# H2764 - cherem

<!-- type: lexicon | created: 2026-05-16 | updated: 2026-05-16 -->

**Strong's:** [H2764](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2764/) · BLB lookup
**Pronunciation:** *kheh-rem* (with throat-fricative *ḥ* at the opening)
**Part of speech:** masculine noun (also functions as the verbal-noun corresponding to root H2763 *ḥāram*)
**OT occurrences:** ~29 as the noun; the related verb *ḥāram* (H2763) adds ~50 occurrences across the same semantic field
**Greek equivalent (LXX / NT):** *anathema* (Greek G0331) (ἀνάθεμα), the LXX consistent rendering; the NT lexeme that carries forward into Pauline use ([Rom 9:3](/codex/romans-9-3/), [1 Cor 16:22](/codex/1-corinthians-16-22/), [Gal 1:8-9](/codex/galatians-1-8-9/)) and into the Christian-canonical anathema-formula tradition

## Semantic range

The noun *cherem* operates on a unique **double-sense** that distinguishes it from any single English-translation equivalent:

1. **Devoted-thing irrevocably consecrated to YHWH and removed from common use**, [Lev 27:28-29](/codex/leviticus-27-28-29/) is the foundational law-text: "every devoted thing (*kol cherem*) which a man devotes (*yaḥarim*) to the LORD out of all that he has, of man and beast, or of the field of his possession, *shall not be sold or redeemed*; every devoted thing is most holy (*qodesh qodashim*) to the LORD." The *cherem* status is **irrevocable**, once consecrated, the object/person cannot be bought back, transferred, or repurposed for ordinary use. The connotation is sacrosanctness, not destruction *per se*; the destruction-aspect follows from the irrevocability ("what is irrevocably YHWH's cannot remain in human possession").

2. **Object or person under religious ban for destruction**, [Josh 6:17-21](/codex/joshua-6-17-21/) (Jericho), [Josh 7](/codex/joshua-7/) (Achan's violation), [1 Sam 15:3](/codex/1-samuel-15-3/) (Amalek), [Deut 7:1-2](/codex/deuteronomy-7-1-2/) + 20:16-18 (the Canaanite-conquest cherem commands). The *cherem* here is the **military-religious ban**: cities/peoples/spoils marked for total devotion-and-destruction, with the spoils (silver, gold, copper, iron) going to YHWH's treasury ([Josh 6:19](/codex/joshua-6-19/)), and the human/animal/property destroyed as the *negative form* of the dedication.

3. **The curse / anathema-language**, [Mal 3:24](/codex/malachi-3-24/) (4:6 in Christian numbering): the eschatological warning that without prophetic-reconciliation between fathers and children, YHWH will come and strike the land with *cherem* (commonly rendered "utter destruction" / "curse"). This use generalizes the term to apply to *judgment-as-curse*.

4. **Categorical-religious-judgment formula**, when applied to persons/peoples, *cherem* marks them as **categorically beyond reintegration** into the Israelite covenantal-cultic order. Persons under *cherem* cannot be ransomed ([Lev 27:29](/codex/leviticus-27-29/)) and cannot be incorporated as proselytes ([Deut 7:2](/codex/deuteronomy-7-2/), "*you shall make no covenant with them, and show no favor to them*"). The status is *covenantal-incompatibility*, not merely military-defeat.

5. **In post-biblical Jewish usage**, *cherem* becomes the technical-rabbinic term for synagogue-ban / excommunication, most-famously deployed against Baruch Spinoza by the Amsterdam Sephardic community in 1656. The continuity is *covenantal-incompatibility / categorical-exclusion-from-the-community*, not military.

## Theological force

The *cherem* is one of the most theologically-loaded terms in the Hebrew Bible, anchoring three distinct theological structures:

### 1. The devoted-to-YHWH paradigm

The [Lev 27:28-29](/codex/leviticus-27-28-29/) law establishes *cherem* as the **strongest form of dedication**, beyond the ordinary tithe, beyond votive offering, beyond firstfruits. The term is paired with *qodesh qodashim* ("most holy") in v. 28: what is *cherem* is *most-holy-to-YHWH*. The destruction-aspect is downstream of the consecration: what belongs absolutely to YHWH cannot be re-secularized; the only options are perpetual-cultic-use (for objects acceptable to the sanctuary, like silver and gold) or destruction (for what cannot enter the sanctuary). The *cherem* is therefore *not* primarily a destruction-formula but a **maximal-dedication formula**, with destruction as one of its possible outworkings.

### 2. The conquest-cherem paradigm

In [Josh 6](/codex/joshua-6/) (Jericho), [Josh 7](/codex/joshua-7/) (Achan), [Josh 8](/codex/joshua-8/) (Ai), [Josh 10](/codex/joshua-10/)-11 (southern + northern campaigns), [Deut 7](/codex/deuteronomy-7/) + 20:16-18, and [1 Sam 15](/codex/1-samuel-15/) (Amalek), *cherem* is the **military-religious commission**. Six theologically-critical features:

- **Divine authorization**, every conquest *cherem* episode is explicitly commanded by YHWH; Israel does not initiate *cherem*-action unilaterally (cf. [1 Sam 15:9](/codex/1-samuel-15-9/) where Saul *fails* to execute the commanded *cherem* and is judged for it).
- **Specific objects**, the conquest *cherem* applies only to the specific Canaanite peoples named in [Deut 7:1](/codex/deuteronomy-7-1/) (Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites) + the Amalekites in [1 Sam 15](/codex/1-samuel-15/). It does *not* generalize into a doctrine of perpetual-religious-war.
- **Civilizational-judgment frame**, the rationale is [Lev 18:24-28](/codex/leviticus-18-24-28/)'s named Canaanite practices (institutional child sacrifice + ritual incest + bestiality + cultic prostitution + necromancy); the *cherem* is the terminal-judgment on a specific corruption ([Gen 15:16](/codex/genesis-15-16/)'s 400-year-delay).
- **Personal-pivot escape-hatch**, Rahab ([Josh 2](/codex/joshua-2/) + 6:17 explicit carve-out) demonstrates the *cherem* is *individually escapable* by covenantal-pivot; the Gibeonites' integration ([Josh 9](/codex/joshua-9/)) likewise. The *cherem* is corporate-civilizational, not ethnically-fated.
- **Spoils-to-YHWH-treasury**, the silver, gold, copper, iron of Jericho are consecrated to YHWH's treasury ([Josh 6:19](/codex/joshua-6-19/)) rather than enriching Israel. The economic-incentive is removed; this is *not* conquest-for-plunder.
- **Achan as warning**, [Josh 7](/codex/joshua-7/)'s narrative of Achan's violation of the *cherem* (taking spoils from Jericho's *cherem*) demonstrates the framework's seriousness: violation of *cherem* defiles Israel itself and triggers covenantal-curse. The framework is *not* one-way Israelite-license; Israel is *itself* under the *cherem*-discipline.

The conquest-*cherem* is the most-cited *cherem*-usage in atheist objection-deployment (Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, Pinker, see [Canaanite Conquest Objection Defeater](/codex/canaanite-conquest-objection-defeater/) for the seven-pronged response). The lexicon framework supplies the **textual-philological corrective**: *cherem* does not mean "ethnic-cleansing" or "genocide" in any technical sense; it means *categorically-irrevocable-devotion-to-YHWH* with destruction as one outworking-mode in the conquest applications.

### 3. The eschatological-cherem paradigm

[Mal 3:24](/codex/malachi-3-24/) (4:6) is the OT's final-word usage: "*lest I come and strike the land with utter destruction (*cherem*).*" The reference is eschatological, the threat of unrequited intergenerational-covenantal-breakdown bringing *cherem*-judgment. The pattern threads forward into NT-canonical-anathema-language (G0331 *anathema*): the threat of categorical-exclusion from the covenantal-community is preserved ([Rom 9:3](/codex/romans-9-3/), Paul wishing himself *anathema* for the sake of his brethren; [1 Cor 16:22](/codex/1-corinthians-16-22/), *anathema* on those who do not love the Lord; [Gal 1:8-9](/codex/galatians-1-8-9/), *anathema* on preachers of a different gospel), but with the *redemptive-historical-trajectory* terminating at the cross (Christ becoming *anathema* on the cross-tree per [Gal 3:13](/codex/galatians-3-13/)'s *epikataratos*, etymologically distinct from *anathema* but theologically continuous-with-the-*cherem*-trajectory).

## Notable verses (load-bearing OT occurrences)

- **[Leviticus 27:28-29](/codex/leviticus-27-28-29/)**, the foundational law-text; *cherem* as irrevocable-most-holy-dedication
- **[Numbers 21:2-3](/codex/numbers-21-2-3/)**, Israel vows *cherem* against the Canaanites of Arad; the place is renamed *Hormah* (חָרְמָה), etymological-pun on the root
- **[Deuteronomy 7:1-2](/codex/deuteronomy-7-1-2/)** + **20:16-18**, the standing *cherem*-commission for the seven Canaanite peoples
- **[Joshua 6:17-21](/codex/joshua-6-17-21/)**, the Jericho *cherem*; the foundational narrative-application
- **[Joshua 7:1-26](/codex/joshua-7-1-26/)**, Achan's violation; the *cherem* boomerangs onto Israel itself
- **[Joshua 8:24-26](/codex/joshua-8-24-26/)**, Ai *cherem*
- **[Joshua 10:28-43](/codex/joshua-10-28-43/)**, the southern campaign *cherem*-formulas
- **[Joshua 11:10-15](/codex/joshua-11-10-15/)**, the northern campaign + the explicit "*as the LORD had commanded Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses*" theological-frame (v. 15)
- **[1 Samuel 15:3](/codex/1-samuel-15-3/)**, the Amalek *cherem*; Saul's failure to execute it
- **[1 Samuel 15:9-26](/codex/1-samuel-15-9-26/)**, Saul's partial-obedience and Samuel's judgment ("*because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king*")
- **[1 Kings 20:42](/codex/1-kings-20-42/)**, Ahab's failure to execute *cherem* against Ben-hadad; the parallel-condemnation to Saul-Amalek
- **[Isaiah 34:2](/codex/isaiah-34-2/)**, eschatological-*cherem* against the nations
- **[Isaiah 43:28](/codex/isaiah-43-28/)** + **[Jer 25:9](/codex/jeremiah-25-9/), [50](/codex/jeremiah-25-50/):21, 26**, *cherem*-language applied to Israel itself in the exile-context (the symmetrical-application)
- **[Ezekiel 44:29](/codex/ezekiel-44-29/)**, *cherem*-offerings as priestly portion in restored-Israel
- **[Malachi 3:24](/codex/malachi-3-24/)** (Christian 4:6), the OT's closing *cherem*-warning

## Patristic and Christian theological reception

- **LXX → *anathema***: the Septuagint's consistent rendering of *cherem* as *anathema* (ἀνάθεμα) is decisive for NT continuity. The LXX-translators recognized the **double-sense** of *cherem* (consecrated-to-YHWH + categorically-excluded) and rendered with *anathema*, a Greek term that originally meant simply "set up / dedicated" ([Luke 21:5](/codex/luke-21-5/) preserves this neutral sense, "*adorned with goodly stones and offerings*", *anathema* = votive-offering) before the LXX-and-NT-specialized-pejorative sense ("accursed / set apart for destruction").
- **NT *anathema***: Paul deploys the term in three theologically-decisive contexts: (a) [Rom 9:3](/codex/romans-9-3/), Paul wishing himself *anathema* for Israel's salvation; the *cherem*-substitutionary-logic prefiguring the cross; (b) [1 Cor 16:22](/codex/1-corinthians-16-22/), *anathema* against those who do not love the Lord; (c) [Gal 1:8-9](/codex/galatians-1-8-9/), *anathema* against false-gospel-preachers (twice, for emphasis). The Pauline use preserves the *covenantal-incompatibility* sense but *internalizes* it to the church-community rather than to ethnic-Canaanites.
- **Patristic anathema-formula tradition**: Christian ecumenical councils (Nicaea 325, Constantinople 381, Ephesus 431, Chalcedon 451, etc.) close each canon with anathema-formulas ("*if anyone says... let him be anathema*"). The continuity with *cherem* is direct: the anathema-formula declares the heretic *categorically-excluded* from the covenantal-community of the church.
- **Patristic engagement with the conquest *cherem***: Augustine (*Quaestiones in Heptateuchum*) reads the conquest *cherem* as *divinely-authorized exceptional judgment*, non-generalizable to post-Mosaic warfare (the seed of just-war-theory). Origen (*Homilies on Joshua*) reads the *cherem* allegorically as the Christian's spiritual-warfare against the seven cardinal vices (Hittites = anxiety, Amorites = chattering speech, etc.), allegorical-not-historical-displacement. Aquinas (*ST* II-II q. 40 a. 1 ad 4) accepts the conquest *cherem* as divinely-warranted-judgment, *unique-and-non-portable*; this is the just-war-theory tradition's classic articulation.
- **Reformation engagement**: Calvin (*Commentary on Joshua* + *Commentary on Deuteronomy*) reads the *cherem* in stronger-divine-command terms, with greater suspicion of Origen's allegorical move. Calvin holds the *cherem* as historically-real-and-divinely-commanded, with the modern application being *not* military-genocide but the church's *spiritual-cherem* against heresy (church-discipline / excommunication).
- **Modern engagement**: Christopher J. H. Wright (*The God I Don't Understand*, 2008), Paul Copan (*Is God a Moral Monster?*, 2011), Copan & Flannagan (*Did God Really Command Genocide?*, 2014), [John Walton](/codex/john-walton/) & J. Harvey Walton (*The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest*, 2017) collectively articulate the dominant evangelical-academic engagement: *cherem* is ANE-rhetorical / formulaic / hyperbolic + civilizationally-judgmental + categorically-non-portable. The framework is load-bearing for the codex's [Canaanite Conquest Objection Defeater](/codex/canaanite-conquest-objection-defeater/) P1 + P3 + P5 + P7 premises.

## Apologetic load

The *cherem*-term carries five distinct apologetic functions in the codex:

1. **Defeater of "Bible commands genocide" objection**, the term-philology *itself* (irrevocable-dedication, not ethnic-extermination) is part of the [Canaanite Conquest Objection Defeater](/codex/canaanite-conquest-objection-defeater/) P1 ANE-rhetorical argument. Demanding maximalist-literal-extermination reading of *cherem* requires ignoring the [Lev 27:28](/codex/leviticus-27-28/) dedication-paradigm + the LXX *anathema*-rendering's preservation-of-double-sense + the categorical-cultic-not-ethnic frame.
2. **Symmetrical-application defense**, [Isa 43:28](/codex/isaiah-43-28/) + [Jer 25:9](/codex/jeremiah-25-9/) + 50:21 etc. apply *cherem*-language to *Israel itself* in the exile. The framework is *not* Israelite-license-against-outgroup; it is *covenantal-jurisprudence applied symmetrically* (the same threshold that triggers conquest-judgment against Canaan triggers exile-judgment against Israel when Israel reaches the same iniquity-cup).
3. **NT-canonical-trajectory link**, the LXX *cherem* → *anathema* lexical bridge supplies the textual-philological continuity through Paul ([Rom 9:3](/codex/romans-9-3/), [1 Cor 16:22](/codex/1-corinthians-16-22/), [Gal 1:8-9](/codex/galatians-1-8-9/)) and into the patristic-conciliar anathema-tradition. The *cherem* is not abandoned in Christian theology; it is *internalized* to covenant-community-discipline and *fulfilled* at the cross (Christ-becoming-anathema for the *cherem*-due of his people).
4. **Just-war theory anchor**, the Augustinian-Thomistic just-war tradition's *uniqueness-and-non-portability* clause for the conquest *cherem* (it does NOT generalize to post-Mosaic warfare) is the theological floor against any Christian-conquest-by-analogy reading. Engaged at [Just War Theory](/codex/just-war-theory/).
5. **Cross-typological-fulfillment**, the *cherem*-double-sense (consecrated-to-YHWH + destroyed-for-irrevocability) is structurally fulfilled at the cross: Christ is *consecrated-to-YHWH* (the eternal Son in covenantal-obedience) *and* destroyed-for-irrevocability (the cross as the *cherem*-borne by Christ-as-anathema per [Gal 3:13](/codex/galatians-3-13/)). The conquest *cherem* is the OT-figural preparation for understanding the cross's cosmic-judgment-absorption.

## Key words and related lexemes

- *anathema* (Greek G0331), *anathema*; the LXX-NT continuation of *cherem*
- *ḥāram* (H2763), the verb-form of the root; "to devote / ban / utterly destroy"
- *ḥormah* (H2767), proper-name *Hormah* ([Num 21:3](/codex/numbers-21-3/) + [Josh 12:14](/codex/joshua-12-14/) + [Jdg 1:17](/codex/judges-1-17/)); etymological-pun on the root
- *qodesh qodashim*, "most holy"; the parallel-term to *cherem* in [Lev 27:28](/codex/leviticus-27-28/) (pending hub)
- *taʿavah* (H8441), *toʿevah*, "abomination"; the parallel-frame term for Canaanite-practices
- [H3722 - kaphar](/codex/h3722-kaphar/), *kaphar* (atonement); related-frame for divine-judgment-absorption
- [H2617 - hesed](/codex/h2617-hesed/), covenant-loyalty; the positive-pole of the same covenantal-jurisprudence framework that operates *cherem*
- *ḥaram* (H2762), homonym meaning "to split / divide" or "to flatten", etymologically distinct but lexically-adjacent
- *ḥerem-net* (used in fishing contexts, [Hab 1:15-17](/codex/habakkuk-1-15-17/), [Ezek 26:5](/codex/ezekiel-26-5/) etc.), homonym for "net / dragnet"; semantic distinction important for translation-disambiguation

## Verses in this codex

- [Joshua 6.20](/codex/joshua-6-20/), the Jericho-conquest narrative
- [Joshua 6.21](/codex/joshua-6-21/), the *cherem* execution
- [Joshua 6](/codex/joshua-6/), the chapter hub
- [Joshua 2.12-13](/codex/joshua-2-12-13/), the Rahab-exception (carve-out from *cherem*)
- [Joshua 8.30-35](/codex/joshua-8-30-35/), Mt. Ebal covenant-ceremony following Ai-*cherem*

## See also

- [Canaanite Conquest and Herem](/codex/canaanite-conquest-and-herem/), the load-bearing concept hub on the *cherem* of the conquest
- [Canaanite Conquest Objection Defeater](/codex/canaanite-conquest-objection-defeater/), the paired defeater syllogism where this lexicon-philology anchors P1
- [Flood Genocide Objection Defeater](/codex/flood-genocide-objection-defeater/), sibling defeater; structurally-parallel ANE-rhetorical engagement
- [Just War Theory](/codex/just-war-theory/), the downstream Augustinian-Thomistic tradition's just-war framework treating the conquest-*cherem* as unique-and-non-portable
- [John Walton](/codex/john-walton/), *Lost World of the Israelite Conquest* (with J. Harvey Walton, 2017) is a key modern scholarly anchor for the ANE-rhetorical reading
- [Michael Heiser](/codex/michael-heiser/), divine-council framework provides the supernatural-rebellion backdrop for understanding the *cherem* as *cosmic-judgment-with-historical-execution*
- [Davidic Covenant](/codex/2-samuel-7-14/), the covenantal-framework that the *cherem* operates within; Israel's symmetrical-application visible in the Davidic-line's exile-judgment
- [Mosaic Law](/codex/mosaic-law/), the legal-covenantal frame containing the *cherem*-commands
- [Atheism](/codex/atheism/), the parent-topic for atheist conquest-objection-deployment