What does חָרַב (ḥārab) mean in the Bible?
Drying or laying waste must be read through the actual subject and setting. Genesis reports receding floodwaters and dry ground before Noah receives the instruction to leave the ark.
Hebrew · H2717
חָרַב
Drying or laying waste must be read through the actual subject and setting. Genesis reports receding floodwaters and dry ground before Noah receives the instruction to leave the ark.
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חָרַבH2717
Pronunciationḥārab
What does חָרַב (ḥārab) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for חָרַב (H2717) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2717?
The BSB source-word alignment has 40 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include will be laid waste (4), . . . (2), been dried (2), have laid waste (2), I have dried up (2).
Where does חָרַב (ḥārab) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 8:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (12), Ezekiel (8), Jeremiah (5), 2 Kings (4).
What This Word Actually Means
Drying or laying waste must be read through the actual subject and setting. Genesis reports receding floodwaters and dry ground before Noah receives the instruction to leave the ark. Job compares a person's mortality with disappearing water, giving voice to his lament rather than a complete explanation of every death. Psalm 106 recalls the dried Red Sea as the route of a named rescue, while Isaiah asks about the Lord's power to redeem and remembers a road for the redeemed through the sea.
Judges also describes undried bowstrings in Samson's attributed claim and enemies praising their own god over the destruction he caused. These uses do not share one moral meaning or one speaker's authority. Read physical drying, remembered rescue, lament and hostile speech distinctly. A present teacher cannot diagnose someone's loss as divine punishment merely because a related word appears in a judgment or rescue passage.
How the Bible Uses It
Dry ground, disappearing water in lament, remembered sea crossing, redemption language, undried bowstrings and hostile praise provide distinct contexts. Subjects and speaker attribution distinguish physical description from moral charge or rescue claim.
- Gen.8.13
In Noah’s six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth. So Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.
Noah observes dry ground after receding waters, while the following date and God's subsequent instruction preserve the narrative's sequence rather than an immediate independent departure.
- Job.14.11
As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dry,
Job compares disappearing water and a dry river with human mortality in his lament, and the following plea for remembrance keeps the speech attributed to him.
- Ps.106.9
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
The psalm recalls the dried Red Sea and passage through its depths as the Lord's named rescue, retaining the particular event rather than promising every sea will open.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itwill be laid waste4×Ezekiel 6:6, Ezekiel 12:20, Amos 7:9
. . .2×2 Kings 3:23, Isaiah 60:12
been dried2×Judges 16:7, Judges 16:8
have laid waste2×2 Kings 19:17, Isaiah 37:18
I have dried up2×2 Kings 19:24, Isaiah 37:25
a desolate1×Ezekiel 26:19
and deserted1×Jeremiah 26:9
and devastated1×Ezekiel 19:7
and dry up1×Isaiah 19:6
and it dried up1×Psalms 106:9
and wreckers1×Isaiah 49:17
appalled1×Jeremiah 2:12
Be dry1×Isaiah 44:27
becomes parched1×Job 14:11
dries up1×Isaiah 50:2
had dried up1×Genesis 8:13
have clashed swords1×2 Kings 3:23
I have made1×Zephaniah 3:6
I will dry up1×Jeremiah 51:36
I will lay waste1×Isaiah 42:15
it will lie desolate1×Isaiah 34:10
Kill1×Jeremiah 50:27
Kill them1×Jeremiah 50:21
now that she lies in ruins1×Ezekiel 26:2
ruined1×Ezekiel 30:7
run dry1×Nahum 1:4
the ruined1×Ezekiel 29:12
was dry1×Genesis 8:13
who destroyed1×Judges 16:24
who dried up1×Isaiah 51:10
will be parched1×Isaiah 19:5
will be utterly destroyed1×Isaiah 60:12
will run dry1×Hosea 13:15
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 8:13חָֽרְב֥וּtohad dried upVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person common pluralGenesis 8:13חָֽרְב֖וּtowas dryVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person common pluralJudges 16:7חֹרָ֑בוּtobeen driedVerb - Pual - Perfect - third person common pluralJudges 16:8חֹרָ֑בוּtobeen driedVerb - Pual - Perfect - third person common pluralJudges 16:24מַחֲרִ֣יבtowho destroyedVerb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular construct2 Kings 3:23הָחֳרֵ֤בto. . .Verb - Hofal - Infinitive absolute2 Kings 3:23נֶֽחֶרְבוּ֙tohave clashed swordsVerb - Nifal - Perfect - third person common plural2 Kings 19:17הֶחֱרִ֜יבוּtohave laid wasteVerb - Hifil - Perfect - third person common plural2 Kings 19:24וְאַחְרִב֙toI have dried upConjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive imperfect - first person common singularJob 14:11יֶחֱרַ֥בtobecomes parchedVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 8:13
Aligned rows40
Books represented12
Genesis2Judges32 Kings4Job1Psalms1Isaiah12Jeremiah5Ezekiel8Hosea1Amos1Nahum1Zephaniah1
Source forms
הֶחֱרִ֜יבוּ2xhe·ḥĕ·rî·ḇū2 Kings 19:17, Isaiah 37:18
וְאַחְרִב֙2xwə·’aḥ·riḇ2 Kings 19:24, Isaiah 37:25
יֶחֱרַ֥ב2xye·ḥĕ·raḇJob 14:11, Isaiah 19:5
תֶּחֱרַ֔בְנָה2xte·ḥĕ·raḇ·nāhEzekiel 6:6, Ezekiel 12:20
אַחֲרִ֤יב1x’a·ḥă·rîḇIsaiah 42:15
אַחֲרִ֣יב1x’a·ḥă·rîḇIsaiah 50:2
הָחֳרֵ֤ב1xhā·ḥo·rêḇ2 Kings 3:23
הָחֳרָֽבָה׃1xhā·ḥo·rā·ḇāhEzekiel 26:2
Parsing patterns
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural3xIsaiah 60:12, Ezekiel 6:6, Amos 7:9
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive imperfect - first person common singular2x2 Kings 19:24, Isaiah 37:25
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular2xIsaiah 42:15, Isaiah 50:2
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person common plural2x2 Kings 19:17, Isaiah 37:18
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular2xEzekiel 19:7, Nahum 1:4
Verb - Pual - Perfect - third person common plural2xJudges 16:7, Judges 16:8
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural2xJeremiah 2:12, Jeremiah 50:27
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine plural2xEzekiel 6:6, Ezekiel 12:20
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Allow grief and practical care without announcing a hidden cause of loss.
- Teach remembered rescue without guaranteeing a present person's bodily outcome or timetable.
Avoid claiming...
- All drying is judgment or every dry place bears one spiritual meaning.
- The recorded praise of a hostile group establishes its god's identity or authority.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Devastation through deprivation: drought imagery extends to destruction of land, cities, and life itself.
Source Gloss
to parch (through drought) i.e. (by analogy,) to desolate , destroy , kill
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Devastation through deprivation: drought imagery extends to destruction of land, cities, and life itself.
to parch (through drought) i.e. (by analogy,) to desolate, destroy, kill BDB: be waste Usage: decay, (be) desolate, destroy(-er), (be) dry (up), slay, × surely, (lay, lie, make) waste.
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups5Aligned forms34
Qalbasic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense16×
ImperfectAmos 7:9 · Ezek 6:6 · Isa 60:12 · Ezek 12:20 · Isa 19:5 · Job 14:11 · Isa 34:10 · Jer 26:99×
Sequential imperfectJer 2:12 · Jer 50:27 · Isa 44:27 · Jer 50:214×
PerfectGen 8:132×
Infinitive absoluteIsa 60:121×
Hiphilcausative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action8×
Perfect2Kgs 19:17 · Isa 37:18 · Ezek 19:7 · Nah 1:4 · Zeph 3:65×
ImperfectIsa 42:15 · Isa 50:22×
Participle activeJudg 16:241×
Niphalpassive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action3×
Participle passiveEzek 26:19 · Ezek 30:72×
Perfect2Kgs 3:231×
Pualintensive passive — intensive action received by the subject2×
PerfectJudg 16:7 · Judg 16:82×
Hophalcausative passive — the subject is caused to perform the action3×
Infinitive absolute2Kgs 3:231×
PerfectEzek 26:21×
Participle passiveEzek 29:121×
Word Origins
חָרַב is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The subject and setting carry the distinction between drying and devastation. Genesis describes the surface of the ground and later gives Noah God's instruction, so observation should not be detached from the narrative's sequence. Job's river comparison belongs to an honest lament about mortality and a plea to be remembered. The psalm and Isaiah recall or invoke the sea crossing within rescue and redemption language, without making every dry place a sign of identical divine action.
Judges adds undried materials and the Philistines' own praise over Samson, which must remain attributed speech rather than endorsed theology. Teach the particular account clearly. The licensed range permits several contextual renderings, but it does not permit importing every meaning into every sentence or declaring another person's loss to be punishment through verbal association alone.
Anchor passage
Ps.106.9
Doctrinal connections
- Genesis 8:11-16 distinguishes receding waters, observed dry ground and God's later instruction, preserving the timing and addressee of the narrated departure.
- Job 14:10-13 places disappearing water beside mortality and a plea for remembrance, keeping lament attributed rather than turning it into a comprehensive final-state doctrine.
- Psalm 106:7-11 remembers rebellion, rescue for the Lord's name and the dried Red Sea, retaining the particular people's narrated deliverance.
- Isaiah 50:1-4 asks whether the Lord lacks redeeming strength and describes His rebuke drying the sea, preserving the address without present weather diagnoses.
- Isaiah 51:9-12 invokes the road through the sea for the redeemed alongside comfort and return, without supplying a current person's rescue timetable.
- Judges 16:7-9 and 23-25 distinguish Samson's claim about undried bowstrings from his enemies' attributed praise and humiliation of him.
The licensed Hebrew range includes drying, desolation and destruction. Water, ground, materials and devastated places supply different objects, while attributed speeches require attention to the speaker. A shared verb does not make all drying punitive or turn every physical description into a spiritual condition.
From Old to New Testament
Hebrews 11:29 explicitly recalls crossing the Red Sea, naming faith and the Egyptians' different outcome. Read that Greek remembrance beside Psalm 106's rescue account without equating the lexical forms or making the event a guarantee of every present escape. Its particular narration supports attention to God's stated action while leaving another person's bodily outcome and timing unannounced.