תּוֹעֵבָה117 H8441
Abomination, detestable thing or practice -- something morally or ritually abhorrent to God or culturally repugnant.
One of the Hebrew Bible's strongest words of moral revulsion, toevah marks actions, objects, or practices as deeply offensive to God's holiness. It covers both ritual impurity -- such as consuming unclean food (Deut 14:3) or Egypt's disgust at Hebrew sacrificial customs (Exod 8:26) -- and grave moral violations like idolatry, child sacrifice, and sexual sin (Lev 18:22, 26-30). Translations across languages converge on cognates of 'abomination': Spanish 'abominacion,' French 'abomination,' German 'Greuel.' The plural form dominates in Ezekiel's prophetic catalogs of Israel's accumulated transgressions, while the singular targets specific offensive acts.
Senses
1. abominations, detestable practices — The plural form (63x) cataloging multiple detestable acts or idolatrous practices collectively, used extensively in prophetic indictments. Ezekiel alone accounts for a large share, enumerating the accumulated 'abominations' of Jerusalem and the nations. Leviticus 18:26-30 frames the entire collection of sexual prohibitions under this plural, and multilingual renderings -- Spanish 'abominaciones,' French 'abominations,' German 'Greuel' -- consistently use corresponding plurals. The construct and suffixed forms ('abominations of,' 'your abominations') emphasize corporate guilt. 63×
AR["ال-رِّجْسَاتِ", "الرَّجَاسَاتِ", "الرِّجْسَاتِ", "الـ-رَّجاساتِ", "الـ-رِّجْسَاتِ", "رَجاساتِ", "رَجَاسَاتِكِ"]·ben["-ঘৃণ্য-কাজগুলি", "-ঘৃণ্য-বস্তু", "-ঘৃণ্যকর্ম", "ঘৃণা", "ঘৃণাগুলি", "ঘৃণ্য-কাজ", "ঘৃণ্য-জিনিসগুলো", "ঘৃণ্য-জিনিসগুলোর", "তোমার-ঘৃণ্য-কাজ", "তোমার-ঘৃণ্য-কাজে", "তোমার-ঘৃণ্য-কাজের", "তোমার-ঘৃণ্য-কাজের।", "সেই-ঘৃণ্যতাগুলির"]·DE["Greuel", "der-Greuel", "der-abominations"]·EN["abominations-of", "abominations-your", "the-abominations"]·FR["abomination", "abominations", "le-abominations"]·heb["ה-תועבות", "ה-תועבת", "תועבות", "תועבותייך"]·HI["घृणाएँ", "घृणाओं", "घृणित-कर्मों", "घृणित-काम", "घृणित-कामों", "घृणित-कामों-अपनी", "घृणित-कामों-तेरे", "घृणित-तेरी", "घृणितों", "घृणितों-की", "ह-तोएवोत"]·ID["-kekejian-kekejianmu", "-kekejian-kekejianmu,", "-kekejianmu", "-kekejianmu,", "-kekejianmu.'", "kekejian", "kekejian-kekejian"]·IT["abominazione", "abominazioni", "il-abominazioni"]·jav["kanistaan", "kanisthan", "kanisthan-kanisthan", "kanisthan-kanisthan-panjenengan", "kanisthan-kanisthan-punika", "kanisthan-panjenengan", "nistha"]·KO["가증한-것들", "그-가증한-것들", "그-가증한-것들에", "그-가증한-것들을", "그-가증함들", "그-가증함들을", "네-가증한-것들", "네-가증한-것들과", "네-가증한-것들로", "네-가증한-것들을", "네-가증한-것들의", "협오들의"]·PT["abominações-de", "as-abominações", "tuas-abominações"]·RU["-мерзостей", "мерзостей", "мерзостей-твоих", "мерзости", "мерзости-твои", "мерзостям-твоим", "мерзостями", "мерзостях-твоих"]·ES["abominaciones-de", "abominaciones-de-ti", "las-abominaciones"]·SW["hatּwoebwot", "machukizo", "machukizo-hayo", "machukizo-yako", "machukizo-yote", "na-ukahaba-wako", "wewe", "yako", "yako-yote", "yote"]·TR["iğrençlikler", "iğrençlikleri", "iğrençlikleri-", "iğrençliklerin", "iğrençliklerinde", "iğrençliklerini", "iğrençliklerinin", "yapılanların"]·urd["اپنی-مکروہات", "اپنی-مکروہات-سے", "تیری-مکروہات", "تیری-مکروہات-کے", "مکروہ-", "مکروہات", "مکروہات-", "گھرناؤنیوں"]
Lev 18:26, Lev 18:27, Lev 18:29, Lev 18:30, Deut 18:9, Deut 18:12, Deut 20:18, 2 Kgs 16:3, 2 Kgs 21:2, 2 Kgs 21:11, 2 Chr 34:33, 2 Chr 36:14 (+38 more)
2. abomination, detestable thing — The singular form (55x) identifying a specific act, practice, or object as morally or ritually detestable. Genesis 43:32 applies it to Egyptian cultural taboo against eating with Hebrews, Exodus 8:26 to sacrificial practices repugnant to Egyptians, and Deuteronomy's laws mark individual offenses as 'an abomination to the LORD' (Deut 7:25; 22:5; 23:18). The singular carries a pointed, focused force -- 'this specific thing is abhorrent' -- that the plural broadens into comprehensive catalogs. German distinguishes nuance with both 'Greuel' and 'Grauel.' 55×
AR["(رِجْسٌ)", "رَجَاسَةً", "رِجْسًا", "رِجْسٌ", "رِجْسٍ", "رِجْسُ", "مَكرُوهٌ"]·ben["ঘৃণা", "ঘৃণ্য", "ঘৃণ্য-কাজ", "ঘৃণ্য-বস্তু", "ঘৃণ্যতা"]·DE["Greuel", "ein-Greuel", "ein-Gräuel"]·EN["abomination", "an-abomination", "an-abomination-to", "are-an-abomination-to"]·FR["abomination", "un-abomination"]·heb["תועבה", "תועבת"]·HI["और-करते-हो", "घृणा", "घृणित", "घृणित-काम", "घृणित-वस्तु", "घृणित।"]·ID["Kekejian", "kekejian", "kekejian,"]·IT["abominazione", "un-abomination", "un-abominazione"]·jav["Ingkang-jijik", "barang-nistha", "haram", "ingkang-nistha.", "kang-nistha-dhateng", "kanisthan", "nistha", "nistha-dhateng"]·KO["가증한-것을", "가증한-것이니라", "가증한-것이라", "가증함", "가증함이니라", "역겨운-것을", "역겨움-이다", "역겨움이다", "험오한-것을", "헛된-것이다", "혐오스러운-것을", "협오이다"]·PT["Abominação-de", "abominacao-de", "abominação", "abominação-de", "abominações-de", "é-abominação"]·RU["(мерзость)", "делал", "мерзости", "мерзость", "мерзость-для-ЙХВХ -"]·ES["abominación", "abominación,", "abominación-de", "es-abominación", "son-abominación-de"]·SW["chenye-chukizo", "chukizo", "chukizo-kwa", "chukizo-la", "haba", "machukizo", "ni-chukizo", "ni-chukizo-kwa"]·TR["igrenclik", "iğrenclik", "iğrenç-şey", "iğrençlik", "iğrençliktir", "iğrençliği", "iğrençtir"]·urd["(مکروہ)", "مکروہ", "مکروہ-ہے", "مکروہات", "مکروہیت", "نفرت-انگیز", "گھناؤنا", "گھناؤنی-چیز"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
תּוֹעֵבָה117 n.f. abomination;—abs. ת׳ Gn 43:32 + 21 times; תֹּעֵבָה Je 44:4; cstr. תּוֹעֲבַת Gn 46:34 +; pl. תּוֹעֵבוֹת Ez 8:6 +; cstr. תּוֹעֲבוֹת 6:11 +, etc.; sf. תֹּעֲבֹתָיו 2 Ch 36:8, etc.;— 1. ritual sense: a. Isr.’s sacrifices, ת׳ מִצְרַיִם (gen. obj.) Ex 8:22(×2) (E), cf. Gn 46:34 (J); ת׳ למצרים 43:32 (J); ת׳ לְ of physical repugnance ψ 88:9. b. to God and his people: ת׳ of unclean food…