Herem (war or property)

Herem or cherem (Hebrew: חרם, ḥērem), as used in the Tanakh, means ‘devote’ or ‘destroy’. It is also referred to as the ban. The term has been explained in different ways by scholars. It has been defined as "a mode of secluding, and rendering harmless, anything imperilling the religious life of the nation," or "the total destruction of the enemy and his goods at the conclusion of a campaign," or "uncompromising consecration of property and dedication of the property to God without possibility of recall or redemption."J. A. Thompson suggests that herem meant that in the hour of victory all that would normally be regarded as booty, including the inhabitants of the land, was to be devoted to God. Thus would every harmful thing be burned out and the land purified.

The word comes from the semitic root H-R-M. In the masoretic text of the Tanakh the verb form occurs 51 times, while the noun occurs 28 times. Although the word itself simply means devotion to God (and is used this way in Leviticus 27:28), it most often refers to "a ban for utter destruction". There is also a homonym, herem, meaning fisherman's net, which occurs 9 times in the masoretic text and is traditionally regarded as etymologically unrelated, according to Gesenius and Brown Driver Briggs Lexicons and older sources.

The term appears first in Numbers 21:2, and is translated in a variety of ways in English translations:

וַיִּדַּ֨ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל נֶ֛דֶר לַֽיהוָ֖ה וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אִם נָתֹ֨ן תִּתֵּ֜ן אֶת־הָעָ֤ם הַזֶּה֙ בְּיָדִ֔י וְהַֽחֲרַמְתִּ֖י אֶת עָרֵיהֶֽם

And Israel made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You deliver this people into our hand, we will proscribe their towns."

And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

Then Israel made this vow to the LORD : "If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities."

Then the people of Israel made this vow to the Lord: "If you will hand these people over to us, we will completely destroy all their towns."

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