Hebrew word · H2028

הֲרֵגָה

haharegah

slaughter

Killing, slaughter. It comes from hārag, "to kill," a word normally used of killing people in violence, war or execution.

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 Jeremiah 12:3

Range of meaning

Killing, slaughter. It comes from hārag, "to kill," a word normally used of killing people in violence, war or execution.

Against the English

English versions often use "slaughter" twice, which hides the move from one Hebrew word to another. BSB and NASB "carnage" signal that the second word is different.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rare. Jer 7:32 and 19:6 (Topheth will be renamed "Valley of Slaughter"). Zech 11:4, 7 ("the flock of slaughter"). The phrase "day of slaughter" in James 5:5 may echo the Greek version of this verse.

From the study of Jeremiah 19:6

Range of meaning

'Killing, slaughter'. It occurs only here, in the parallel Jeremiah 7:32, and in Zechariah 11:4, 7 ('the flock doomed to slaughter'). It comes from hārag, the ordinary verb for violent killing in war, murder or execution.

Against the English

'Slaughter' is accurate. The thing to notice is that hārag is not sacrificial language. Where verse 5 uses the vocabulary of offerings (śārap 'burn', ʿōlōt 'burnt offerings'), the sentence uses the vocabulary of massacre.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 7:32 has the same renaming and adds: 'they will bury in Topheth until there is no room.' Zechariah 11:4, 7 uses ṣōʾn hahărēgāh, 'sheep for slaughter'. The verb hārag is common for killing in war (e.g. Jeremiah 15:3 nearby: 'the sword to kill').

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 3

  1. Jeremiah 7:32 הַהֲרֵגָ֑ה <the> slaughter

    So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.

  2. Jeremiah 12:3 הֲרֵגָֽה׃ ס slaughter

    But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.

    Here: "Killing." The root normally describes killing people, not butchering animals. The verse begins with sheep and ends with a day when people are killed. Jeremiah uses the same word for the "Valley of Slaughter" (7:32; 19:6).

  3. Jeremiah 19:6 הַהֲרֵגָֽה׃ <the> slaughter

    So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

    Here: From hārag, 'to kill'. It means a mass killing, violent death on a large scale, and it is not the vocabulary of sacrifice. The valley where Judah killed its children will be named for the killing of Judah.

Zechariah · 2

  1. Zechariah 11:4 הַהֲרֵגָֽה׃ <the> slaughter

    This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter,

  2. Zechariah 11:7 הַֽהֲרֵגָ֔ה <the> slaughter

    So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.

    Here: 'The slaughter.' The flock is defined by what is going to happen to it: animals kept to be sold and butchered, not cared for (v.5: 'their buyers slay them and go unpunished').

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