📖 Biblical Definition
The Abomination of Desolation is Christ's phrase in Matthew 24:15: when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand). The original Daniel prophecy (Dan 9, 11, 12) was partially fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes' defilement of the temple (167 BC); Christ projects another fulfillment, traditionally identified with the Roman destruction of the temple in AD 70 and/or a future eschatological event.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Daniel; Matthew 24.) Sacrilegious profanation of the holy place; partially fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes, projected by Christ for further fulfillment.
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First fulfillment: Antiochus Epiphanes IV (Seleucid king) erected an altar to Zeus in the Jerusalem temple in 167 BC and sacrificed swine on it. The Maccabean revolt followed. The 1 Maccabees account directly cites Daniel.
Second fulfillment(s): Christ projects another. Various proposals: Roman standards in the temple (AD 70), Caligula's order to place his statue there (AD 40, never executed), or a future eschatological figure. Preterist, partial-preterist, and futurist views differ.
📖 Key Scripture
Daniel 9:27 — "And for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate."
Daniel 11:31 — "And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate."
Matthew 24:15 — "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)."
Mark 13:14 — "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often pins the Abomination of Desolation to highly specific future events; the partial-preterist tradition reads it largely as fulfilled in AD 70 and the figure now stands open for further unfolding.
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Christ's parenthetical ‘whoso readeth, let him understand’ (Mt 24:15) is Daniel-readers-only language. He is signaling that careful reading of Daniel is essential to interpreting His own words.
Whatever interpretive school, the household's posture is the same: the warning about sacrilegious profanation in holy places is permanent. False worship installed in the place of true worship is what the prophecy names; vigilance against it is what the saints owe.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek bdelygma erēmôseôs; Hebrew shiqquts shomem.
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Greek bdelygma — abomination, detestable thing.
Hebrew shiqquts — abomination, especially of idolatry.
Usage
"Whoso readeth, let him understand."
"False worship installed in the place of true worship."
"Vigilance against sacrilegious profanation is permanent."