הֶרֶג
slaughter
Definition
הֶרֶג (hereg) refers to the act of killing or slaughter, often on a significant scale. It denotes violent death, typically in contexts of battle, judgment, or massacre. In Proverbs 24:11, it describes the slaughter of people being led to death, urging intervention. In Isaiah 30:25, it is used metaphorically for the great slaughter accompanying the day of the Lord's judgment. The term carries a sense of decisive, often divinely sanctioned, destruction, as seen in the defeat of enemies in Esther 9:5 and the prophetic judgment against Tyre in Ezekiel 26:15.
Biblical Usage
This noun appears in narrative, prophetic, and wisdom literature. It is used for literal military slaughter (Esther 9:5, Ezekiel 26:15) and for metaphorical or prophetic descriptions of divine judgment (Isaiah 27:7, 30:25). In Proverbs 24:11, it is applied in a wisdom context to the killing of innocent people, urging rescue. The usage consistently implies a collective, violent killing rather than an individual murder.
Etymology
Derived from the root הָרַג (harag, H2026), meaning 'to kill, slay, put to death.' The noun form הֶרֶג specifically denotes the event or result of that action—the slaughter itself. It is part of a common Semitic root related to killing.
Semantic Range
This word is significant in contexts of divine judgment and justice. It often appears in prophecies describing God's punishment of nations (Isaiah, Ezekiel) or the reversal of fortunes for God's people (Esther). Understanding hereg as 'slaughter' highlights the severity of God's actions against evil and the concrete reality of judgment in biblical theology. It reminds readers that God's moral governance of the world can involve decisive, violent intervention against wickedness.
In the ancient Near East, 'slaughter' (hereg) was a common reality of warfare and conquest. Unlike modern, often sanitized views of conflict, it conveyed total, brutal destruction of people groups. Its use in Esther for the Jews' self-defense reflects the high-stakes, existential nature of communal conflict in the Persian period.
מַגֵּפָה (magephah, H4046) — a blow or plague, often divinely sent, emphasizing cause rather than the act of killing itself. קְטָל (qetal, H6993) — a more general term for slaughter or killing. חֶרֶב (cherev, H2719) — 'sword,' often the instrument causing the hereg.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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