Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lewis Reich" <lewreich AT javanet.com>]

I happened to look at a translation of the last two verses of Malachi today 
and was somewhat surprised to see "pen avo v'hiketi et ha'aretz kherem" 
(my apologies for not following our usual transliteration scheme) translated 
as "lest I come and strike the land with a curse".

The traditional Jewish commentaries indicate that some dire destruction or 
desolation is portended here, which is not what I associate with the literal 
meaning of "kherem", but strikes me as a reasonable interpretation.  What 
puzzled me is why the English would have "curse", rather than, say "strike 
the land desolate"..  

Is this the generally accepted rendering in English (I have only one 
translation at hand)?  

Lewis Reich