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Hebrew verb · H2717

חָרַב

charabkhaw-rab'

to dry; to destroy; to slay

40 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: chârab

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H2717is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 12 of 39
    Old Testament books
  • 35
    spellings
  • 3
    meanings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · H2717

to parch (through drought) i.e. (by analogy,) to desolate, destroy, kill

The King James renders it: decay, (be) desolate, destroy(-er), (be) dry (up), slay, [idiom] surely, (lay, lie, make) waste.

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

charab is rendered "to dry; to destroy; to slay". It stands 40 times in the Hebrew text, across twelve books.

  • Twelve of the uses stand in Isaiah, more than in any other book.
  • The lexicon lists three meanings for it, beginning with "to dry".
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 8:13In 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.
  • The Greek text spells it thirty-five different ways.

The first use

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.

Genesis 8:13חָֽרְב֥וּ

The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.

Where the word stands

Twelve of the word's forty uses are in Isaiah.

The other 27 Old Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

The word carries three meanings: to dry, and to destroy, and to slay.

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

The English STEP Bible gives each use, word by word, and how many times.
to dryStrong's entry ATagged aslisted under the tableWhereGenesis 8:13In Noah’s six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month…
to destroyStrong's entry BTagged aslisted under the tableWherein the ledger below
to slayStrong's entry CTagged aslisted under the tableWherein the ledger below

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • they will be waste3
  • it will be desolate2
  • kill2
  • so I may dry up2
  • they have made desolate2
  • they were dried up2
  • and I will dry up1
  • and it dried up1
  • and make desolate you1
  • and they will become dry1
  • be desolate1
  • be dried up1

and 21 more, 40 uses in all

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

חָרַםcharamto devote/destroyUses52
חָרַדcharadto trembleUses39
חָרַגcharagto quakeUses1
חָרַךְcharakto roastUses1

The words it stands beside

All 40, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

35 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • הֶחֱרִ֜יבוּ2
  • וְאַחְרִב֙2
  • חֹרָ֑בוּ2
  • יֶחֱרַ֥ב2
  • תֶּחֱרַ֔בְנָה2
  • אַחֲרִ֤יב1
  • אַחֲרִ֣יב1
  • הָחֳרֵ֤ב1
  • הָחֳרָֽבָה׃1
  • הֶחֱרַ֥בְתִּי1
  • הֶחֱרִ֑יב1
  • הֶֽחֱרִ֑יב1

and 23 more spellings in the ledger below.

The grammar of each form

  • HC/Vhu1cs2HC/Vhu1cs
  • verb · causative (hiphil), yiqtol (imperfect) · 1st person common singular2HVhi1cs
  • verb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common plural2HVhp3cp
  • verb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVhp3ms
  • verb · intensive passive (pual), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common plural2HVPp3cp
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine plural2HVqi3fp
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine singular2HVqi3fs
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine plural2HVqi3mp
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVqi3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common plural2HVqp3cp
  • verb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person masculine plural2HVqv2mp
  • Hc/Vhq1cs1Hc/Vhq1cs

Genesis

two uses
  • 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.

    Genesis 8:13

    • חָֽרְב֥וּcharevuverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they were dried up
    • חָֽרְב֖וּcharevuverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they were dried up

Judges

three uses
  • Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.”

    Judges 16:7

    • חֹרָ֑בוּchoravuverb · intensive passive (pual), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they have been dried
  • So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.

    Judges 16:8

    • חֹרָ֑בוּchoravuverb · intensive passive (pual), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they had been dried
  • And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead.”

    Judges 16:24

    • מַחֲרִ֣יבmacharivverb · causative (hiphil), participle · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: desolator of

2 Kings

four uses
  • “This is blood!” they exclaimed. “The kings have clashed swords and slaughtered one another. Now to the plunder, Moab!”

    2 Kings 3:23

    • הָחֳרֵ֤בhochorevverb · causative passive (hophal), infinitive absolutetagged: certainly to fight
    • נֶֽחֶרְבוּ֙nechervuverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they have fought one another
  • Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands.

    2 Kings 19:17

    • הֶחֱרִ֜יבוּhecherivuverb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they have made desolate
  • I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

    2 Kings 19:24

    • וְאַחְרִב֙veachrivHC/Vhu1cstagged: so I may dry up

Job

one use
  • As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dry,

    Job 14:11

    • יֶחֱרַ֥בyecheravverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it dries up

Psalms

one use
  • He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.

    Psalms 106:9

    • וַֽיֶּחֱרָ֑בvaiyecheravHc/Vqw3mstagged: and it dried up

Isaiah

twelve uses
  • The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.

    Isaiah 19:5

    • יֶחֱרַ֥בyecheravverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it will become dry
  • The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither.

    Isaiah 19:6

    • וְחָרְב֖וּvecharevuHc/Vqq3cptagged: and they will become dry
  • It will not be quenched—day or night. Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever again pass through it.

    Isaiah 34:10

    • תֶּחֱרָ֔בtecheravverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: it will be desolate
  • Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.

    Isaiah 37:18

    • הֶחֱרִ֜יבוּhecherivuverb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they have made desolate
  • I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

    Isaiah 37:25

    • וְאַחְרִב֙veachrivHC/Vhu1cstagged: so I may dry up
  • I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.

    Isaiah 42:15

    • אַחֲרִ֤יבʾacharivverb · causative (hiphil), yiqtol (imperfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I will lay waste
  • who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’

    Isaiah 44:27

    • חֳרָ֑בִיchoraviverb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person feminine singulartagged: be dried up
  • Your builders hasten back; your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.

    Isaiah 49:17

    • וּמַחֲרִבַ֖יִךְumacharivayikhconjunction (“and”) + verb · causative (hiphil), participle · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 2nd person feminine singulartagged: and make desolate you
  • Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.

    Isaiah 50:2

    • אַחֲרִ֣יבʾacharivverb · causative (hiphil), yiqtol (imperfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I dry up
  • Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over?

    Isaiah 51:10

    • הַמַּחֲרֶ֣בֶתhamacharevetthe definite article (“the”) + verb · causative (hiphil), participle · feminine singulartagged: who dried up
  • For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed.

    Isaiah 60:12

    • חָרֹ֥בcharoverb · simple (qal), infinitive absolutetagged: certainly to be desolate
    • יֶחֱרָֽבוּ׃yecheravuverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: they will become desolate

Jeremiah

five uses
  • Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD.

    Jeremiah 2:12

    • חָרְב֥וּcharevuverb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person masculine pluraltagged: be desolate
  • How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

    Jeremiah 26:9

    • תֶּחֱרַ֖בtecheravverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: it will be desolate
  • Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,” declares the LORD.

    Jeremiah 50:21

    • חֲרֹ֨בcharoverb · simple (qal), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: kill
  • Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.

    Jeremiah 50:27

    • חִרְבוּ֙chirvuverb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person masculine pluraltagged: kill
  • Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.

    Jeremiah 51:36

    • וְהַחֲרַבְתִּי֙vehacharavtiHc/Vhq1cstagged: and I will dry up

Ezekiel

eight uses
  • Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.

    Ezekiel 6:6

    • תֶּחֱרַ֔בְנָהtecheravnahverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine pluraltagged: they will be waste
    • יֶחֶרְב֨וּyechervuverb · simple (qal), jussive (“let him”) · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: they may be waste
  • The inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

    Ezekiel 12:20

    • תֶּחֱרַ֔בְנָהtecheravnahverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine pluraltagged: they will be waste
  • He broke down their strongholds and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it shuddered at the sound of his roaring.

    Ezekiel 19:7

    • הֶחֱרִ֑יבhecherivverb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it laid waste
  • “Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken; it has swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will be filled,’

    Ezekiel 26:2

    • הָחֳרָֽבָה׃hochoravahverb · causative passive (hophal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: it has been laid waste
  • For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When I make you a desolate city like other deserted cities, and when I raise up the deep against you so that the mighty waters cover you,

    Ezekiel 26:19

    • נֶחֱרֶ֔בֶתnecherevetverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), participle · feminine singulartagged: desolate
  • I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and her cities will lie desolate for forty years among the ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries.

    Ezekiel 29:12

    • מָֽחֳרָבוֹת֙mochoravotverb · causative passive (hophal), passive participle · feminine pluraltagged: laid waste
  • They will be desolate among desolate lands, and their cities will lie among ruined cities.

    Ezekiel 30:7

    • נַחֲרָב֖וֹתnacharavotverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), participle · feminine pluraltagged: made waste

Hosea

one use
  • Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

    Hosea 13:15

    • וְיֶחֱרַ֣בveyecheravHC/Vqu3mstagged: so it may be dried up

Amos

one use
  • The high places of Isaac will be deserted, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with My sword.”

    Amos 7:9

    • יֶחֱרָ֑בוּyecheravuverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: they will be waste

Nahum

one use
  • He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.

    Nahum 1:4

    • הֶֽחֱרִ֑יבhecherivverb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he dries up

Zephaniah

one use
  • “I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant.

    Zephaniah 3:6

    • הֶחֱרַ֥בְתִּיhecheravtiverb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I have made desolate

The letters

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESH gloss (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →