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תּוֹעֵבָה tō‘ēbāh – abomination

Semantic Fields: Utensils Or Other   
Author(s): Paul Sanders
First published: 2026-??-??
Citation: Paul Sanders, תּוֹעֵבָה tō‘ēbāh – abomination,
               Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2026

Introduction

Grammatical type:
Occurrences: 117x HB (27/60/30); 4x Sir; ??x Qum; ??x Inscr. (Total: ??)

  • Torah: Gen 43:32; 46:34; Exod 8:22 (2x); Lev 18:22, 26, 27, 29, 30; 20:13; Deut 7:25, 26; 12:31; 13:15; 14:3; 17:1, 4; 18:9, 12 (2x); 20:18; 22:5; 23:19; 24:4; 25:16; 27:15; 32:16;

  • Nebiim: 1 Kgs 14:24; 2 Kgs 16:3; 21:2, 11; 23:13; Isa 1:13; 41:24; 44:19; Jer 2:7; 6:15; 7:10; 8:12; 16:18; 32:35; 44:4, 22; Ezek 5:9, 11; 6:9, 11; 7:3, 4, 8, 9, 20; 8:6 (2x), 9, 13, 15, 17; 9:4; 11:18, 21; 12:16; 14:6; 16:2, 22, 36, 43, 47, 50, 51 (2x), 58; 18:12, 13, 24; 20:4; 22:2, 11; 23:36; 33:26, 29; 36:31; 43:8; 44:6, 7, 13; Mal 2:11;

  • Ketubim: Ps 88:9; Prov 3:32; 6:16; 8:7; 11:1, 20; 12:22; 13:19; 15:8, 9, 26; 16:5, 12; 17:15; 20:10, 23; 21:27; 24:9; 26:25; 28:9; 29:27 (2x); Ezra 9:1, 11, 14; 2 Chron 28:3; 33:2; 34:33; 36:8, 14.

  • Sira: Sir 13:20A (2x); 15:13A,B; 49:2B.

  • Qumran:

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1. Root and Comparative Material

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2. Formal Characteristics

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3. Syntagmatics

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4. Ancient Versions

a. Septuagint (LXX) and other Greek versions (αʹ, σʹ, θʹ):

  • βδέλυγμα, ‘what is abominable, loathsome’:8

  • ἀνομία, ‘act which is in breach of law’:9

  • ἀσέβεια, ‘impiety, ungodliness’:3:

  • μόλυνσις, ‘’:

b. Peshitta (Pesh):17

  • ܛܡܐܘܬܐ (ṭammūṯā), ‘impurity’:

  • ܛܢܦܘܬܐ (ṭanpūṯā), ‘impurity, abomination’:

  • ܚܛܗܐ (ḥṭāhā), ‘sin’:

c. Targum (Tg):

Jewish Targumim:

  • תּוֹעֵבָה, ‘’:

  • מְרַחַק, ‘’, adj.:

  • מרחקה, ‘abomination’:

Samaritan Targum:

  • תועבה, ‘abhorrence’:19 always in TgSmrJ; pl. תועבאתה in TgSmrJ in Lev 18:26, 27, 29, 30, and in TgSmrA in Lev 18:27, 29, 30 (18:26 lost);
  • תועב, ‘abhorrence’:20 Gen 43:32 in TgSmrA;
  • ארפשו, ‘disgraceful deeds’:21 Lev 18:22; 20:13 in TgSmrA;
  • גנו, ‘blame’, ‘abhorrence’:22 Gen 46:34; Exod 8:22 (2x) in TgSmrA.

d. Vulgate (Vg):

  • abominatio, ‘’:

  • execratio, ‘’:

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5. Lexical/Semantic Fields

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6. Exegesis

6.1 Textual Evidence

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6.2 Pictorial Material

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6.3 Archaeology

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7. Conclusion

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Bibliography

For the abbreviations see the List of Abbreviations.

Notes

  1. GELS, 115. Adrados, DGE: ‘abominación’. ↩

  2. GELS, 55, ↩

  3. GELS, 96. ↩

  4. The translations of the Syriac are based on Sokoloff, SLB. ↩

  5. Tal, DSA, 958. ↩

  6. Tal, DSA, 958. ↩

  7. Tal, DSA, 847. ↩

  8. Tal, DSA, 152-53. ↩

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