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Holman Bible Dictionary
A translation of Hebrew cherem, a technical term in warfare for items captured from the enemy and devoted to God. See
Numbers 21:2 ); “put everyone to death” (
Deuteronomy 2:34 ); “completely destroy” (
Deuteronomy 20:17 ); “killed” (
Joshua 6:21;
Joshua 8:26 ); “become the Lord's permanent property” (
Leviticus 27:21 ); “put a curse on destroyed” (
Judges 1:17 ). REB uses “dedicated” (
Leviticus 27:21 ); “devoted” (
Leviticus 27:28-29 ); “utterly destroy” (
Numbers 21:2 ); “put to death under solemn ban” (
Deuteronomy 2:34 ); “exterminate” (
Deuteronomy 7:2 ); “destroyed” (
Joshua 2:10 ); “put to death” (
Judges 21:11 ). NRSV consistently uses “devoted” and “utterly destroyed” to translate
cherem , while NAS uses “set apart” and “utterly destroy.” NIV uses “devoted,” “totally destroyed,” “completely destroyed.” Devoting battle spoils to a god was practiced by Israel's neighbors also, as
2 Kings 19:11 shows. “Accursed” appears in KJV for
cherem only in Joshua and in
1 Chronicles 2:7 . In
Deuteronomy 21:23 and
Isaiah 65:20 KJV uses “accursed” to translate another Hebrew root,
qalal , “to make light of, curse.”
Paul used a technical Greek term, anathema, to call for persons to be put under a holy ban or be accursed (Romans 9:3; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Galatians 1:8-9; compare 1 Corinthians 16:22 ). Paul used the term in the sense of the Hebrew cherem . See Anathema .
Copyright Statement
These dictionary topics are from the Holman Bible Dictionary, published by Broadman & Holman, 1991. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Broadman & Holman.
Bibliography Information
Butler, Trent C. Editor. Entry for 'Accursed'. Holman Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hbd/a/accursed.html. 1991.