ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. This expression does not appear in this precise form in the Heb. OT though its origin is there. The idea is found four times, expressed in similar words (Dan 8:13; 9:27; 11:31 and 12:11). The exact expression cited as the title of this article appears twice in the NT (τό βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως) (Matt 24:15; Mark 13:4). Matthew quotes Jesus as asserting that it was “spoken of through Daniel the prophet.” The Gr. phrase is, indeed, quoted almost exactly from the LXX of Daniel 9:27 (as also Theodotion’s tr. which for centuries replaced the LXX for Daniel until recovery in modern times). Since Jesus’ reference to the abomination of desolation is derived straight from the OT, it is there one must go to find out what He might have intended to convey by the phrase.

The KJV renders four different Heb. nouns (tô'ēbâ, sheqes, shiqûs, and piggûl) “abomination,” and in the NT also the word bdélugma, referred to above. In addition there are two Heb. verbs rendered “to have in abomination” (shaqas in Piel and bā’ash in Niphal); also two verbs tr. “to be abominable” (zā’am and ta’ab). The Gr. NT also supplies the adjectives αθένιτος and βδελυκτός, G1008, “abominable” and a verb βδελύσσομαι, G1009, “to be abominable.” There is the surprising number of twelve Heb. and Gr. words involved one way or another with this concept. Like our own language the Heb. and Gr. languages of the Bible employ a variety of terms to express degrees and varieties of abhorrence. Some are related in derivation (as similarities of spelling suggest); some are not.

Inward spiritual and moral revulsion at great wrong in religious matters (perhaps also accompanying emotional disgust) seems to be the main notion involved in the four Heb. nouns. Since there is only one living and true God, a pure spirit without bodily parts, all forms of visible representations of God for worship (or even for artistic expression, many have thought) are abhorrent to Him, as well as all forms, ceremonies, rituals and objects connected with idolatry. This is the focus of the notion of “abomination” in the Bible. תﯴעֵבָ֥ה is the word chiefly used in connection with abhorrence of idolatry, as also with moral abhorrence (viz. Jer 7:7-10, where attempts to cover gross and violent sins by the Mosaic sacrifices are called “abominations”). The verb תָּעַב, H9493, from which תﯴעֵבָ֥ה is derived, is less specialized in meaning, though tr. in similar fashion. תָּעַב, H9493, expresses displeasure of many kinds, from the mild sense of dislike for certain foods (Ps 107:18) to hate for idols (Deut 7:26).

Taking usage still as our guide, שֶׁ֖קֶץ appears to be a technical word for revulsion produced not only in God, but also in the pious believer at the use of the flesh of unclean animals for food or sacrifice (Lev 7:21; 11:10-13, 20, 23, 41, 42). The related noun שִׁקֻּ֖ץ is used chiefly as a term of contempt for idols and idolatry, esp. by the writing prophets (viz. Isa 66:3; Jer 4:1; 32:34; Ezek 7:20), while שֶׁ֖קֶץ (a related verb, yet apparently not the root of the noun and adjective, but a denominative verb derived from one of the nouns, BDB) seems to be employed regularly to express revulsion, such as Hebrews were expected to have toward all things morally or religiously wrong. It is rendered abomination in Leviticus 11:11, 13.

The KJV translates a Qal participle of זָעַם, H2404, (usually, to be angry) as “abominable” (Mic 6:10) expressing disgust at petty dishonesty.

The NT terms ἀθεμίτος (“abominable idolatries,” 1 Pet 4:3); βδελυκτὸ̀ς (“being abominable,” Titus 1:16); βδελύσσομαι, G1009, (“thou that abhorrest idols,” Rom 2:22) and βδελυγμα (“abomination of desolation,” Matt 24:15) are each in every way nothing more than the Heb. words and ideas, treated above, in Gr. garments. An abomination in context of religion is a revulsion (or repulsive object) of an idolatrous or sacrilegious sort. Such a thing (or event) is reported in 2 Kings 3:26, 27. It was a public human sacrifice to a pagan god by the pagan king, Mesha of Moab. The prompt departure of the Heb. armies is almost certainly expression of the revulsion of an “abomination,” though none of the Heb. words treated above is used in the connection.

When Jesus spoke of the “abomination of desolation which is spoken of through Daniel the prophet” (Dan 9:2, 18, 26), He has reference to an art consummately sacrilegious, one which utterly desolates (spiritually) some highly significant religious object or place. Those critical interpreters who deny predictive reality to any of the prophecies relate the four references in Daniel to the sacrilege committed by Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), pagan king of Syria, who sacrificed a sow on the holy altar before the Temple of Jerusalem, 165 b.c. Yet Jesus clearly places the event in the future. Certain evangelical authors have sought fulfillment in the desolation of Jerusalem and its Temple together with subsequent erection of a pagan house of worship at the site by the Romans, later in the 1st cent. a.d. Many interpreters feel that Paul’s brief “apocalypse” of the final “man of sin” (2 Thess 2:8-12) is an extension of Daniel’s and Jesus’ prediction. Paul distinctly relates it to our Lord’s Second Advent. In this case an adequate understanding of both Daniel and Jesus, as well as of Paul, must be undertaken in connection with Biblical eschatology. Such is the view of the author of this article.

See various articles on Eschatology; Beast; Antichrist; Man of Sin; etc.