The Hebrew verb charats (and its cognate noun forms) carries the meanings of cutting, sharpening, incising, deciding, or determining. The underlying image is of something cut sharply — as a sharp blade cuts through material. From this comes the extended meaning of a firm decision or a determined decree.
The noun form charuts (diligent, sharp, determined) appears in Proverbs as the opposite of sluggard — the diligent person whose plans are as incisive as a sharp blade. In prophetic literature, charats conveys divine decree: God's decisions are sharp and final. Daniel 9:26–27 uses the related term for the "determined end" — God's irrevocable judgments cut through history like an engraver's tool. The word reminds us that God's decrees are not tentative suggestions but sharp, fixed determinations.