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Abomination

An act or practice considered utterly offensive to God — especially idolatry, false worship, or ritual defilement; a key prophetic category used repeatedly in Ezekiel to explain why divine judgment falls.

lightbulbA-BOM-ination — something so offensive to God it drops like a bomb on His holiness

25 mentions across 13 books

In biblical usage, an abomination is anything deeply offensive to God — not just gross, but a spiritual violation. Often refers to idol worship, injustice, or practices God explicitly forbade (Leviticus 18, Proverbs 6:16-19). The Hebrew word 'toevah' carries a sense of something utterly incompatible with holiness.

Used In

proverbs

Don't Rig the ScaleProverbs 11:1-3

Abomination appears here specifically applied to rigged scales and commercial dishonesty — God's revulsion is not reserved for ritual violations but extends to everyday marketplace deception.

Peace Planners vs. Evil SchemersProverbs 12:20-22

Abomination is used here to calibrate how seriously God regards lying — this isn't mild disapproval but categorical revulsion, placed in direct contrast to His delight in the faithful (Prov. 12:22).

Everything Has a PurposeProverbs 16:4-7

Abomination is invoked here for pride — indicating that arrogance isn't just a character flaw but something God views with the same revulsion He reserves for the most offensive acts.

Stop the Leak Before the FloodProverbs 17:14-16

Abomination is invoked at verse 15 to convey how deeply God is offended by twisted justice — both acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent fall into this severe category.

Nobody Out-Strategies GodProverbs 21:27-31

Abomination describes the wicked person's sacrifice in Proverbs 21:27 — ritual worship offered with corrupt intentions doesn't just fail to please God, it actively offends Him.

Questions About Abomination

prophecyWill There Be a Third Temple in Jerusalem?prophecyWhat Is the Abomination of Desolation?

Browse Nearby

Acrostic Adoption Adultery

Seven Things God HatesProverbs 6:16-19

Abomination is the strongest word in the Hebrew vocabulary of divine disgust, deployed here to signal that these seven character traits aren't minor infractions — they provoke God's deepest moral revulsion.

2 chronicles

Ahaz Goes Full Villain Mode2 Chronicles 28:1-4

Abomination is used here to describe Ahaz's child sacrifices and pagan rites — practices so morally reprehensible that God had used them as justification for driving out the Canaanite nations before Israel arrived.

The Covenant Renewal2 Chronicles 34:29-33

Every abomination is removed from all Israelite territory as the practical outworking of the covenant renewal — Josiah backs up the public commitment with systematic elimination of every offensive practice.

Jehoiakim the Mid King2 Chronicles 36:5-8

Abomination is invoked to describe the full scope of Jehoiakim's offenses — the text gesturing toward a list so long it couldn't be included, delegating the details to another scroll entirely.

deuteronomy

No Mid OfferingsDeuteronomy 17:1

Abomination is the term God uses to categorize a blemished animal offering in verse 1 — not a minor infraction but a declaration that deliberately substandard worship is deeply offensive to God's character.

Respect the DistinctionsDeuteronomy 22:5

Abomination is the term God applies to wearing garments of the opposite gender in this context — signaling that this prohibition is tied to ritual defilement and pagan worship, not mere preference.

No Take-Backs on DivorceDeuteronomy 24:1-4

Abomination is the term God uses to label a first husband remarrying a wife who has since wed another — framing the act as a defilement of the land, not merely a personal mistake.

1 kings

Meanwhile in Judah: It's Giving Decline1 Kings 14:21-24

Abomination is the strong theological label applied here to Judah's cultic practices — specifically the adoption of Canaanite rituals including shrine prostitution, practices God had condemned as defining reasons for the nations' expulsion.

2 kings

The GOAT King (and the Tragic "But")2 Kings 23:24-25

Abominations here are the mediums, necromancers, and household idols Josiah is clearing out — ritual defilements that violated the Law he found and is now systematically enforcing.

Show 8 more books ▸

daniel

The Timeline Unfolds — And It Gets DarkDaniel 9:25-27

The abomination of desolation appears here as the climactic desecration at the end of the final week — a deliberate defilement of the holy place that Jesus himself later warned his disciples to watch for.

ezekiel

The Vision BeginsEzekiel 8:1-4

Abomination is introduced here as God's own framing word for what Ezekiel is witnessing — the idol at His sanctuary entrance is the first in a series of offenses God personally catalogs.

isaiah

God Doesn't Need Your BuildingIsaiah 66:1-4

Abomination is the verdict God places on religious performance without integrity — bringing a lamb sacrifice while privately serving idols is declared actively offensive to God, placed in the same moral category as murder.

jeremiah

God's Answer: The Judgment Is RealJeremiah 32:26-35

Abomination is the category God applies to the idols placed inside the Temple and the child sacrifices in the Valley of Hinnom — practices so fundamentally opposed to His character that they function as the culminating justification for judgment.

malachi

One Father, One Creator — So Why the Betrayal?Malachi 2:10-12

Abomination names the specific offense Judah committed — marrying into the worship of foreign gods, which brought pagan idolatry inside the covenant community and defiled the sanctuary God dwelt among.

mark

The Great TribulationMark 13:14-23

The abomination of desolation is the triggering sign Jesus warns the disciples to watch for — a profane desecration of the sacred Temple space that signals the worst of the tribulation has begun.

matthew

The Abomination and the Great TribulationMatthew 24:15-22

The abomination of desolation is the specific sign Jesus tells his disciples to watch for — the desecration of the holy place that will trigger an immediate, no-hesitation flight from the city.

revelation

The Woman on the BeastRevelation 17:3-6