Original Word: שֶׁקֶץ
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: sheqets
Pronunciation: SHEH-kets
Phonetic Spelling: (sheh'-kets)
KJV: abominable(-tion)
NASB: detestable, abhorrent, detestable things, detestable thing
Word Origin: [from H8262 (שָׁקַץ - detest)]

1. filth, i.e. (figuratively and specifically) an idolatrous object

abomination

From shaqats; filth, i.e. (figuratively and specifically) an idolatrous object -- abominable(-tion).

see HEBREW shaqats

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
detestation, detestable thing
NASB Translation
abhorrent (3), detestable (4), detestable thing (1), detestable things (3).

שֶׁ֫קֶץ noun masculine^{Leviticus 7:21} detestation, detestable thing; — ׳שׁ of the ceremonially unclean. Leviticus 7:21; creatures forbidden as food: water animals without fins or scales Leviticus 11:10,11,12, birds of prey, etc., Leviticus 11:13, winged creeping things Leviticus 11:20; Leviticus 11:23, creeping vermin Leviticus 11:41; Leviticus 11:42 (all P), compare Isaiah 66:17 (+ בְּשַׂר הַחֲזִיר, הָעַכְבָּר); see RS^{Semitic i. 275, 2nd ed. 293; K 309 f., 2nd ed. 311 f.} — Ezekiel 8:10 read probably שִׁקּוּצִים, see שִׁקּוּץ.

Concept Overview

שֶׁקֶץ (sheqets) designates whatever God declares “detestable” or “abominable,” marking it as unclean and therefore incompatible with His holiness. The term is reserved for objects, animals, or practices that violate covenantal boundaries and threaten Israel’s distinctiveness as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

Cultic and Ceremonial Context

Eight of the eleven occurrences appear in Leviticus 11, the core chapter for dietary holiness. There, sheqets labels:
• Aquatic life lacking fins and scales (Leviticus 11:10-12).
• Birds of prey and carrion-eaters (Leviticus 11:13).
• Winged insects that swarm yet do not leap (Leviticus 11:20, 23).
• Small land creatures that swarm or crawl (Leviticus 11:41-42).

The designation is neither arbitrary nor merely hygienic; it functions liturgically. Eating, touching, or carrying such creatures transmits uncleanness, disqualifying the offender from sanctuary access until proper purification. By calling these creatures sheqets, the Law engraves the holiness paradigm into daily life: what is common fare for the nations is off-limits for the covenant people.

Holiness, Diet, and Identity

Leviticus 11 frames obedience to the dietary code within the covenant formula: “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). Abstaining from sheqets is thus an act of worship, a lived confession that Israel belongs exclusively to the LORD. Violations, even unwitting, required ritual cleansing, underscoring how sinless perfection is needed to approach God.

Leviticus 7:21 applies the same label to anyone who partakes of a peace offering while unclean: the offender “must be cut off from his people.” Here the word highlights the gravity of profaning sacred communion through casual impurity.

Prophetic Denunciation

Isaiah 66:17 exposes syncretistic worship: “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves following their malevolent idol, eating the flesh of pigs and the vermin and mice, will perish together, declares the LORD”. The prophet equates idolatry and forbidden foods under the banner of sheqets, showing that dietary rebellion mirrors spiritual treason.

Ezekiel 8:10 portrays elders of Judah defiling the temple with images of “crawling things and detestable beasts.” The vision amplifies the Levitical principle: everything marked sheqets outside the sanctuary has now been welcomed inside, signaling total covenant collapse and impending judgment.

Spiritual Symbolism and Redemptive Trajectory

The New Testament does not annul the moral import of sheqets; it reveals its fulfillment. Jesus declares, “Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him” (Mark 7:18), redirecting uncleanness from dietary boundaries to the heart’s moral orientation. Peter’s vision in Acts 10 employs the language of Levitical detestables to announce the cleansing of the Gentiles: “What God has made clean, you must not call impure.” The vision neither trivializes the original command nor portrays it as error; rather, it shows that Christ’s atonement supplies the definitive purification that the Levitical system anticipated.

Ministry Implications

1. Holiness remains essential. While the dietary markers are fulfilled in Christ, the call to separation from sin endures (1 Peter 1:15-16).
2. Worship must be guarded from syncretism. Isaiah and Ezekiel warn that tolerating what God calls detestable invites judgment.
3. The gospel extends to all peoples. Gentiles once labeled unclean are welcomed through faith in Jesus, demonstrating the missionary heartbeat of biblical holiness.

Key References

Leviticus 7:21; Leviticus 11:10-13, 20, 23, 41-42; Isaiah 66:17; Ezekiel 8:10

וְהַשֶּׁ֖קֶץ וְשֶׁ֖קֶץ והשקץ ושקץ שֶׁ֔קֶץ שֶׁ֣קֶץ שֶׁ֥קֶץ שקץ še·qeṣ šeqeṣ Sheketz vehashSheketz veSheketz wə·haš·še·qeṣ wə·še·qeṣ wəhaššeqeṣ wəšeqeṣInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts