The Hebrew verb haras means to tear down, break through, demolish, or overthrow. It is the violent unmaking of a structure — whether a physical wall, a nation, or a spiritual stronghold. It appears in contexts of divine judgment, military conquest, and prophetic promise of dismantling false systems.
Jeremiah 1:10 defines the prophet's commission: 'to uproot and tear down (haras), to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.' God's redemptive work begins with demolition — before new life comes, the old must be broken down. The cross tears down the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14).