Hebrew word · H1860

דֵּרָאוֹן

dera'on

abhorrence

Abhorrence, aversion, an object of horror or loathing. The word appears only here and in Isaiah 66:24, so its meaning comes mainly from that parallel. Its root is uncertain. BDB and HALOT both give "abhorrence".

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

aversion, abhorrence

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Daniel 12:2

Range of meaning

Abhorrence, aversion, an object of horror or loathing. The word appears only here and in Isaiah 66:24, so its meaning comes mainly from that parallel. Its root is uncertain. BDB and HALOT both give "abhorrence".

Against the English

"Contempt" (KJV, BSB, ESV, NIV, NASB, WEB) is acceptable but a little mild. English contempt is cold disdain. dērāʾôn is closer to the shudder of revulsion people feel at a corpse. YLT's "abhorrence" is nearer the mark.

How it drifted

"Everlasting contempt" is now often heard as a shorthand for hell, a place of fire and torment. The word itself describes how others regard the person, as an object of horror. It does not name a place or a punishment.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 66:24, the last verse of Isaiah: the faithful "shall go out and look on the corpses of the men who rebelled against me; for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence (dērāʾôn) to all flesh." Jesus' Gehenna sayings (Mark 9:48) draw on the same Isaiah verse. The Vulgate guessed at the rare word and rendered it "that they may see always" (ut videant semper), as if from the verb "to see".

From the study of Isaiah 66:24

Range of meaning

Abhorrence, aversion; an object that makes people recoil. It occurs only twice in the Hebrew Bible: here and Daniel 12:2. Its origin is uncertain. HALOT connects it with a root meaning 'repulse, abhor' (compare Arabic dara'a, 'to push away').

Against the English

'Abhorrence/abhorring' (KJV, ESV, NASB, YLT), 'loathsome' (WEB, NIV), 'a horror' (BSB). All are close. 'Horror' can suggest fright, while the Hebrew is closer to disgust and revulsion.

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel 12:2: some will awake 'to everlasting life, and some to reproaches, to everlasting abhorrence (ledir'on 'olam)'. Daniel borrows Isaiah's rare word and adds 'olam ('lasting, age-long'), which marks one of the earliest re-readings of this verse in terms of resurrection. The Greek Septuagint here renders it 'a spectacle' (horasis), and the Vulgate renders it 'a sight to the full'.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 66:24 דֵרָא֖וֹן an abhorrence

    “As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”

    Here: 'An abhorrence.' Something people recoil from in disgust. The word occurs only here and in Daniel 12:2, which borrows it.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 12:2 לְדִרְא֥וֹן to abhorrence of

    And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.

    Here: "To abhorrence": a very rare word found elsewhere only in Isaiah 66:24, where the corpses of rebels are "an abhorrence to all flesh". It names the horror and revulsion that onlookers feel.

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