Greek word · G948

βδελύσσομαι

bdelyssomai

to abhor

Active and middle: to feel loathing for, to abhor, to treat something as detestable. Passive: to be made loathsome, to become polluted. Related to bdelygma, "abomination," which in the Greek Old Testament (LXX) translates Hebrew words for things that disgust God.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 22, 2026

What it means

βδελύσσω, βδελύσσομαι

(βδέω, to stink), [in LXX chiefly for שׁקץ ,תּעב ;]

in cl., mid. only (Attic, -ττομαι); to make foul; pass., Revelation 21:8; mid., to turn away in disgust from, to detest: Romans 2:22 (Cremer, 137).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Revelation 21:8

Range of meaning: Active and middle: to feel loathing for, to abhor, to treat something as detestable. Passive: to be made loathsome, to become polluted. Related to bdelygma, "abomination," which in the Greek Old Testament (LXX) translates Hebrew words for things that disgust God. These are mostly idols and idolatrous rites (Deut 7:25–26; 1 Kings 11:5–7), and also certain sexual and cultic practices (Lev 18:22–30).
Against the English: BSB, KJV, NASB and YLT have "abominable." NIV has "the vile," ESV "the detestable," and NLT "the corrupt." "Vile" and "corrupt" become general moral words and lose the link to cult and idolatry.
How it drifted: English "abominable" has weakened into a general intensifier ("abominable weather"). The Greek word belongs to the vocabulary of ritual and idolatrous pollution.
Used elsewhere in the period: Revelation 17:4–5: Babylon holds "a golden cup full of abominations (bdelygmatōn)" and is "mother of the abominations of the earth." 21:27: nothing "that practises abomination" will enter the city. The LXX of Daniel's "abomination of desolation" (Dan 11:31; 12:11) uses the same root.

Where it appears

Romans · 1

Romans 2:22 βδελυσσόμενος abhorring

You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

Revelation · 1

Revelation 21:8 ἐβδελυγμένοις having made themselves abominable

But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

Here: "Those who have become abominable" or "have defiled themselves." The perfect tense describes a settled state. It echoes Babylon's cup "full of abominations" (17:4–5), meaning pollution through idolatrous worship.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.