Detestable, Things

DETESTABLE, THINGS

de-tes'-ta-b'-l, (shiqquts; sheqets, synonymous with to`ebhah, "abomination," "abominable thing"):

The translation of shiqqutsim in Jeremiah 16:18; Ezekiel 5:11; 7:20; 11:18,21; 37:23; a term always applied to idol-worship or to objects connected with idolatry; often also translated "abomination," as in 1 Kings 11:5,7 (bis); Jeremiah 4:1; Ezekiel 20:7,8,30. Sheqets, translated "abomination," is applied in the Scriptures to that which is ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 7:21), creatures forbidden as food, as water animals without fins or scales in Leviticus 11:10-12, birds of prey and the like (verse 18), winged creeping things (verses 20,23), creeping vermin (verses 41 f). Compare also Isaiah 66:17. By partaking of the food of the animals in question one makes himself detestable (Leviticus 11:43; 20:25). Similarly the idolatrous appurtenances are to be held in detestation; nothing of the kind should be appropriated for private use (Deuteronomy 7:26). See ABOMINATION.

Max L. Margolis