Hebrew word · H2027

הֶ֫רֶג

hereg

slaughter

Killing, slaughter, violent death at human hands. From harag, the ordinary verb for killing and murder (Cain killing Abel, Gen 4:8). The noun appears in Esther 9:5 (slaughter of enemies), Isa 27:7, 30:25 ('the day of great slaughter'), Ezek 26:15.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

a killing, slaughter

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 Proverbs 24:11

Range of meaning

Killing, slaughter, violent death at human hands. From harag, the ordinary verb for killing and murder (Cain killing Abel, Gen 4:8). The noun appears in Esther 9:5 (slaughter of enemies), Isa 27:7, 30:25 ('the day of great slaughter'), Ezek 26:15.

Against the English

'Slaughter' in all major versions. It is accurate, though English 'slaughter' can suggest animals. This word is about killing people. It is not the sacrificial word (zevach) or the butchering word (tevach, as in Prov 7:22).

Used elsewhere in the period

Esth 9:5; Isa 30:25; Ezek 26:15. The verb harag is the normal word for homicide and mass killing.

From the study of Isaiah 30:25

Range of meaning

Hereg is a noun from hārag, 'to kill'. It means killing or slaughter, especially the mass deaths of war. Rab means 'much, great, many'.

Against the English

'Great slaughter' is accurate. Most English versions add 'the' ('the great slaughter'), which makes it sound like a single known event. The Hebrew has no article: 'in a day of great slaughter'. NLT names the victims as Judah's enemies, an interpretation drawn from vv. 27–33 that the verse itself does not state.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 27:7 ('the slaughter of his slain'), Ezek 26:15, Prov 24:11 ('those staggering to slaughter'), Esth 9:5 ('slaughter and destruction'). The Greek Septuagint paraphrases it as 'when many perish'.

Where it appears

Esther · 1

  1. Esther 9:5 וְהֶ֖רֶג and slaughter

    The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 24:11 לַ֝הֶ֗רֶג to the slaughter

    Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.

    Here: Violent killing, the word used for murder and massacre. It matches 'death' in the first line and sharpens it: this is death inflicted by human hands.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 27:7 כְּהֶ֥רֶג like [the] slaughter of

    Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors? Was she killed like those who slayed her?

  2. Isaiah 30:25 הֶ֣רֶג slaughter

    And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall.

    Here: Mass killing, the deaths of many in battle. It is a blunt and violent word.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 26:15 הֶ֙רֶג֙ a slaughter

    This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan at the slaughter in your midst?

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