Kareth

The Hebrew term kareth ("cutting off") is derived from the Hebrew verb karat ("to cut off"). The noun form does not occur in the Hebrew Bible. The plural, Kerithoth ("Excisions"), is the seventh tractate of the fifth order Kodashim of the Mishnah. In the Talmud kareth means not necessarily physical "cutting off" of life but extinction of the soul and denial of a share in the world to come.

Hebrew Bible

In the Hebrew Bible to "cut off" (Hebrew: כרת‎ karath), is a form of punishment which may mean killing or excluding from the people. The Book of Numbers states that anyone who sins deliberately or high-handedly is to be cut-off from the community:

Examples of sins incurring kareth include breaking the fast on the Day of Atonement, sexual violations, and ritual impurities. Anyone who refused to join with Abraham in being circumcised as a sign of the covenant being made by God with Abraham and his descendants was to be cut off from the people.

Rabbinical literature