Abomination (from Latinabominare 'to deprecate as an ill omen') is an English term used to translate the Biblical Hebrew terms shiqqutsשיקוץ and sheqetsשקץ,[1] which are derived from shâqats, or the terms תֹּועֵבָה, tōʻēḇāorto'e'va (noun) or 'ta'ev (verb). An abomination in English is that which is exceptionally loathsome, hateful, sinful, wicked, or vile. The term shiqquts is translated abomination by almost all translations of the Bible. The similar words, sheqets, and shâqats, are almost exclusively used to refer to unclean animals.
The common but slightly different Hebrew term, tōʻēḇā, is also translated as abomination in the Authorized King James Version, and sometimes in the New American Standard Bible. Many modern versions of the Bible (including the New International Version and New English Translation) 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[2] things such as illicit sex, lying, murder, deceit, etc.; and for unclean foods.
In prophecies in Daniel 11:31 (cf. 12:11), it is generally interpreted as referring to the fearful calamities that were to fall on the Jews in the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 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.[3] Idolatry is presented as the chief sin in the Bible, and shiqquts is often used to describe such.
Consequently, these animals were unclean and therefore eating them was forbidden. The exception is Leviticus 11:41, where those who eat unclean insects are made abominable (using a verb derived from tōʻēḇā).
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).
Proverbs 6:16–19 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:
^"inherently evil": things, words, deeds which of their very nature ["intrinsic property"] are always harmful, degrading, debasing, dehumanizing or lethal to the human person (but frequently deemed by some opportunists to be most useful and convenient, thinking "the end always justifies the means") and which, by extension, are always harmful and eventually lethal to the nature and stability of human culture and society--"evil". Biblical references: Leviticus 18:6-30; Leviticus 20. Deuteronomy 12:29-31; 23:17-19; 25:13-16; 27:16-25. Compare Romans 1:23; 3:8; 13:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons. 
