a-kurs'-ed, a-kurst':In the Book of Jos (
Jos 6:17,
18;
7:1,
11,
12,
13,
15) and
1Ch 2:7 "accursed" (or "accursed thing" or "thing accursed") is the King James Version rendering of the Hebrew word, cherem. The the Revised Version (British and American) consistently uses "devoted" or "devoted thing," which the King James Version also adopts in
Le 27:21,
28,
29 and in
Nu 18:14. "Cursed thing" is the rendering in two passages (
De 7:26;
13:17); and in one passage (
Eze 44:29 the King James Version) "dedicated thing" is used. In four places the King James Version renders the word by "curse" (
Jos 6:18,
Isa 34:5,
43:28,
Mal 3:18,
4:6) whilst in, another passage (
Zec 14:11) "utter destruction" is adopted in translation. These various renderings are due to the fact that the word cherem sometimes
means the act of devoting or banning or the condition or state resulting therefrom and sometimes the object devoted or banned. We occasionally find periphrastic renderings, e.g.
1Sa 15:21: "the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed," the King James Version (literally, "the chief part of the ban");
1Ki 20:42: "a man whom I appointed to utter destruction," the King James Version (literally, "a man of my ban" (or "banning"). The root-word meant "to separate," "shut off." The Arabic charim denoted the precincts of the temple at Mecca, and also the women's apartment (whence the word "harem").