Abomination
An object of disgust (Lev 18:22); a detestable act (Eze 22:11); a ceremonial pollution (Gen 43:32); especially an idol (1Ki 11:5-7; 2Ki 23:13); food offered to idols (Zec 9:7). The Egyptians regarded it an abomination, i.e. ceremonially polluting, to eat with the Hebrew as foreigners (Gen 43:32), because, as Herodotus says (Gen 2:41), the cow was eaten and sacrificed by foreign nations.
So when Pharaoh told Israel to offer sacrifice to Jehovah in Egypt without going to the wilderness, Moses objected: "we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes" (the cow, the only animal which all the Egyptians held sacred), "and will they not stone us?" (Exo 8:26) compare the Jews' own practice in later times (Act 10:28).
The Hebrew, not only as foreigners, accounted by the intolerant mythology of Egypt as unfit for intercourse except that of war or commerce, but also as nomad shepherds, were an "abomination" to the Egyptians (Gen 46:34). Therefore Joseph tells his brethren to inform Pharaoh, "Our trade hath been about cattle, both we and also our fathers," i.e. hereditarily; for Pharaoh would be sure then to plant them, not in the heart of the country, but in Goshen, the border land.
The Egyptians themselves reared cattle, as Pharaoh's offer to make Joseph's brethren "overseers of his cattle" proves (Gen 47:6), and as their sculptures and paintings show; but they abominated the nomad shepherds, or Bedouins, because the Egyptians, as being long civilized, shrank, and to the present day shrink, from the lawless predatory habits of the wandering shepherd tribes in their vicinity.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Abomination
Abomination a-bom-i-na'-shun (piggul, to`ebhah, sheqets (shiqquts)): Three distinct Hebrew words are rendered in the English Bible by "abomination," or "abominable thing," referring (except in Ge 43:32; 46:34) to things or practices abhorrent to Yahweh, and opposed to the ritual or moral requirements of His religion. It would be well if these words could be distinguished in translation, as they denote different degrees of abhorrence or loathsomeness. ⇒See a list of verses on ABOMINATION in the Bible. The word most used for this idea by the Hebrews and indicating the highest degree of abomination is to`ebhah, meaning primarily that which offends the religious sense of a people. When it is said, for example, "The Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians," this is the word used; the significance being that the Hebrews were repugnant to the Egyptians as foreigners, as of an inferior caste, and especially as shepherds (Ge 46:34). The feeling of the Egyptians for the Greeks was likewise one of repugnance. Herodotus (ii.41) says the Egypt…
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Abomination
Four separate Heb. words are thus rendered in OT (sometimes with the variation abominable thing), the application of which is in many respects very difTerent. (1) The commonest of these words is '^^)^^, which expresses most generally the idea of something loathed (cf. the verb, Mic 3"), esp. on religious grounds : thus Gn 43" ' to eat food with the Hebrews is an abomination to the Egyptians,' — a strong ex- pression of the exclusiveness with which the Egyptians viewed foreigners, esp. such as had no regard for their religious scruples ; thus, on account of their veneration for the cow (which was sacred to Isis), they would not use the knife or cooking utensil of a Greek, which might have been employed in preparing the flesh of a cow as food (Hat. ii. 41); Gn 46'* 'every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians,' — shepherds, viz., were ranked, it seems, with the /3ou«6Xoi, whose occupation was deemed a degrading one, who from living with their herds in reed cottages on the marshes wore called marshmen, and who are depicted on the monuments as dirty, unshaven, poorly clad, and even…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia