The Hebrew verb bachal means to loathe, feel disgust, or be repulsed by something. It describes a visceral revulsion — the opposite of delight. The word appears rarely but captures the strong emotional recoil that sinful conditions can provoke even in God.
The concept of divine loathing in bachal is a corrective to overly sentimental views of God. The prophets consistently portray God as one who is genuinely repulsed by Israel's unfaithfulness and the injustice of their worship (Amos 5:21; Zechariah 11:8). This is not capriciousness but moral integrity — a holy God cannot delight in what is vile. The flip side is that God also despises what despises His people (Zechariah 11:8), showing His passionate loyalty to those He loves.