiel 33:26;  Malachi 2:11, etc.); to anything causing a ceremonial pollution ( Genesis 43:32;  Genesis 46:34;  Deuteronomy 14:3); but more especially to idols ( Leviticus 18:22;  Leviticus 20:13;  Deuteronomy 7:26;  1 Kings 11:5;  1 Kings 11:7;  2 Kings 23:13); and also to food offered to idols ( Zechariah 9:7); and to filth of every kind ( Nahum 3:6). Especial attention has been drawn to two or three of the texts in which the word occurs, on account of their peculiar interest or difficulty. The first is  Genesis 43:32 : 'The Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.' The primary reason of this seems to have been that the cow, which was a sacred animal in Egypt, was eaten by the Jews and most other nations, and therefore the Egyptians considered themselves ceremonially defiled if they ate with any strangers.

The second passage is  Genesis 46:34. Joseph is telling his brethren how to conduct themselves when introduced to the king of Egypt; and he instructs them that when asked concerning their occupation they should answer: 'Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers.' And the reason is added: 'That ye may dwell in the land of Goshen—for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.' In the former instance they were 'an abomination' as strangers, with whom the Egyptians could not eat; here they are a further abomination as nomad shepherds, whom the Egyptians held in peculiar abhorrence. For this aversion two reasons are given: one is the grievous oppression which the inhabitants of Lower and Middle Egypt had suffered from a tribe of nomad shepherds, to whom they had for many years been subject, who had only of late been expelled. The other reason, not necessarily superseding the former, but rather strengthening it, is that the Egyptians, as a settled and civilized people, detested the lawless and predatory habits of the wandering shepherd tribes, which then, as now, bounded the valley of the Nile, and occupied the Arabias.

The third marked use of this word again occurs in Egypt. The king tells the Israelites to offer to their god the sacrifices which they desired, without going to the desert for that purpose. To which Moses objects, that they should have to sacrifice to the Lord 'the abomination of the Egyptians,' who would thereby be highly exasperated against them ( Exodus 8:25-26). A reference back to the first explanation shows that this 'abomination' was the cow, the only animal which all the Egyptians agreed in holding sacred; whereas, in the great sacrifice which the Hebrews proposed to hold, not only would heifers be offered, but the people would feast upon their flesh.