H8262 — שָׁקַץ (shaqats)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H8262
Original: שָׁקַץ
Transliteration: shaqats
Pronunciation: shaw-kats'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root — cognate of H8263 שֶׁקֶץ (sheqets, noun: "detestable thing")
Occurrences: 6 unique verses (7 tokens in OT)
First Occurrence: Lev 11:11 — "They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to be filthy, i.e. (intensively) to loathe, pollute: — abhor, make abominable, have in abomination, detest, utterly.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Piel	7	detest, regard as abominable, treat as detestable

All 7 tokens are exclusively Piel (intensive/factitive). Breakdown by form:

Form	Count	References
Piel Imperfect 2mp (תְּשַׁקְּצוּ)	4	Lev 11:11, 13, 43; 20:25
Piel Infinitive Absolute (שַׁקֵּץ)	1	Deut 7:26
Piel Imperfect 2ms + 3ms suffix (תְּשַׁקְּצֶנּוּ)	1	Deut 7:26
Piel Perfect 3ms (שִׁקַּץ)	1	Psa 22:24

The exclusive Piel usage indicates the word always carries intensive/factitive force — not merely "to find detestable" but "to actively detest, treat as abominable, regard with visceral repulsion."

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
abominable (make/made abominable)	2	33%
have in abomination	2	33%
utterly detest	1	17%
abhorred	1	17%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	4	0.5
Deuteronomy	1	0.1
Psalms	1	0.04

Concentrated in Mosaic dietary/purity legislation (Lev 11, 20). Sole Psalms occurrence (22:24) shifts from cultic to relational context.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Dietary/Cultic Revulsion — Creatures Declared Unclean¶

Lev 11:11 — "They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination." — Waterborne creatures lacking fins and scales
Lev 11:13 — "And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination." — Predatory/scavenging birds
Lev 11:43 — "Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby." — Swarming ground creatures

2. Clean/Unclean Separation Imperative¶

Lev 20:25 — "Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean." — Summary principle linking shaqats to the badal (H914, "separate/distinguish") imperative

3. Idolatry Revulsion — Intensive Doubling Construction¶

Deut 7:26 — "Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing." — Infinitive absolute + imperfect (שַׁקֵּץ תְּשַׁקְּצֶנּוּ) paired with identical ta'ab (H8581) construction for maximum intensification; applied to pagan idols, not dietary uncleanness

4. Divine Compassion — Negated Form¶

Psa 22:24 — "For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard." — Only non-Pentateuchal use; God is the subject (elsewhere always humans); negated — God did NOT shaqats the afflicted one; paired with H959 bazah "despise"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָכַל (ʼakal)	H398	2× (33%)	Prohibition context: "ye shall not eat... ye shall have in abomination"
טָמֵא (ṭameʼ)	H2930	2× (33%)	Paired consequence: detesting → becoming unclean
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	2× (33%)	"Make your souls abominable" — subject of defilement
עוֹף (ʻowph)	H5775	2× (33%)	Unclean birds as objects of shaqats
שֶׁקֶץ (sheqets)	H8263	2× (33%)	Cognate noun co-occurring: "they are a sheqets... you shall shaqats them"
בָּדַל (badal)	H914	1× (17%)	Clean/unclean separation mandate (Lev 20:25)
חֵרֶם (cherem)	H2764	1× (17%)	Cursed/devoted-to-destruction thing (Deut 7:26)
תּוֹעֵבָה (toʻebah)	H8441	1× (17%)	Parallel abomination term in Deut 7:26 idolatry context

Word Family / Cognates¶

H8263 שֶׁקֶץ (sheqets) — Noun cognate: "detestable thing, abomination"; 11 occurrences; used for unclean creatures (Lev 7:21; 11:10–42) and idolatrous objects (Isa 66:17; Eze 8:10). The noun names the status; the verb (shaqats) commands the response.
H8251 שִׁקּוּץ (shiqquts) — Intensified noun form: "detestable idol, abomination"; 28 occurrences; used almost exclusively for pagan idols and false worship (e.g., Dan 11:31; 12:11 "abomination of desolation"; 1 Ki 11:5, 7; 2 Ki 23:13). Distinguished from sheqets by its consistent application to idolatry rather than dietary matters.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
תַּעָב (ta'ab)	H8581	"abominable"	ta'ab = moral/ethical revulsion, broader scope (ethical violations, injustice, false weights); shaqats = visceral/cultic revulsion focused on dietary/purity categories
תּוֹעֵבָה (toʻebah)	H8441	"abomination"	toʻebah = noun from ta'ab; covers moral, social, and cultic abominations; shaqats family is narrower — primarily cultic and dietary
פִּגּוּל (piggul)	H6292	"abominable"	piggul = specifically spoiled/rejected sacrifice meat (Lev 7:18; 19:7); technical priestly term, not a response verb

Semantic Domain: Unclean / Despise¶

From SDBH domains: - Unclean domain: H1350 gaʼal (defile), H1351 gaʼal (defile), H2610 chaneph (pollute), H2930 tameʼ (be unclean), H2931 tameʼ (unclean adj.), H2932 tumʼah (uncleanness) - Despise domain: H936 buz (despise), H937–939 buz/buzah (contempt), H947 bus (trample), H959 bazah (despise)

The word occupies the intersection of these two domains — it expresses the attitude of revulsion (despise domain) directed specifically at what is cultically impure (unclean domain).

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
βδελύσσω (bdelysso) G948	5	9.16	Primary equivalent — "to abominate, detest"; same semantic intensity
βδέλυγμα (bdelygma) G946	3	6.84	Noun "abomination" used when LXX renders the construction nominally

The LXX consistently uses the βδελ- (bdel-) root to translate shaqats, linking it to the same Greek word family that renders shiqquts (H8251) and toʻebah (H8441). This convergence means the Greek NT reader encounters a single βδέλυγμα/"abomination" concept where Hebrew distinguished three separate terms (shaqats/sheqets, shiqquts, toʻebah).