† I. [
חָרַם]
verb
Hiph. ban, devote, exterminate (MI
17 החרמתה of
devoting, dedicating a city to Chemosh, in clause with
כי explaining massacre of all inhabitants; the altar-hearth of
י׳ there was dragged before Chemosh;
حَرُمَ be prohibited, forbidden, unlawful, become sacred; II.
make, pronounce sacred, inviolable; Ethiopic
ሐረመ፡ prohibit from common use, consecrate to God, esteem unlawful; Palmyrene
חרם =
consacré Vog
No 35; Nabataean
id., Eut
p. 28; Sabean
מחרם sanctuary, temple, Os
ZMG 1865, 176. 252,
חרמתן DHM
ZMG 1875, 594; Aramaic
אַחֲרִים, and especially
MeroAf anathematize, excommunicate; see also We
Skizzen iii, 165, Dr
Sm 100 ff., RS
Semitic i. 140 (150)) —
Hiph. Perfect הֶהֱרִים Joshua 8:26 +
5 times;
הֶחֱרִם Joshua 10:28;
2nd person masculine singular וְהַחֲרַמְתָּ֫ה 1 Samuel 15:18;
1st person singular הֶחֱרַמְתִּי 1 Samuel 15:20;
וְהַחֲרַמְתִּ֫י Numbers 21:2;
2nd person feminine singular וְהַחֲרַמְתְּ(י) consecutive
Micah 4:13 (so
RV most; MT
1st person singular), see Ges
§ 44, R. 4; plural
הֶחֱרִימוּ 1 Samuel 15:9;
2 Chronicles 32:14 etc.; (
1 Samuel 15:3 read
והחרמתו We Dr);
Imperfect יַחֲרִם Leviticus 27:28;
וַיַּחֲרֵם Numbers 21:3;
Joshua 10:37; suffix
וַיַּחֲרִימָהּ Joshua 10:1;
1st person plural וַנַּחֲרֵם Deuteronomy 2:34;
Deuteronomy 3:6 etc.;
Imperative הַחֲרֵם Deuteronomy 13:16; plural
הַחֲרִימוּ Jeremiah 51:3; suffix
הַחֲרִימוּהָ Jeremiah 50:26;
Infinitive absolute הַחֲרֵם Deuteronomy 3:6 +
4 times; construct
הַחֲרִים 2 Chronicles 20:23;
Daniel 11:44; suffix
הַחֲרִימָם Joshua 11:20 +
4 times; —
ban, devote (especially religiously, followed by objects hostile to the theocracy [see especially
Exodus 22:19 Hoph.]; this involved generally their destruction; when a city was 'devoted' the inhabitants were put to death, the spoil being destroyed or not according to the gravity of the occasion [contrast
Joshua 6:17,
21;
1 Samuel 15:3 with
Deuteronomy 2:34f.
Deuteronomy 3:6,
7], compare MI
17 לעשתר כמש החרמתה to Ashtar-Chemosh I devoted it, i.e. the city Nebo); —
1. most often of devoting to destruction cities of Canaanites and other neighbours of Israel, exterminating inhabitants, and destroying or appropriating their possessions:
a. Israel and her leaders subject
Numbers 21:2,
3(destruction according to vow),
Joshua 6:21 (compare
חֵרֶם ליהוה Joshua 6:17; all J); in
Joshua 6:18 read
תַּחְמְדוּ (for MT
תַּחֲרִימוּ, see Di VB);
Joshua 8:26 (
, not
, omit verse),
Joshua 10:1 (JE),
Deuteronomy 2:34;
Deuteronomy 3:6 (twice in verse);
Deuteronomy 7:2 (twice in verse) (commanded through Moses, compare for underlying thought
Deuteronomy 7:4;
Deuteronomy 7:5;
Deuteronomy 7:6),
Deuteronomy 20:17 (twice in verse) (commanded by
י׳),
Joshua 2:10;
Joshua 10:28,
35,
37,
39,
40 (divine command),
Joshua 11:11,
12,
20,
21 (divine command
Joshua 11:12;
Joshua 11:20; all D),
1 Samuel 15:3,
8,
9 (twice in verse);
1 Samuel 15:15,
18,
20 (divine command
1 Samuel 15:3;
1 Samuel 15:18;
1 Samuel 15:20, compare
1 Samuel 15:11;
1 Samuel 15:22;
1 Samuel 15:23); quite secondary is simple
exterminate 1 Kings 9:21;
1 Chronicles 4:41.
c. God as subject, figurative all nations and their armies
Isaiah 34:2; the nations of Western Asia
Jeremiah 25:9; the tongue of the Egyptian sea (by drying it up)
Isaiah 11:15 (but read perhaps
החריב with
).
d. so also of
devoting even Israelites: a city of Israel for worshipping other gods
Deuteronomy 13:16; residents of Jabesh-Gilead for not joining in campaign against Benjamin
Judges 21:11.
2. devote to י׳ : for sacred uses
החרים ליהוה the spoil of the nations
Micah 4:13; private possessions, whether a man, animal, or field
Leviticus 27:28 (P).
Hoph. Imperfect יָחֳרַם Leviticus 27:29;
Ezra 10:8;
יָחֳרָ֑ם Exodus 22:19; —
1. be put under the ban, devoted (to death), for worshipping other gods than
י׳ Exodus 22:19 (J E; earliest use of word in OT); for some other theocratic offence
Leviticus 27:29 (P; see Di).
† II. [
חָרַם]
verb slit (nose, lip, ear, etc.), mutilate, especially face (Arabic
خَرَمَ perforate, pierce, slit the partition between the nostrils, or the lip, or the lobe of the ear) —
Qal Passive participle עִוֵּר אִישׁ שָׂרוּעַ אוֹ חָרֻם אוֹ פִּסֵחַ a man blind or lame or mutilated in the face (in nose, lip, ear, etc.),
or too long in a limb Leviticus 21:18 (H), see Di (Kn).
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
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