חֵ֫רֶם

Leviticus 27:21 הַחֵ֑רֶם <the> total destruction

When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it becomes the property of the priests.

Leviticus 27:28 חֵ֡רֶם חֵ֕רֶם devoted thing

Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.

Here: Something put under the ban: handed over to God for good, taken out of all human use and ownership. It is the noun here; the verb comes next.

Leviticus 27:29 חֵ֗רֶם dedicated person

No person set apart for destruction may be ransomed; he must surely be put to death.

Numbers 18:14 חֵ֥רֶם devoted thing

Every devoted thing in Israel belongs to you.

Deuteronomy 7:26 חֵ֖רֶם חֵ֥רֶם an object for destruction, [is] an object for destruction

And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

Here: Something taken out of human use for good and handed over wholly to God. In war that meant destruction. The person who keeps the idol takes on the idol's status: no longer an ordinary Israelite but something that belongs to destruction.

Deuteronomy 13:17 הַחֵ֑רֶם the object[s] for destruction

Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,

Here: What has been pulled out of ordinary human use and handed over wholly to God, here by being destroyed. This means the burned city and its plunder described in verse 16.

Joshua 6:17 חֵ֛רֶם a devoted thing

Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.

Here: The key word: the city is declared something taken out of all human use and handed over irrevocably to God. For people and animals this meant death; for metals, the sanctuary treasury (v. 19).

Joshua 6:18 הַחֵ֔רֶם הַחֵ֑רֶם לְחֵ֔רֶם the devoted thing[s], into a devoted thing

But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it.

Here: 'The ḥerem': everything in Jericho that 6:17 has just declared irrevocably handed over to YHWH. It is now off-limits to human ownership or use.

Joshua 7:1 בַּחֵ֑רֶם הַחֵ֔רֶם in the devoted thing[s], the devoted thing[s]

The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.

Here: "In the matter of the ḥerem": Jericho and everything in it, which had been declared the irrevocable property of YHWH (6:17–19). It was to be destroyed or, for metals, given to his treasury.

Joshua 7:11 הַחֵ֔רֶם the devoted thing[s]

Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.

Here: What belonged entirely to YHWH and was off-limits to human use. Jericho and everything in it had been declared ḥērem (6:17). Taking it meant taking God's property.

Joshua 7:12 לְחֵ֑רֶם הַחֵ֖רֶם <into> a devoted thing, the devoted thing[s]

This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction.

Here: 'Into ḥērem': Israel itself now has the status of the banned goods, forfeit to God and marked for destruction. This is the outcome Joshua warned of in 6:18: by taking ḥērem 'you will make yourselves ḥērem and make the camp of Israel ḥērem.'

Joshua 7:13 חֵ֤רֶם הַחֵ֖רֶם devoted thing[s], the devoted thing[s]

Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

Here: Something that belongs to Yahweh beyond recall and is off-limits to human use. Here it means the robe, silver and gold Achan took from Jericho (v. 21). The noun is singular but stands for the whole stolen lot, and it stands first in its clause for emphasis: 'Devoted stuff, in your midst!'

Joshua 7:15 בַּחֵ֔רֶם with the devoted thing[s]

The one who is caught with the things devoted to destruction must be burned, along with all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrage in Israel.’”

Here: The plunder of Jericho that had been handed over wholly to the LORD and was off-limits to people (6:17–19). 'Taken with the ḥerem' means singled out as the one who holds it. It may also mean that he now belongs to the ḥerem himself.

Joshua 22:20 בַּחֵ֔רֶם in the devoted thing[s]

Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”

Here: 'In the matter of the ḥerem': the Jericho spoil set apart wholly for YHWH, to be destroyed or put in his treasury (Joshua 6:17–19). Achan's crime was taking God's property for himself.

1 Samuel 15:21 הַחֵ֑רֶם the object[s] for destruction

The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”

1 Kings 20:42 חֶרְמִ֖י total destruction my

And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for his life, and your people for his people.’”

Here: 'My ḥerem' means the person YHWH has claimed for himself under the ban of holy war. Such a person is taken out of human hands for good and given to God, which normally meant death. The 'my' matters: Ben-Hadad was never Ahab's to bargain with.

1 Chronicles 2:7 בַּחֵֽרֶם׃ ס in the devoted thing[s]

The son of Carmi: Achar, who brought trouble upon Israel by violating the ban on devoted things.

Here: 'In/with regard to the ḥērem': the plunder of Jericho that had been handed over entirely to the LORD. Some of it was to be destroyed and the metals went to his treasury (Joshua 6:17–19). Achan kept a cloak, silver and a gold bar for himself.

Ecclesiastes 7:26 וַחֲרָמִ֛ים and [is] nets

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

Here: A fisherman's net (Hab 1:15–17; Ezek 26:5). The verse moves from land-hunting to fishing: she traps on every terrain. This is a different word from the identically spelled ḥērem, 'thing devoted to destruction'.

Isaiah 34:5 חֶרְמִ֖י total destruction my

When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.

Here: 'My ḥerem': the people God has claimed as his own, devoted to him and so set aside for total destruction. It picks up 'he has devoted them to destruction' in verse 2. It is a status, not a spoken curse.

Isaiah 43:28 לַחֵ֙רֶם֙ to <the> total destruction

So I will disgrace the princes of your sanctuary, and I will devote Jacob to destruction and Israel to reproach.”

Here: The ḥerem was the status of being irrevocably handed over to God, usually by destruction. This is what Israel was told to do to Canaanite cities. Now Jacob itself is put under it.

Ezekiel 26:5 חֲרָמִ֤ים nets

She will become a place to spread nets in the sea, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. She will become plunder for the nations,

Here: Large fishing nets, the kind dragged through the water and then laid out on rocks or a beach to dry and be mended. The proud port is reduced to a place for working fishermen's gear.

Ezekiel 26:14 חֲרָמִים֙ nets

I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread the fishing nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the LORD, have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.’

Ezekiel 32:3 בְּחֶרְמִֽי׃ in net my

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will spread My net over you with a company of many peoples, and they will draw you up in My net.

Ezekiel 44:29 חֵ֥רֶם devoted thing

They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.

Ezekiel 47:10 לַֽחֲרָמִ֖ים for nets

Fishermen will stand by the shore; from En-gedi to En-eglaim they will spread their nets to catch fish of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.

Micah 7:2 חֵֽרֶם׃ a net

The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.

Here: A net or dragnet, the hunter's or fisherman's tool, here meaning 'with a net'. The word sounds exactly like ḥērem 'that which is devoted to destruction'. Many readers, starting with the Latin Vulgate, have heard a grim double meaning in it.

Habakkuk 1:15 בְחֶרְמ֔וֹ in net his

The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly.

Here: "In his net": a large net that takes many fish at once. 'His' marks it as the conqueror's own tool, which matters because in v.16 he worships it.

Habakkuk 1:16 לְחֶרְמ֔וֹ to net his

Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.

Habakkuk 1:17 חֶרְמ֑וֹ net his

Will he, therefore, empty his net and continue to slay nations without mercy?

Zechariah 14:11 וְחֵ֖רֶם and total destruction

People will live there, and never again will there be an utter destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell securely.

Here: The heaviest word in the verse. It is not ordinary ruin. It is the holy-war "ban": a city or people handed over to God and wiped out completely, with no plunder kept. Earlier prophets had threatened Jerusalem itself with this fate.

Malachi 4:6 חֵֽרֶם׃ total destruction

And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Here: The last word of the verse. It means the land would be struck so that it becomes ḥerem: handed over to God completely and irreversibly through destruction, as Jericho was. It is a sentence carried out, not a spoken curse.