Etimology and Morphology

The word comes from the semitic root Ḥ-R-M [חָרַם] with meanings having to do with prohibiting and sanctity. There is another root, ḫ-r-m, which can mean to destroy or annihilate. It is related to the Arabic root ḫ-r-m, which can also mean to perforate; the same used for the word ḥarām (adj, m, /həˈrɑːm, hæˈrɑːm, hɑːˈrɑːm, -ˈræm/; in Arabic حَرَام), meaning "Forbidden".

The three declinations of the term herem, "censure, excommunication", "devotion by annihilation" in the Tanakh, and "devotion of property", are all English transliterations of the same Hebrew noun. There is also a homonym, herem (Ezek 32,3), meaning fisherman's net, which is regarded as etymologically unrelated, according to the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon.

There is a related verb, heḥərîm (החרים), meaning "to treat as ḥērem", "to devote" or "destroy utterly".

Discussion and Interpretation

Consecration and Dedication in the Tanakh. Herem (or cherem) in the Tanakh (during the time of Joshua and the early Hebrew monarchy) is used as meaning something (an object, person or location) dedicated to God, or put under a ban (preclusion or exclusion), sometimes it even means for the subject to be utterly destroyed. The lemma has been translated and explained in a series of different ways by scholars, as a polysemous concept regarding taboo and holyness. In time it has come to meaning "a mode of secluding, or excluding, anything threatening the religious life of the nation" (Driver, 1896), but also "the total destruction of the enemy and his goods at the conclusion of a campaign" (Soggin, 1972), even "uncompromising consecration of property and dedication of the property to God without possibility of recall or redemption" (Lilley, 1993). The lemma can be often considered the equivalent of the latin word devotio (used for human sacrifice too) and the greek anathema ➚; herem is a term used both in the sense of consecration and of condemnation, like anathema ➚ ('Aνάθημα) it can indicate a votive offering, something devoted to, or set aside for, the special use of the divinity. In the New Testament and in its ecclesiastical sense it indicates more specifically "set aside for evil”, a concept then developed by Talmudic and rabbinic literature towards the legal meaning of “excommunication” and even the identification of the term as “curse” (through a part-whole semantic relationship, starting from the concept of accursed status).

In the Tarakh the “consecration by destruction”, at the command of God or in His name, was biblically carried out against entire cities or populations: the Midianites, the Amalekites, Jericho (as narrated in Joshua 6,17-18.21), Jabesh-Gilead (for not joining the battle, Judg 1,19-21), the priestly town of Nob (under King Saul). Herem was comparable to a sacred duty as shown by the selection of David as Saul’s replacement after the latter neglected to carry out the command delivered by Samuel (in I Samuel). Deuteronomy (Deut 20,17) names six populaces who were to be subject to herem (used in this case as verb), with the objective of the conquest of Canaan by brutal force and genocide. Herem is the last word in the prophetic books of the Old Testament in the phrase

"lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction"

(Mal 3,24).

On the other hand, herem can also indicate a “devoted gift” (as in Num 18,14 and Lev 27,28), regarding an object or property to be devoted to God, with godly permission granted to a kohen (priest) to receive it as an agent. This conceptual reading is considered a law, one of the twenty-four kohanic gifts at that (to be precise, as for Talmudic literature, one of the ten gifts given to the priest even outside Israel). Biblical verses give us seemingly incompatible instructions about the actuation of this law, so the Tosefta (Tosefta Arachin 4:13) talks about them as two cases: hermei gavoah (things willingly consecrated by their owner to the Temple) and hermei kohanim (things to be given the priest, as not designated by their owner to the Temple).

From the biblical “consecration” to Excommunication in Talmudic Literature. There is a distinctive difference in meaning between the usage of herem in the Tanakh (holiness, consecration of something event by complete annihilation) and the later Talmudic usage (excommunication, ban).

Starting from the interpretation of the term in texts such as Ezra 10:8, excommunication as employed during Talmudic times and the Middle Ages, became a rabbinic institution, finalized to preserve Jewish solidarity. A system of laws was gradually developed, so that it became less arbitrary with time and ended up as one of the modes of legal punishment by rabbinic courts for certain prescribed offenses. Herem is the highest canonical censure in the Jewish culture, represented by total exclusion and shunning of an offender, similar to the vitandus excommunication of the Catholic Church. From this form of forced exclusion other semitic languages derived terms in the same semantic fiels: the Arabic terms ḥarām (with the meaning of "forbidden, taboo, immoral"), ḥarim (forbidden ground, sanctuary) or ḥarem (forbidden person, place dedicated to a specific person), the Ge'ez word ʿirm (meaning "accursed"). The Talmud speaks of twenty-four offenses that, in theory, were punishable by a form of niddui (temporary excommunication) as enumerated by Maimonides (1138–1204) and later schoolars. If, at the expiration of the niddui, the excommunicate was deemed not remorseful, he was punishable by the true definitive herem: complete excommunication from the cult and the community (for an indefinite period, the offender could not be helped by any member of the community).

In modern times, with the exception of rare cases (mostly in the Haredi and Hasidic communities), herem as a legal institution stopped existing after the Haskalah (ended in 1881), when Jewish communities lost their political autonomy and were integrated into the nations they had been living in.

Attestations

The Hebrew adjective חֵרֶם means primarly "devoted thing" or "thing devoted to destruction". The term is attested 29 times in the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh. The homonym, noun herem, meaning "fisherman's net", is used a further 9 times. The word "devoted" (herem) is understood by Maimonides as a "complete and total transition" from one status to another. The Targums define the word as a complete separation. According to Samuel ben Meir, this is the complete transition of an estate or object from hullin (mundane) status to that of kodesh (holy).

1. Referring to the semantic field of Holyness; can be read and integrated as “Holy Status”, “Consecrated”, “Prohibition from ordinary usage” and “Separated from the cult”.

• a. (Lev 27,28) Chapter 27 of Leviticus deals with what is given to God by vow, things not required by a specific law, but freely given; it lists all wares, based on the situation. More specifically, “devotion” of something was a further step of “consecration by vow” and often would mean destroying the item or kill the living being so that it would remain for the sole use of God. If something was already considered a “devoted offering” it could not be chosen for a vow since it already belonged to divinity (it was “most holy to God”); as such it could not be redeemed either.

  אַךְ־כָּל־חֵרֶם אֲשֶׁר יַחֲרִם אִישׁ לַיהוָה מִכָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ מֵאָדָם וּבְהֵמָה וּמִשְּׂדֵה אֲחֻזָּתוֹ לֹא יִמָּכֵר וְלֹא יִגָּאֵל כָּל־חֵרֶם קֹדֶשׁ־קָדָשִׁים הוּא לַיהוָה

  Assuredly, every ḥērem that a man declares ḥērem to the Lord of everything that he has, both man and beast, both field and his possession shall not be sold or redeemed. Every ḥērem is most holy for the Lord.

• b. (Num 18,14.29; in particular Num 18,14 and Num 18,29) Numbers 18 enumerates the responsabilities and the privileges of priests and levites. Priests received portions from grain, sin, trepass and firstfruit offerings (this way priesthood could be supported in Israel); as the first fruit breaking a living flash, every firstborn also belonged to the priest, was brought to the tabernacle and then symbolically redeemed. The Levites were supported by the tithes (around a giving of ten percent of income). The offering and the tithes both belong toGodso they are His to give).

  כׇּל־חֵ֥רֶם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לְךָ֥ יִהְיֶֽה׃

  Everything that has been proscribed in Israel shall be yours.

  מִכֹּל֙ מַתְּנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם תָּרִ֕ימוּ אֵ֖ת כׇּל־תְּרוּמַ֣ת יְהֹוָ֑ה מִכׇּ֨ל־חֶלְבּ֔וֹ אֶֽת־מִקְדְּשׁ֖וֹ מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃

  You shall set aside all gifts due to יהוה from everything that is donated to you, from each thing its best portion, the part thereof that is to be consecrated.

• c. (Sifra to Numbers 10,29 of Ramban commentary; regarding Num 18,14.29). The Sifra describes the order to devote objects and people as enabling the Israelite to act regarding things that otherwise do not have any commandment to regulate them: making said possession herem they elevates it to holiness. In this case it indicates that the priests' right is a reward for Jochebed (mother of the first priest Aaron) for rescuing the infants of Israel from the pharaonic infanticide.

  "And Kotz gave birth to Onuv and to HaTzovevah and the families (of) Acharcheil the son of Harum" - "son/child of Harum" refers to Jochebed, as it is written: "All herem in Israel shall be yours"

2. Referring to impurity, defiled status; can be read and integrated as “Accursed Status”, “Apostasy as reason”, “leads to destruction”, “People with polytheistic religions”.

• a. (Deut 7,25-26) Deuteronomy 20 gives instruction regarding warfare and battle, starting from the spiritual and practical preparation of the army and the command to trust God. Between these instruction is present the divine command of total destruction through “consecration” of the Canaanites and the action needed to purify the territory from their presence, followed with what to do and do not.

  פְּסִילֵ֥י אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֖ם תִּשְׂרְפ֣וּן בָּאֵ֑שׁ לֹֽא־תַחְמֹד֩ כֶּ֨סֶף וְזָהָ֤ב עֲלֵיהֶם֙ וְלָקַחְתָּ֣ לָ֔ךְ פֶּ֚ן תִּוָּקֵ֣שׁ בּ֔וֹ כִּ֧י תוֹעֲבַ֛ת יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ הֽוּא׃

  You shall burn the graven images of their gods with fire. You shall not desire the silver and gold on them and take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it, for it is an abomination for the Lord your God.

  וְלֹא־תָבִ֤יא תֽוֹעֵבָה֙ אֶל־בֵּיתֶ֔ךָ וְהָיִ֥יתָ חֵ֖רֶם כָּמֹ֑הוּ שַׁקֵּ֧ץ ׀ תְּשַׁקְּצֶ֛נּוּ וְתַעֵ֥ב ׀ תְּֽתַעֲבֶ֖נּוּ כִּי־חֵ֥רֶם הֽוּא׃ {פ

  Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house and become accursed like it. You shall utterly detest it and abhor it for it is ḥērem.

• b. (Josh 6,17-18.21; in particular Josh 6,18-19). The term herem is used in the Book of Joshua, chapters 6 and 7, referring to the city of Jericho and what, of its content, has to be consecrated to God. Everything had to be destroyed, except for "the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron" which were to go into "YHWH's treasury" (6:19). The previous verses indicate the religious obligation of prescription and, as a result of not following it, ending up as part of the prescription itself (Josh 6,18).

  וְרַק־אַתֶּם֙ שִׁמְר֣וּ מִן־הַחֵ֔רֶם פֶּֽן־תַּחֲרִ֖ימוּ וּלְקַחְתֶּ֣ם מִן־הַחֵ֑רֶם וְשַׂמְתֶּ֞ם אֶת־מַחֲנֵ֤ה יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לְחֵ֔רֶם וַעֲכַרְתֶּ֖ם אוֹתֽוֹ׃

  But you must beware of that which is proscribed, or else you will be proscribed: if you take anything from that which is proscribed, you will cause the camp of Israel to be proscribed; you will bring calamity upon it.

  וְכֹ֣ל ׀ כֶּ֣סֶף וְזָהָ֗ב וּכְלֵ֤י נְחֹ֙שֶׁת֙ וּבַרְזֶ֔ל קֹ֥דֶשׁ ה֖וּא לַיהֹוָ֑ה אוֹצַ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה יָבֽוֹא׃

  All the silver and gold and objects of copper and iron are consecrated to GOD; they must go into the treasury of GOD.

• c. (Deut 20,16-18; in particular Deut 20,17). The passage names six different populaces and cultures that the jews had to subject to herem (verb): Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hittites, Hivites, Jebusites. This brutal order of action tecnically led to the conquest of Canaan and can be referred to as a true extermination (Ra'anan Boustan, 2010: "

  a thoroughly violent commandment […] in modern terms would be characterized as genocide

  ”).

  כִּֽי־הַחֲרֵ֣ם תַּחֲרִימֵ֗ם הַחִתִּ֤י וְהָאֱמֹרִי֙ הַכְּנַעֲנִ֣י וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔י הַחִוִּ֖י וְהַיְבוּסִ֑י כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוְּךָ֖ יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃

  No, you must proscribe them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—as your God יהוה has commanded you

3. Curse, as semantic development based on part-whole relationship, from “Accursed Status”.

• a. (Zac 14,11) The chapters talks about Israel, attacked and under siege from the “nations” but promptly defended by the returning Messiah, so that the city itself will not be overtrown. The Messiah will then recover his people and the territory and begin the reign of the Lord on earth.

  וְיָ֣שְׁבוּ בָ֔הּ וְחֵ֖רֶם לֹ֣א יִֽהְיֶה־ע֑וֹד וְיָשְׁבָ֥ה יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם לָבֶֽטַח׃ {ס

  People will live there, the curse will be broken, and Yerushalayim will live in safety.

• b. (Mal 3,24) Chapter 3 of Malachi narrates the coming of the two messengers; one to prepare the way of the Lord, and one to be the Messenger. The coming of the second will be awesome and terrible, but with a purpose: to clean, not to destroy, and purify the Sons of Levi (priests), as God’s ultimate purpose is to cleanse his world. The chapter then talks about returning to God his due: He asks for repentance, in particular from the people of Israel. This is the reason behind the threat of a “curse” and the withholding of blessings; instructions are given to how to repent.

  וְהֵשִׁ֤יב לֵב־אָבוֹת֙ עַל־בָּנִ֔ים וְלֵ֥ב בָּנִ֖ים עַל־אֲבוֹתָ֑ם פֶּן־אָב֕וֹא וְהִכֵּיתִ֥י אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ חֵֽרֶם׃ הנה אנכי שולח לכם את אליה הנביא לפני בוא יום יהוה הגדול והנורא

  And he will turn the heart of the fathers to their children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a Curse.

4. With the general meaning of Excommunication, no longer in the semantic field of destruction; refers to social exclusion from the cult and the community. This meaning gets further developed in Talmudic literature: excommunication as punishment for disloyalty; it can be differentiated between temporary excommunication (מנוּדה, niddui) and permanent excommunication (מוּחרם)

• a. (Ezra 10,8) In chapter 10 of Ezra, the people decided to forsake their sin and he prayed and humbled himself on behalf of them because of this. His people were then struck by the need to repent, following the exemple of Ezra’s confession. Thanks to the counsel of Shechaniah, Ezra calls upon the people to swear an oath. Significantly, Ezra began with the leaders; he expected them to make things right with God first. Each case is then examined over a long, three month period and we are given the list of those found guilty.

  ח וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָבוֹא לִשְׁלֹשֶׁת הַיָּמִים, כַּעֲצַת הַשָּׂרִים וְהַזְּקֵנִים--יָחֳרַם, כָּל-רְכוּשׁוֹ; וְהוּא יִבָּדֵל, מִקְּהַל הַגּוֹלָה

  And whoever will not come within three days - according to the counsel of the leaders and the elders - his property will be ḥērem and he will be separated from the assembly of the exile.

• b. (Babylonian Talmud Torah 6,14) The entire chapter 6 of Talmud explains the different kinds of ban a person can be put (or fall) under; between those are the niddui and the complete form of herem. Twenty-four reasons are enumerated to justify such ban.

  When does the above apply? When the ban was imposed because he acted disrespectfully to a Torah sage. However, a person who was placed under a ban of ostracism for another reason for which such a ban may be declared - even if the ban was declared by a person of the lowest stature in Israel - the nasi and all Jews are obligated to abide by the terms of the ban until he repents for the matter for which the ban was imposed, and the ban is lifted. A ban of ostracism is imposed upon a person - either man or woman - for [the following] 24 reasons […]

5. With the meaning of “fisherman net” or, in an extended specter based in a more literal translation, “perforated”. Etymologically unrelated as of today studies but graphically based on the same hebrew root.

• a. (Ezek 32,3) Ezekiel chapter 32 uses a great simile to visualize Egypt and the Pharaoh as a monster of the sea; God, symbolically talking to the enemy, promises to capture him in a great fisherman net and drag him to land. There he would rot and become food for birds and beasts.

  כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹוִ֔ה וּפָרַשְׂתִּ֤י עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ אֶת־רִשְׁתִּ֔י בִּקְהַ֖ל עַמִּ֣ים רַבִּ֑ים וְהֶעֱל֖וּךָ בְּחֶרְמִֽי׃

  Thus said the Sovereign GOD: I will cast My net over you in an assembly of many peoples, and you shall be hauled up in My toils.

Catalogue of testimonies

Semantic field of Holiness (HS as Holy Status; C as Consacrated; PFOU as Prohibited from ordinary usage; SFTC as Separated from the cult)

• a) Lev 27,21 (HS, C, SFTC)
• b) Lev 27,28-29 (HS, C, PFOU)
• c) Num 18,14.29 (HS,SFTC)
• d) Ezek 44,29 (HS, SFTC)
• e) Josh 7,1.11 (HS)
• f) Sifra to Number 10,29 of Ramban commentary

Semantic field of defiled status (AS as Accursed Status; AAR as Apostasy as reason; LTD as Leads to destruction; PWPR as People with polytheistic religions)

• a) Exod 22,19 (AS, AAR, LTD, PWPR)
• b) Deut 7,2-4.25-26 (AS, AAR, LTD, PWPR)
• c) Deut 13,14-17 (AS, AAR, LTD, PWPR)
• d) Deut 20,10-20 (AS, AAR, LTD, PWPR)
• e) Jer 25,9 (AS, AAR, LTD, PWPR)
• f) Num 20,2-3 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• g) Deut 2,34 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• h) Deut 3,6 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• i) Josh 2,10 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• j) Josh 6,17-18.21 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• k) Josh 8,26 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• l) Josh 10,1.28.35.37.39.40 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• m) Josh 11,11 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• n) Josh 12,20-21 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• o) Judg 1,17-21 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• p) I Kings 9,20-21 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• q) Jer 50,21.26 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• r) Jer 51,3 (AS, LTD, PWPR)
• s) Josh 7,12-13.15 (AS, LTD)
• t) Josh 22,20 (AS, LTD)
• u) I Chron 2,7 (AS, LTD)
• v) Isa 43,28 (AS)

Semantic development, following the ideals of Diachronic Prototype Semantics (as in Geeraerts, 1997); the evolution of meaning can be tracked through semantic extentions or changes on denotation levels, both in traduction and trascriptions of holy texts and Talmudic Literature.

• a) Mal 3,24
• b) Zac 14,11
• c) Ezra 10,8
• d) Talmud Torah 6,14

Etymologically unrelated uses of the same Hebrew root and transliteration.

• a) Ezek 32,3