G948 — βδελύσσομαι (bdelyssomai)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G948
Original: βδελύσσω / βδελύσσομαι
Transliteration: bdelysso / bdelyssomai
Pronunciation: bdel-oos'-so
Part of Speech: Verb (deponent middle/passive)
Root: From βδέω (bdeo) — to stink; via a presumed derivative denoting physical stench → metaphorical moral revulsion
Occurrences: 2 verses in NT (2 tokens; 2 books)
First Occurrence: Rom 2:22 — "thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?"
Hapax Legomenon: No (dis legomenon — appears exactly twice)

Lexicon Definition¶

From a presumed derivative of βδέω (bdeo, "to stink"). Active sense: to render foul, to cause to be abhorred, to defile, pollute. Middle/passive (deponent) sense: to turn oneself away from on account of the stench; metaphorically, to abhor, to detest. The word carries strong connotations of physical disgust transformed into moral revulsion, particularly regarding idolatry and moral corruption.

Thayer distinguishes two senses: (1) active — "to render foul, to cause abhorrence"; (2) middle (deponent) — "to turn oneself away from on account of the stench; to abhor, detest." Both NT occurrences use the middle/passive form.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Primary Domain: 25.017 — Abhor (sub-domain of 25: Attitudes and Emotions)
Glosses: "to abhor," "to abominate"
Other words in subdomain: βδέλυγμα (bdelygma, G946) — what is detestable; βδελυκτός (bdelyktos, G947) — detestable, abominable

The three βδελ- words form a tight lexical cluster within the Abhor subdomain: the verb (G948) expresses the act of detesting, the noun (G946) denotes the object of detestation, and the adjective (G947) describes the quality of being detestable.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
thou that abhorrest	1	50%
the abominable	1	50%

Both translations capture different morphological forms: the present middle participle in Rom 2:22 ("thou that abhorrest") and the perfect passive participle used substantivally in Rev 21:8 ("the abominable").

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Romans	1	0.2
Revelation	1	0.2

The word is evenly split between Paul (Romans) and John (Revelation). Both occurrences appear in contexts of moral condemnation — Paul's diatribe against Jewish hypocrisy and John's eschatological vice list.

Morphological Forms (NT)¶

Reference	Form	Parsing	Grammatical Notes
Rom 2:22	βδελυσσόμενος	Present Middle/Passive Participle, Nominative Singular Masculine	Substantival participle: "the one who abhors" — present tense indicating ongoing/habitual attitude
Rev 21:8	ἐβδελυγμένοις	Perfect Passive Participle, Dative Plural Masculine	Substantival participle: "the ones having been made abominable" — perfect tense indicating a settled state or character

The shift from middle (active revulsion) to passive (state of being abominable) between the two occurrences is significant. In Romans, the subject actively abhors; in Revelation, the subjects have become what is abhorred.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Active Moral Revulsion Toward Idolatry¶

Rom 2:22 — "thou that abhorrest (βδελυσσόμενος) idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?" — The present middle participle describes a Jewish interlocutor who claims to detest idols yet contradicts that stance through temple-robbing (ἱεροσυλέω). The abhorrence is presented as professed but hypocritical.

2. Settled State of Moral Abomination (Eschatological Vice List)¶

Rev 21:8 — "the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable (ἐβδελυγμένοις), and murderers..." — The perfect passive participle describes persons who have become defined by abominable character. They appear in a vice list alongside the cowardly, faithless, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars — all excluded from the New Jerusalem.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
εἴδωλον (eidolon)	G1497	1x	"abhorrest idols" — idol-abhorrence as claimed stance (Rom 2:22)
μοιχεύω (moicheuo)	G3431	1x	paired in rhetorical contrast: claim to abhor yet commit adultery (Rom 2:22)
ἱεροσυλέω (hierosyleo)	G2416	1x	temple-robbing as ironic counterpart to idol-abhorrence (Rom 2:22)
φονεύς (phoneus)	G5406	1x	vice list neighbor: murderers alongside the abominable (Rev 21:8)
πόρνος (pornos)	G4205	1x	vice list neighbor: sexually immoral (Rev 21:8)
εἰδωλολάτρης (eidololatres)	G1496	1x	vice list neighbor: idolaters (Rev 21:8)
λίμνη (limne)	G3041	1x	"lake which burneth with fire" — destination of the abominable (Rev 21:8)
θάνατος (thanatos)	G2288	1x	"the second death" — defining the lake of fire (Rev 21:8)

With only 2 verses, every collocation occurs at 50%. The strongest thematic link is to idolatry: εἴδωλον appears in the Rom 2:22 context and εἰδωλολάτρης in the Rev 21:8 list.

Word Family / Cognates (βδελ- Root)¶

G946 βδέλυγμα (bdelygma) — noun: a detestation, abomination; especially an idol or idolatrous object (6 NT verses). Library entry: G946-bdelygma.md
G947 βδελυκτός (bdelyktos) — adjective: detestable, abominable (1 NT verse — Titus 1:16). No library entry.

Synonyms¶

G3404 μισέω (miseo) — to hate, detest, persecute (42 NT verses). Broader than bdelyssomai: covers personal hatred, rejection, and persecution. Bdelyssomai is specifically visceral revulsion with overtones of physical disgust.
G655 ἀποστυγέω (apostygeo) — to detest utterly, abhor (1 NT verse — Rom 12:9 "Abhor that which is evil"). Hapax legomenon. Intensified form (ἀπό- prefix) of στυγέω, emphasizing shrinking back in horror. Very close in meaning to bdelyssomai but with different imagery: apostygeo = recoil in horror; bdelyssomai = turn away in disgust at stench.

Antonyms¶

G25 ἀγαπάω (agapao) — to love, regard with affection (130 NT verses). Direct moral opposite: love vs. abhorrence. Rom 12:9 pairs the synonym ἀποστυγέω with ἀγαπάω in the same sentence, establishing the abhor/love axis.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ἀποστυγέω (apostygeo)	G655	"abhor" (KJV)	G655 = shrink back in horror (hapax, Rom 12:9); G948 = visceral disgust as from stench, tied to idolatry
μισέω (miseo)	G3404	overlaps in concept of detestation	G3404 = broad hatred/rejection (42v); G948 = physical revulsion metaphorically applied (2v)

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
תַּעָב (ta'ab)	H8581	17	9.19	Primary: to loathe, morally detest — near-exclusive LXX equivalent
שָׁקַץ (shaqats)	H8262	5	9.16	Secondary: to be filthy, detest (ritual uncleanness)
שָׂנֵא (sane')	H8130	4	4.33	to hate — broader, less specialized
תּוֹעֵבָה (to'ebah)	H8441	3	4.23	noun: abomination — cross-POS alignment via shared concept
טָמֵא (tame')	H2930	3	3.87	to be/become unclean — ritual defilement overlap

The LXX strongly maps G948 βδελύσσομαι to H8581 תַּעָב (ta'ab, "to loathe, morally detest"), with 17 co-occurrences at the highest PMI score. This Hebrew verb is the moral-revulsion counterpart: both words convey visceral disgust applied to moral and religious objects. The secondary source H8262 שָׁקַץ (shaqats) adds the ritual-uncleanness dimension, particularly in Levitical dietary contexts.