# דמם בראשם



## rolmich

דמם בראשם

Hello everybody,
This is an expression I hear lately on the radio concerning the risk our ennemies take if they attack us<.
I assume it is originating from the Talmud, but can you explain the source and also the meaning.
Thanks in advance.


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## slus

It is a Biblical expression - see 
יהושע ב יט
יחזקאל לג ד


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## rolmich

Thank you but I am not connected whatsoever to the religious world nor to the holy texts.


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## slus

Me neither, but this is the origin.


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## rolmich

I am not used to the hebrew keyboard (only to the fr/en).
Can someone give me an explanation, or the link indicated in #2.
Thanks in advance


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## Drink

יהושע ב יט = Joshua 2:19
יחזקאל לג ד = Ezekiel 33:4

You can look up these verses with French translation if you want. For example here: Josué 2:19 et Ézéchiel 33:4.


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## rolmich

OK Thanks Drink.


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## GeriReshef

דם in Hebrew generally means blood, but it can also mean payment or fee (like דמי הרשמה = registration fee).
דמם בראשם means here - they will pay with their head, or their head will be the fee for what they have done (not necessarily literally..).


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## rolmich

Thanks so much Geri this is exactly the kind of explanation I was waiting for.
Btw when a murderer was brought in France before a judge (when the death penalty was still enforced) a common expression was : _Il risque sa tête_. (he could be executed).
And if he had a good lawyer : _Il a sauvé sa tête _(he escaped the death sentence)


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## amikama

GeriReshef said:


> דם in Hebrew generally means blood, but it can also mean payment or fee (like דמי הרשמה = registration fee).


Note that דמים (money, fee) is plural only and doesn't have a singular form. (It's also the plural form of דם, as in שפיכות דמים = bloodshed).
I think that דם means only blood, not money.


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## Drink

I agree with amikama. I think דמו בראשו means "his blood is his responsibility" (and דמם בראשם "their blood is their responsibility"). Meaning if they attack us and we fight back and kill them, it's their own fault and not ours.


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