Hebrew word · H8262

שִׁקֵּץ

shikatz

to detest

A rare verb (Piel stem, about seven uses). It means to treat something as šeqeṣ, a ritually loathsome thing: to regard it as unclean, keep away from it, refuse to touch it.

Appears 7 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) (Piel) to detest, make abominable, count filthy, make detestable

1a) to detest

1b) to make detestable

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 Psalm 22:24

Range of meaning

A rare verb (Piel stem, about seven uses). It means to treat something as šeqeṣ, a ritually loathsome thing: to regard it as unclean, keep away from it, refuse to touch it. Related nouns are šeqeṣ (unclean creatures, Lev 11) and šiqqûṣ (detestable thing, used of idols and of "the abomination that makes desolate" in Daniel).

Against the English

KJV, WEB, ESV and NASB say "abhorred", BSB says "detested", YLT says "abominated" and NIV says "scorned". "Abhorred" and "detested" catch the strength of the feeling but lose the purity overtone. "Scorned" weakens it into mere disdain. YLT's "abominated" comes closest to the word's cultic flavour.

How it drifted

Modern English treats "abhor" or "detest" as a feeling of strong dislike. In Israel's world the word described a category: something you must not touch because it would pollute you.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 11:11, 13, 43 and 20:25 use it for treating unclean animals as detestable. Deut 7:26 uses it for the devoted objects of idolatry ("you shall utterly detest it"). In these passages the people of Israel are the ones who detest. In Psalm 22 God is the subject, and the verb is denied.

From the study of Deuteronomy 7:26

Range of meaning

'To treat as detestable or unclean, to loathe.' It belongs to a family of words. Šeqeṣ is the word for unclean creatures in the food laws: 'they shall be detestable to you' (Lev 11:10–13, 41–43; 20:25). Šiqqûṣ is a standard insult for idols and foreign gods: Milcom 'the detestable thing of the Ammonites' (1 Kgs 11:5–7; 2 Kgs 23:13, 24; Deut 29:17 [Heb 29:16]), and the 'abomination that makes desolate' (šiqqûṣ məšōmēm, Dan 11:31; 12:11).

Against the English

'Utterly detest' (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT, ESV) is accurate. What English cannot carry is the link to the food laws. Hebrew hearers would connect the word with the revulsion owed to unclean animals and to idols, which were often called šiqqûṣîm.

Used elsewhere in the period

Food laws (Lev 11; 20:25). Polemic against idols in Kings, Jeremiah (4:1; 7:30; 16:18) and Ezekiel (5:11; 7:20; 11:18). In the Hebrew text this verb is paired with an emphatic verbal noun of the same root, a standard way of intensifying.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 4

  1. Leviticus 11:11 תְּשַׁקֵּֽצוּ׃ you will consider detestable

    They shall be an abomination to you; you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses.

  2. Leviticus 11:13 תְּשַׁקְּצ֣וּ you will consider detestable

    Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

  3. Leviticus 11:43 תְּשַׁקְּצוּ֙ you make detestable

    Do not defile yourselves by any crawling creature; do not become unclean or defiled by them.

  4. Leviticus 20:25 תְשַׁקְּצ֨וּ you will make detestable

    You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 7:26 שַׁקֵּ֧ץ׀ תְּשַׁקְּצֶ֛נּוּ utterly <detest>, you will detest it

    And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

    Here: A verbal noun placed before its own verb for emphasis: 'detesting, you shall detest'. The root is the word for loathing unclean creatures in the food laws.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 22:24 שִׁקַּ֡ץ he has detested

    For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He has not hidden His face from him, but has attended to his cry for help.

    Here: A rare verb from the vocabulary of ritual purity. Elsewhere it means treating unclean creatures or idols as untouchable and loathsome. God did not recoil from the sufferer as if his condition made him unclean.

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