H8441 Abomination Toebah

Phonetic: to-ay-bah'

NASB Dictionary: abomination, detestable thing, object of loathing.

Strongs: something (morally) disgusting; used of idols and of idolatries.

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: 

tô‘ēbâ. Abominable (custom, thing), abomination. (ASV and RSV similar, although RSV reads "thing of horror" in <a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Ps+88%3A8">Psalm 88:8</a> [H 9] and inexplicably omits the word entirely in <a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Eze+16%3A36">Ezekiel 16:36</a>.) The frequency of this word attests to its importance; it occurs 117 times in all. As with the verb, so also with the noun the abomination may be of a physical, ritual or ethical nature and may be abhorred by God or man. Sharing a meal with a Hebrew was ritually offensive to an Egyptian (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Ge+43%3A32">Genesis 43:32</a>), as was offering certain kinds of sacrifices (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Ex+8%3A22">Exodus 8:22</a>). Homosexuality and other perversions are repugnant to God and fall under his judgment (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Lev+18%3A22-30">Leviticus 18:22-30</a>; <a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Lev+20%3A13">Leviticus 20:13</a>). Idolatry (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Dt+7%3A25">Deut. 7:25</a>), human sacrifice (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Dt+12%3A31">Deut. 12:31</a>), eating ritually unclean animals (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Dt+14%3A3-8">Deut. 14:3-8</a>), sacrificing defective animals (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Dt+17%3A1">Deut. 17:1</a>), engaging in occult activities (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Dt+18%3A9-14">Deut. 18:9-14</a>), conducting one's business dishonestly (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Dt+25%3A13-16">Deut. 25:13-16</a>), practicing ritual prostitution (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=1Ki+14%3A23">1 Kings 14:23f</a>.), and similar acts of disobedience (for seven more abominations, see the list in <a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Pr+6%3A16-19">Proverbs 6:16-19</a>) were sure to bring God's wrath on those who perpetrated them. Twelve times the book of Proverbs uses the phrase, "is an abomination to the Lord." In <a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Ps+88">Psalm 88</a>, a prayer for help written by a man close to death, the physically repulsive appearance of a tôʿēbâ is stressed; the man's former friends avoid him because they consider him to be a thing of horror (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Ps+88%3A8">Psalm 88:8</a> [H 9]).

Sometimes tôʿēbâ is used as a synonym for "idol," as in <a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Isa+44%3A19">Isaiah 44:19</a>, or even for a specific pagan deity, as in <a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=2Ki+23%3A13">2 Kings 23:13</a> where Milcom is called "the abomination of the Ammonites," parallel to "Ashtoreth the abomination (shIqqûṣ) of the Sidonians" and "Chemosth the abomination (shiqqûṣ) of Moab." At the other end of the spectrum, even prayer is an abomination if offered by one who refuses to obey God's Word (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Pr+28%3A9">Proverbs 28:9</a>).