TR: towebah → bdelygma (Abomination)¶

The Chain¶

Hebrew OT              LXX (Greek OT)           Greek NT
───────────            ───────────────           ────────
תּוֹעֵבַה (towebah)  →  βδέλυγμα (bdelygma)  →   βδέλυγμα (bdelygma)
H8441, 112x             66x as translation        6x in NT
"abomination"           of towebah (PMI 29.86)    "abomination"

Towebah is the single largest OT source for NT βδέλυγμα — more than three times the feed from shiqquwts. Whereas TR-shiqquwts-bdelygma traces the narrower "detestable idol / abomination of desolation" line (Dan 9:27 → Matt 24:15), this trace covers the much broader moral / covenantal / sapiential stream that makes up the majority of bdelygma's LXX input.

OT Usage (Hebrew)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H8441	תּוֹעֵבַה (towebah)	112	abomination — morally loathsome act, object, person, or disposition before YHWH
H8581	תָּעַב (taʻab)	22	to loathe, abhor (root verb)
H8251	שִׁקּוּץ (shiqquwts)	28	detestable thing, idol
H8263	שֶׁקֶץ (sheqets)	11	detestable (Levitical dietary)

Key OT passages (towebah): - Deut 12:31 — "every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods" - Lev 18:22 — "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" - Pro 6:16 — "six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him" - Eze 8:6 — "the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here" - Mal 2:11 — "an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem"

Library entry: H8441-towebah.md

LXX Bridge¶

Hebrew → Greek (how the LXX renders H8441 towebah)¶

Greek Translation	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
βδέλυγμα (bdelygma)	G946	66	29.86	Primary — near-default rendering
ἀνομία (anomia)	G458	25	15.54	"Lawlessness" — covenant-breach nuance
ποιέω (poieō)	G4160	40	6.79	Verb "do" — tracks עָשָׂה collocation
μιαίνω (miainō)	G3392	8	8.89	"Defile" — pollution nuance
ἀκαθαρσία (akatharsia)	G167	4	6.86	"Uncleanness" — ritual nuance
ἀσέβεια (asebeia)	G763	4	5.94	"Impiety"

Greek ← Hebrew (what Hebrew words feed G946 bdelygma)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score
תּוֹעֵבַה (towebah)	H8441	66	29.86
שִׁקּוּץ (shiqquwts)	H8251	20	22.72
שֶׁקֶץ (sheqets)	H8263	11	19.48
שֶׁרֶץ (sherets)	H8318	6	12.68
גִּלּוּל (gillul)	H1544	7	10.72
עַשְׁתֹּרֶת (Ashtoreth)	H6253	3	10.87
מַלְכָּם (Malkam)	H4445	3	9.85
שָׁקַץ (shaqats)	H8262	3	9.48

Semantic convergence in translation: The LXX collapses the whole Hebrew "disgust / loathing / idolatry" field (towebah + shiqquwts + sheqets + sherets + gillul, plus named idols Ashtoreth and Milcom) into βδέλυγμα. Towebah is the dominant feeder (66 vs. shiqquwts 20 vs. sheqets 11). When an NT author writes βδέλυγμα, the reader hears all of these streams at once — moral loathsomeness, idol, ritual uncleanness, and unclean creature.

NT Usage (Greek)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G946	βδέλυγμα (bdelygma)	6	abomination, detestable thing
G948	βδελύσσω (bdelyssō)	2	to abhor, detest (cognate verb)
G947	βδελυκτός (bdelyktos)	1	abominable, detestable (cognate adj.)

Key NT passages: - Matt 24:15 — "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place" (quoting Dan — echoes shiqquwts specifically) - Mark 13:14 — parallel: "the abomination of desolation... standing where it ought not" - Luke 16:15 — "that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (moral — towebah sense, not shiqquwts sense) - Rev 17:4 — "a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication" - Rev 17:5 — "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth" - Rev 21:27 — "there shall in no wise enter into it... whatsoever worketh abomination"

Library entry: G946-bdelygma.md

Direct OT→NT Quotations¶

NT Verse	Quotes OT	Shared Word Chain	Significance
Matt 24:15	Dan 11:31; 12:11	shiqquwts → bdelygma	The explicit citation is of shiqquwts; but the broader bdelygma field includes towebah
Luke 16:15	Pro-style formula	towebah → bdelygma	"Abomination in the sight of God" echoes Proverbs' formulaic "abomination to the LORD" (Pro 3:32; 11:1; 11:20, etc.) — pure towebah idiom

Continuity and Shifts¶

What stays the same across testaments: - Divine evaluative verdict: "abomination to / before God" formula is preserved (Deut/Pro usage → Luke 16:15) - Moral and cultic senses bundled together — βδέλυγμα inherits towebah's broad ethical scope - Pairing with sexual / idolatrous / commercial corruption persists (Pro 6 list → Rev 17's Babylon catalog)

What shifts: - NT βδέλυγμα becomes far rarer in raw count (6x vs. towebah's 112x) — the LXX's dominant indictment-word is not a high-frequency NT term - The NT concentrates bdelygma in two registers: (1) eschatological quotation of Daniel (Matt 24 / Mark 13, which actually echo shiqquwts) and (2) Revelation's apocalyptic Babylon imagery (17:4–5; 21:27). The broad Deuteronomic-sapiential usage of towebah appears only in Luke 16:15 - Where towebah catalogs dozens of specific acts (weights, lying lips, idolatry, sexual sin, bloody city), NT bdelygma is typically totalized into a single symbolic referent ("the abomination of desolation," "mother of abominations")