FAQ

In the Greek text of Revelation 21:8, the word ἐβδελυγμένοις (ebdelugmenois) is used, which is translated in the Synodal version as "abominable". More accurately, though less pleasantly, it can be translated as "vile" or "foul": it derives from the noun βδέλυγμα (bdelugma), meaning "abomination" or "vileness", which in turn comes from the verb βδέω (bdew) — "to stink". Blessed Jerome in the Vulgate translates it as execratis — cursed, anathematized, vile, disgusting. Such expressions are used in the Bible in several senses.

First, since ancient times, the concept of abomination and defilement has been associated with ritual and physical impurity. In particular, the Old Testament considers various violations of hygienic laws to be an abomination. By analogy, sin was viewed as defilement, a kind of violation of spiritual hygiene. In the New Testament, this understanding fades into the background (the observance of hygiene ceases to be a primary religious task, although, of course, it is not abolished). The counterpart to this usage in the New Testament became the understanding of defilement as the pollution of a person (both spirit and flesh) by the "abominations" of the fallen world. This can include a passion for wealth, sexual immorality, arrogance, and indifference to the suffering of others…

Secondly, in New Testament times, both in Jewish and Greek-speaking environments, this term was widely used as an indirect designation for various sexual abnormalities, primarily unnatural ones. This understanding is also deeply rooted in the Old Testament.

Thirdly, and finally, early Christians applied this term to denote manifestations of unbridled pagan cults (human sacrifice and cultic prostitution), which were quite common in the ancient world. The translation of Blessed Jerome leans more toward this exact understanding.

It must be assumed that the meaning of the concept of "abomination" lies within the framework of these three usages. Obviously, all of these things make a person "abominable".