Herem (war or property)

For the same Hebrew word, when used to mean a form of excommunication, see Herem (censure). For the Kohanic gift, see Herem (priestly gift). For the related Arabic word, see Haram.

Herem or cherem (Hebrew: חרם, ḥērem), as used in the Tanakh, means something given over to the Lord, or under a ban, and sometimes refers to things or persons to be utterly destroyed.^[2][3] The term has been explained in different and sometimes conflicting ways by different scholars. It has been defined as "a mode of secluding, and rendering harmless, anything imperilling the religious life of the nation",^[4] or "the total destruction of the enemy and his goods at the conclusion of a campaign",^[5] or "uncompromising consecration of property and dedication of the property to God without possibility of recall or redemption".^[3] It is translated into Latin as devotio, a word used for human sacrifice,^[6] and into Greek as anathema, which was a sacrifice to the Gods.^[7]

The Stoning of Achan by Gustav Doré. Achan pillaged gold, silver, and a costly garment from Jericho, and was punished by stoning.^[1]

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

Etymology

The word comes from the semitic root Ḥ-R-M with meanings having to do with prohibiting and sanctity. There is another root, ḫ-r-m, which can mean to destroy or annihilate.^[8] In the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh the verb form occurs 51 times, while the noun occurs 38 times.^[9][2] Although the word basically means something devoted or given over to God (as in Leviticus 27:28), it often refers to "a ban for utter destruction".^[2] There is also a homonym, herem, meaning fisherman's net, which occurs 9 times in the masoretic text and is regarded as etymologically unrelated, according to the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon. It is related to the Arabic root ḫ-r-m, which can also mean to perforate.^[8]

Sources

The word is often used in the 6th and 7th chapters of the Book of Joshua, where Jericho came under herem. This meant it had to be completely destroyed, except for "the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron" which were to go into "YHWH's treasury" (Joshua 6:19). The following chapter describes how Achan pillaged an ingot of gold, a quantity of silver, and a costly garment for himself, and was executed by stoning.^[1]

Deuteronomy 20:17 also names six people groups who were to be subject to the ḥērem (using the verb): the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. This has led to the conquest of Canaan being referred to as genocide. For example, Ra'anan Boustan calls this "a thoroughly violent commandment" which "in modern terms would be characterized as genocide."^[10]

In the Book of Judges, chapters 19–21, the town of Jabesh-Gilead was put under herem for not joining in battle against the Tribe of Benjamin.

King Saul put the priestly town of Nob under herem, nearly wiping out the priestly House of Eli.

 

Gustave Doré, The Death of Agag. Agag was executed by Samuel as part of God's command to put the Amalekites under herem (1 Samuel 15).

The concept of herem also appears in 1 Samuel 15, where Saul "totally destroyed" (verse 8, NIV) the Amalekites with the sword, but spared their king, Agag, and kept "the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good." For this, Saul is rebuked by Samuel, who reminds him that God had commanded him to "completely destroy" the Amalekites (verse 15). Samuel "hacked Agag to pieces" himself (verse 33, ESV).

Most scholars conclude that the biblical accounts of extermination are exaggerated, fictional, or metaphorical.^[11] In the archaeological community, the Battle of Jericho is very thoroughly studied, and the consensus of modern scholars is that the story of battle and the associated extermination are a pious fiction and did not happen as described in the Book of Joshua.^[12] For example, the Book of Joshua arguably describes the extermination of the Canaanite tribes, yet Joshua 16:10 and Judges 1:1–2:5 both say that the extermination was not complete.^[13]

The word herem is the last word of the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible: "… lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction" (Malachi 4:6, ESV).

Meaning and significance

William Dumbrell suggests that "the ban appears to have been conceived as an acknowledgment of Yahweh's help."^[14] He also notes that "everything likely to contaminate Israel religiously" was destroyed, and thus the institution of the ban was "designed not to counter a military threat but to counter a religious threat."^[15] Similarly, Balchin argues that "drastic action was required to keep Israel in holy existence."^[16] But Lilley argues that "Israel, like other contemporary societies, did not recognise any distinction between sacred and secular war," and that "holy war" is not a biblical term, "but one invented or at least appropriated by commentators."^[3] Lilley goes on to suggest that essence of the idea of herem is an "irrevocable renunciation of any interest" in the object 'devoted', and thus "so far as persons are concerned, the options of enslavement and treaty are not available." He contests the idea that it always involved things imperilling the religious life of the nation, arguing that these things "were to be destroyed out of hand, not given to the sanctuary."^[17]

Longman and Reid alternatively suggest that herem was a "sacrifice of the occupants of Canaan in the interest of securing the purity of the land."^[18] The concept of herem was not unique to Israel. The Mesha Stele contains a statement by King Mesha of Moab that he captured the town of Nebo and killed all seven thousand people there, "for I had devoted them to destruction for (the god) Ashtar-Chemosh."^[19]

Ethical issues

See also: Judaism and violence

Theologians and other scholars have commented on the ethical and moral dilemmas posed by the wars of extermination, particularly the killing of women and children.^[20]

Maimonides applies the rules from Deuteronomy 20:10 (the rules governing discretionary wars) to the war on the Canaanite nation, and suggests that the commandment to exterminate the Canaanites was not absolute. He writes that Joshua gave the Canaanites three options: to flee, to remain and make peace with the Israelites, or to fight.^[21]

Rabbi Gunther Plaut asserted that the Torah, itself, never addresses the morality of the wars of extermination.^[22] Biblical scholar Sidney Hoenig discussed the "brutality" in the book of Joshua, but concluded that the "battle is only in honor of God".^[23] The Mennonite scholar John Howard Yoder suggests that the concept of herem was unique in relation to the morality of the time not in its violence, but in ensuring that "war does not become a source of immediate enrichment through plunder",^[24] and hence was the beginning of a trajectory that would lead ultimately to the teaching of nonviolence. Scholars Ian Lustick and Leonard B. Glick quote Shlomo Aviner as saying "from the point of view of mankind's humanistic morality we were in the wrong in [taking the land] from the Canaanites. There is only one catch. The command of God ordered us to be the people of the Land of Israel".^[25] Scholar Carl Ehrlich states that Jewish commentators have tended to be silent regarding the morality of the violence in the Book of Joshua.^[26] Prominent scholar Richard Dawkins asserted that the commandments to exterminate are immoral.^[27]

Some scholars claim that collective punishment, particularly punishment of descendants for transgressions committed by ancestors, is common in the Hebrew Bible—a view based primarily on repeated descriptions (with slightly varied wording) of God as "a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation … but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments."^[28]

As genocide

See also: Genocides in history

Several scholars and commentators have characterized the wars of extermination as genocide.^[11][29]

Scholar Pekka Pitkanen asserts that Deuteronomy involves "demonization of the opponent", which is typical of genocide, and he asserts that the genocide of the Canaanites was due to unique circumstances, and that "the biblical material should not be read as giving license for repeating it."^[30]

Scholar Philip Jenkins characterizes the warfare of the Bible as genocidal, and considers the laws of warfare in the Quran to be more humane than the Biblical rules.^[31]

Justifications and rationalizations

 

The Midianites Are Routed by Gustave Dore

Several justifications and explanations for the extreme violence associated with the wars of extermination have been offered, some found in the Hebrew Bible, others provided by Rabbinic commentators, and others hypothesized by scholars.

One interpretation is that the Canaanites were sinful, depraved people, and their deaths were punishments (Deut 9:5). In Deut 20:16–18 God tells the Israelites to exterminate the Canaanite nations, "otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the lord your God".

Another reason, justifying the war against the Midianites, was revenge for Midian's role in Israel's apostate behavior during the Heresy of Peor (Numbers 25:1–18).^[32]

A third rationalisation for the campaign is to make room for the returning Israelites, who are entitled to exclusive occupation of the land of Canaan: the Canaanite nations were living in the land of Israel, but when the Israelites returned, the Canaanites were expected to leave the land.^[11]

In Talmudic commentary, the Canaanite nations were given the opportunity Carl S. Ehrlich, "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Brill, 1999, pp. 119-120.</ref> Another explanation of the exterminations is that God gave the land to the Canaanites only temporarily, until the Israelites would arrive, and the Canaanites' extermination was punishment for their refusal to obey God's desire that they leave.^[33] Another Talmudic explanation - for the wars in the Book of Joshua - was that God initiated the wars as a diversionary tactic so Israelites would not kill Joshua after discovering that Joshua had forgotten certain laws.^[34]

Some scholars trace the extermination of the Midianites to revenge for the fact that Midianites were responsible for selling Joseph into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 37:28–36).^[35]

Michael S. Heiser notes that the herem in the Book of Joshua predominately targets the Anakim, descendants of the Nephilim (Deuteronomy 9:2, Numbers 13:32-33, Joshua 11:21-22). The Nephilim are believed to be the offspring of fallen angels and mankind^[36][37] so thus, Heiser argues that the purpose of the herem is to also prevent the physical corruption of the Israelites.^[38]

Association with violent attitudes in the modern era

Some analysts have associated the biblical commandments of extermination with violent attitudes in modern era.

According to Ian Lustick, in the 1980s, leaders of the now defunct Israeli messianic and political movement Gush Emunim, such as Hanan Porat, considered the Palestinians to be like Canaanites or Amalekites, and suggested that implied a duty to make merciless war against Arabs who reject Jewish sovereignty.^[39]

Biblical scholar Niels Peter Lemche asserts that European colonialism in the nineteenth century was ideologically based on the biblical narratives of conquest and extermination. He also states that European Jews who migrated to Palestine relied on the biblical ideology of conquest and extermination, and considered the Arabs to be Canaanites.^[40] Scholar Arthur Grenke claims that the view of war expressed in Deuteronomy contributed to the destruction of Native Americans and to the destruction of European Jewry.^[41]

Nur Masalha, a Palestinian writer and academic, writes that the genocide of the extermination commandments has been "kept before subsequent generations" and served as inspirational examples of divine support for slaughtering enemies.^[42] Ra'anan S. Boustan, an associate professor of ancient Mediterranean religions at UCLA, has said that militant Zionists have identified modern Palestinians with Canaanites, and hence as targets of violence mandated in Deut 20:15-18.^[43] Scholar Leonard B. Glick states that Jewish fundamentalists in Israel, such as Shlomo Aviner, consider the Palestinians to be like biblical Canaanites, and that some fundamentalist leaders suggest that they "must be prepared to destroy" the Palestinians if the Palestinians do not leave the land.^[44] Keith Whitelam, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies in the University of Sheffield, asserts that the Zionist movement has drawn inspiration from the biblical conquest tradition, and Whitelam draws parallels between the "genocidal Israelites" of Joshua and modern Zionists.^[45]

Contrary views

Wars of extermination are of historical interest only, and do not serve as a model within Judaism.^[46] A formal declaration that the “seven nations” are no longer identifiable was made by Joshua ben Hananiah, around the year 100 CE.^[46]

Scholar Moshe Greenberg asserts that the laws of extermination applied only to the extinct tribes, and only to their contemporary generations of Israelites.^[47] Carl Ehrlich states the biblical rules of extermination provide guidance to modern Israelis not for genocidal purposes, but rather simply as models for reclaiming the land of Israel.^[48]

Christian views

According to Christian Hofreiter, historically almost all Christian authorities and theologians have interpreted the herem passages as referring to real, historical events when God commanded the Israelites to exterminate all the members of particular nations. He states that "there is practically no historical evidence that anyone in the Great Church" viewed them as being purely an allegory. In particular, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin have defended a literal reading of these passages at length. Origen of Alexandria is sometimes cited as having viewed the herem passages allegorically; Hofreiter argues that although Origen viewed a spiritual interpretation as having primary importance to Christians, he did not deny that the herem passages described historical events.^[49]

See also

• Anathema
• Consecration
• Judaism and violence
• Judaism and war
• War of annihilation

References

1. Israel Drazin, Maimonides and the Biblical Prophets, Gefen Publishing House, 2009, p. 64.
2. Leon J. Wood, "חרם," in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Moody, 1980, pp. 324-325.
3. J. P. U. Lilley, "Understanding the herem," in Tyndale Bulletin 44, 1993, p. 171-173.
4. S.R. Driver (1896), A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy, Second Edition, T&T Clark, p. 98.
5. J. Soggin, Joshua (London, SCM 1972), p. 97.
6. Livy 8.9; for a brief introduction and English translation of the passage, see Mary Beard, J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook (Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 157 online.
7. "Anathema | religion | Britannica".
8. Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 1960.
9. Strong's Concordance.
10. Ra'anan S. Boustan, Violence, Scripture, and Textual Practice in Early Judaism and Christianity, (Brill, 2010), 3-5.
11. Van Wees, Hans (April 15, 2010). "12, Genocide in the Ancient World". In Bloxham, Donald; Dirk Moses, A. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-161361-6.
12. Congress, European Association for Jewish Studies (September 13, 1999). Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Volume 1: Biblical, Rabbinical, and Medieval Studies. Brill. ISBN 9004115544 – via Google Books.
13. Congress, European Association for Jewish Studies (September 13, 1999). Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Volume 1: Biblical, Rabbinical, and Medieval Studies. Brill. p. 119. ISBN 9004115544 – via Google Books.
14. William J. Dumbrell, The Faith of Israel (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 66.
15. Dumbrell, The Faith of Israel, 73.
16. J. A. Balchin, "War," in The New Bible Dictionary, IVF, 1963, p. 1316.
17. Lilley, "Understanding the herem," in Tyndale Bulletin 44, 1993, p. 176-177.
18. Tremper Longman III and Daniel G. Reid, God is a Warrior, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1995, p. 131.
19. James B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd edition, 1969, p. 320.
20. For an early example, see: Horne, Thomas Hartwell, An introduction to the critical study and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, Volume 2, T. Cadell, 1828, pp. 523-525.
21. Drazin, Israel, Maimonides and the Biblical Prophets, Gefen Publishing House Ltd, 2009 p. 79.
22. Carl S. Ehrlich, "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Brill, 1999, p. 118:

    "In his Torah commentary Plaut (1981: 114) grapples with the 'Morality of Conquest,' only to conclude that '[t]he morality of the forcible displacement of the Canaanites was never raised by the Torah, and neither was the morality of war as such.'" (Quoting Gunther Plaut, The Torah: A Modern Commentary, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981, p. 114 (Revised edition, Union for Reform Judaism, 2005, p. 991)).

23. Carl S. Ehrlich, "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Brill, 1999, p. 118:

    "Sidney Hoenig is one of the few relatively modern commentators … who has raised the issue of violence in respect to Joshua, only to justify it as a divinely ordained holy war …" (Quoting Hoenig:) "Sensitive readers are concerned about the brutality shown in Joshua, but one should not forget that it is a story of a war – of a holy war. The theme is the obliteration of historically hated pagans and the battle is only in honor of God." (Sidney Hoenig, The Book of Joshua: A New English Translation of the Text and Rashi with a Commentary Digest, Judaica Press, 1969, p. VIII).

24. John Howard Yoder, "If Abraham Is Our Father," in The Original Revolution: Essays on Christian Pacifism, Wipf and Stock, 1971, p. 105.
25. Lustick, p. 76. Quoting Shlomo Aviner, Messianic Realism, pp. 115-116.
26. Carl Ehrlich, "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Brill, 1999, p. 117.
27. Dawkins, Richard, The God Delusion, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008, p. 281.
28. Krašovec, Jože, Reward, Punishment, and Forgiveness: The Thinking and Beliefs of Ancient Israel in the Light of Greek and Modern Views, Brill, 1999, p. 113. He cites the following examples of collective punishment (of descendants) in the Bible:
    • Ex 20:5: "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments."
    • Deut 5:9-10
    • Exodus 34:6-7: "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'"
    • Deuteronomy 7:9-10: "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. 10 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him."
    • Jeremiah 32:18: "You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers' sins into the laps of their children after them. O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty".
29. Kravitz, Leonard, "What is Crime?", in Walter Jacob, Moshe Zemer (eds.), Crime and punishment in Jewish law: essays and responsa, Berghahn Books, 1999, p. 31; Shaul Magid, "Subversion as Return: Scripture, Dissent, and Renewal in Contemporary Judaism, in Beth Hawkins Benedix (ed.), Subverting Scriptures: Critical Reflections on the Use of the Bible, Palgrave, 2009, pp. 217-236; Timothy Kandler Beal, Reading Bibles, Writing Bodies: Identity and the Book, Publisher Psychology Press, 1997, pp. 153-163; Cohn, Robert L., "Before Israel: The Canaanites as Other in Biblical Tradition", in Laurence Jay Silberstein (ed.), The Other in Jewish Thought and History: Constructions of Jewish Culture and Identity, NYU Press, 1994, pp. 76-77; Boustan, Ra'anan S., Violence, Scripture, and Textual Practice in Early Judaism and Christianity, Brill, 2010, pp. 3-5; Carl S. Ehrlich, "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Brill, 1999, pp. 121-122; Zev Garber, "Deconstructing Theodicy and Amalekut", in James F. Moore (ed.), Post-Shoah dialogues: re-thinking our texts together, University Press of America, 2004, pp. 241-243.
30. Pitkanen, Pekka, "Memory, Witnesses, and Genocide in the Book of Joshua", in J. Gordon McConville, Karl Möller (eds.), Reading the law: studies in honour of Gordon J. Wenham, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2007, pp. 267–282.
31. Barbara Hagerty, "Is The Bible More Violent Than The Quran?" NPR, 18 March 2010.
32. Walvoord, John F., The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, David C. Cook, 1985, pp. 250-251.
33. Carl S. Ehrlich, "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Brill, 1999, p. 120.
34. Carl S. Ehrlich, "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Brill, 1999, p. 120.
35. Shaul Magid, "Subversion as Return: Scripture, Dissent, and Renewal in Contemporary Judaism", in Beth Hawkins Benedix (ed.), Subverting Scriptures: Critical Reflections on the Use of the Bible, Palgrave, 2009, p. 234:

    "The rabbinic tradition connects the commandment to destroy Midian in Numbers 31 to Genesis 37:28-36 … (Midianites sold Joseph into Egyptian slavery) "Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard."

36. Kosior, Wojciech (2010). "Synowie bogów i córki człowieka. Kosmiczny "mezalians" i jego efekty w Księdze Rodzaju 6:1–6". Ex Nihilo. Periodyk Młodych Religioznawców (in Polish). 1 (3) 2010: 73–74. English version of the paper (translated by Daniel Kalinowski) is available at: . {{cite journal}}: External link in |postscript= (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
37. Swete, Henry Barclay (1901). The Old Testament in Greek according to the Septuagint (Volume 1). Cambridge University Press. p. 9. Greek text: 'οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ'
38. Heiser, Michael S. (2015). The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. Lexham Press. pp. 204–211.
39. Ian Lustick, For the land and the Lord: Jewish fundamentalism in Israel, Council on Foreign Relations, 1988, pages 3, 78, 131.
40. Lemche, Niels Peter, The Old Testament between theology and history: a critical survey, Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, pp. 315–316.
41. Grenke, Arthur, God, greed, and genocide: the Holocaust through the centuries, New Academia Publishing, 2005, pp. 17-18.
42. • Masalha, Nur, The Bible and Zionism: invented traditions, archaeology and post-colonialism in Palestine-Israel, Volume 1, Zed Books, 2007, pp. 273-276; Prior, Michael P. The Bible and colonialism: a moral critique, Sheffield Academic Press, 1997.
43. Boustan, Ra'anan S., Violence, Scripture, and Textual Practice in Early Judaism and Christianity, Brill, 2010, pages 4-5.
44. Glick, Leonard B., "Religion and Genocide", in Alan L. Berger (ed.), The Widening circle of genocide, Transaction Publishers, 1994, p. 46.
45. • Whitelam, Keith W., The invention of ancient Israel: the silencing of Palestinian history, Routledge, 1996, especially pp. 71–121.
    • Whitelam cited by Carl S. Ehrlich, "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Brill, 1999 p. 117.
46. Judaism and the ethics of war, Norman Solomon. International Review of the Red Cross. Volume 87 Number 858 June 2005.
47. Greenberg, Moshe, "On the Political User of the Bible in Modern Israel: An Engaged Critique", in Pomegranates and golden bells: studies in biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern ritual, law, and literature, EISENBRAUNS, 1995, pp. 467-469
48. Carl S. Ehrlich, "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Brill, 1999, p. 121.
49. Hofreiter, Christian (16 February 2018). Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages. Oxford University Press. pp. 247–248. ISBN 978-0-19-253900-7.