che.rem marks persons or possessions set apart irrevocably, often for destruction and sometimes for sacred possession.

The dominant attested use marks a city, person, or possession placed under an irrevocable status that entails destruction, removal, or judgment; a smaller group of priestly contexts applies it to possessions set apart for the LORD and assigned to priestly possession. The same status can make taking the item a transgression, as the Joshua passages show.

1. Placed under destruction or removal · dominant

   The noun occurs in clauses concerning a city and its contents, forbidden spoil, and persons or peoples marked for judgment. In Joshua 6:17 the APB renders the city and all in it as “devoted” to the LORD, while Joshua 6:18 warns against taking the item and making Israel subject to the same outcome; in Joshua 7:11 taking it is listed with theft and deception. The construct form in Isaiah 34:5 occurs where the APB describes Edom and God's people in a judgment scene.

   Joshua 6:17Joshua 6:18Joshua 7:11Joshua 7:121 Samuel 15:21Isaiah 34:5
2. Irrevocably set apart for sacred possession · common

   In these occurrences the masculine singular absolute noun concerns fields, people, animals, and possessions designated to the LORD rather than available for ordinary sale or redemption. In Leviticus 27:28 the APB renders a person’s designation of people, animals, or fields and says they may not be sold or redeemed; Numbers 18:14 and Ezekiel 44:29 place every such item in Israel among the priests’ possessions.

   Leviticus 27:21Leviticus 27:28Leviticus 27:29Numbers 18:14Ezekiel 44:29

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the relevant clauses with “devoted thing,” “devoted,” or “devoted to destruction,” especially in the Joshua account and the destruction contexts. In priestly-property passages it similarly uses “devoted thing”; these are verse-level renderings.