The root meaning of this Hebrew word is the exclusion of an object from use by humans by its irrevocable surrender to Yahweh, either by its total destruction or devotion to His service; "everything so devoted [kol-cherem] is most holy to the Lord" (Lev 27:28).
There is no English equivalent word or idea to cherem. (Older literature often refer to the cherem as "the ban." It is now recognized that this label carries with it implications arising out of the use of the term in later Judaism that were not true of the OT, and is therefore almost never used today.) Most modern English translations use verbs like "devotes/devoted." Hence we find the NIV's long and cumbersome footnote every time the word is used: "The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them to the Lord".
The word—as far as the idea is concerned—is closely related to consecration. To consecrate an object is to take it out of commission and set it aside for Yahweh's use; it is "holy." Some objects that have been consecrated to God and are, therefore, 'holy,' may, nonetheless, be redeemed. Cherem, however, speaks of a consecration that permits no such option, as Lev 27:28 makes clear: "But no devoted thing (cherem) that a man devotes (yacharim) to the Lord, of anything that he has, whether of man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing (cherem) is most holy (qodes-qadeshim) to the Lord" (RSV). Such "devoted things" are then reserved for consumption or use by the priests (Lev 27:21; Num 18:14). Most frequently, however, the word refers to the consecration of things to be totally destroyed; hence the awkward note in English translations. These objects are considered so detestable and accursed they must be taken out of commission and set aside to Yahweh permanently and utterly. They are so ritually 'toxic' they are safe only in His hand, so to speak. Cherem is the setting aside of these objects to Yahweh. Whereas what is sanctified may be redeemed, what is "cherem-ed" is irrevocable. Its utter destruction ensures no one would be attempted to try. The classical example is Jericho; "The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent" (Jos 6:17). The city was destroyed and, so that it would remained "devoted to Yahweh," Joshua pronounced a most solemn curse on the city: "At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates" (v26). Temptation, however, had already taken root in one individual's heart: Achan kept for himself some loot from the city (Jos 7:1). By doing so, Achan 'contaminated' all that was his with the abomination that was the nature of such devoted things. He, and his family, therefore, fell under the cherem and were totally destroyed. Seen within this framework, it becomes clear that whatever belongs to and has been set apart for the pagan god of Israel's neighbours (what is consecrated to and holy to Baal, e.g., whether they are worshippers themselves or the articles used in worship of Baal) becomes intrinsically cherem to Yahweh, and vice-versa.
Cherem was, therefore, never a strictly Israelite idea but was part and parcel of the religious conceptions common to the ancient Near East. Sennacherib, e.g., sent Hezekiah a message urging the latter to surrender and saying, "Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely (root: cherem). And will you be delivered?" (2 Ki 19:11). 2 Chron 20:23, e.g., reports that "the men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them (root: cherem). After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another." Part of a stele known as the Mesha inscription explains how King Mesha of Moab slaughtered all the inhabitants of Neba as he made the city a "devoted" (cherem) thing to his god Chemosh. In Arabic, the term appears familiarly to us in the "harim" (the female quarters in a household) and in the adjective haram, meaning 'banned' (as opposed to halal).
The idea of the cherem plays a vital part in our understanding of the command by God to Israel to destroy all the nations in the land that they were to conquer, which is discussed in The Command to Annihilate the Canaanites
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