v. Anathema
Gen 27:13 his mother .. My son, let your m be upon me
Deu 11:26; 30:19
say wrong Express a bad desire towards a person, object, nation or city. In Hebrew there are many words used for the idea of cursing. One of them is plowing. God’s covenant with Israel meant blessings if the people obeyed and m. if he didn’t. Some of these m. appear in Deu 27:15-26 and 28:16-68 (“Cursed is the man who makes graven images…and hides them…Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother…Cursed is he who lowers the limit of his neighbor…). The m. it reduces the recipient to a state of impotence, as if he were tied up, unable to prevent its effects. That is why the Moabite king †¢Balac wanted to contract the services of †¢Balaam so that he would curse the people of Israel. If Balaam did that, the Israelites would have been immobilized and prevented from effectively fighting Balak’s attack (Num 22:1-6). But † God turned the m. in blessing” (Neh 13:2).
It talks about me. as punishments for disobedience, as is the case with †¢Adam (Gen 3:14, Gen 3:17). Also threats or warnings in the case of breaches of the covenant (“Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant”). The M. they are always related to the breaking of the personal relationship with God. Some scholars reading about the “scroll” that Zechariah beholds in a vision is qualified as “the m. that goes out on the face of the earth†, they interpret that it is the law (Zech 5:1-4), because “all those who depend on the works of the law are under me† (Gal 3:10). But “Christ redeemed us from the m. of the law† (Gal 3:13).
men can also emit an m., as was the case with †¢Jotham, who cursed the Shechemites (†œFire come out of Abimelech, consume Shechem† ). Sometimes the m. human beings are fulfilled (†œ… and the m. of Jotham the son of Jerobaal came upon them† ). The M. that he launched †¢Simei against David, they had no effect (†œ…he cursed me with a strong m. the day I was going to Mahanaim† ).
in the NT, the terms kataraomai, to curse, and katara, translated as m., are the most usual for these ideas. The mouth of the wicked “is full of m. and bitterness† (Rom 3:14), because they are “my children” (2Pe 2:14). Speaking of Christian professors drifting away from the faith, it is said in Hebrews that the land that does not respond to the benefits of rain and toil and “brings forth thorns and thistles is reprobate, is near to being cursed, and its end is death.” be burned† (Heb 6:8).
cursing is an act reserved only for the holy and just judgment of God. Believers should not curse anything or anyone (“Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse”). No one should claim the authority of the Lord Jesus, who effectively cursed a fig tree (Mark 11:21).
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
tip, ESCA DOCTOR
see, BLESSING
vet, The punishment pronounced by God as a consequence of the sin of Adam and Eve. The man was not the object of the curse, but it fell on the serpent and on the earth. The man should eat with pain of the fruit of the earth all the days of his life, and in pain the woman should give birth to her children (Gen. 3:17). After the flood, the Lord smelled the pleasing odor of Noah’s sacrifice, and said in his heart: “I will curse the ground no more for man’s sake; for the intent of the heart of man is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21). A new dispensation of heaven and earth had begun, and God was not going to curse it any more, but was going to act on it based on the sweet smell of Noah’s offering. The man received encouragement. The annual seasons would persist as long as the earth remained (Gen. 8:22). God made a covenant with Noah and his offspring, and with every living thing, and as a pledge of this covenant he established his bow in the clouds (Gen. 9:8-17). All creation is subject to futility, and groans and is in labor pains (Rom. 8:20-22). But there is the certainty of a liberation already achieved. The thorns and thistles were the proofs of the curse (Isa. 32:13); but the time is coming when “instead of a bramble will grow a cypress, and instead of a nettle will grow myrtle” (Is. 55:13). Both the weak and the strong of the animal kingdom will also dwell in happy harmony in the millennium (Isa. 11:6-9). In a more sublime sense, Christ has redeemed believers from Judaism from the curse of the Law, having been made a curse for them, because cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (cf. Gal. 3:13). (See BLESSING.)
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Malevolent expression in reference to people, groups, places or situations. It is the opposite of blessing. Spells and curses, execrations and threats, expressions wishing harm to others as revenge or as punishment appear frequently in Scripture, as was the case in all the surrounding Israelite towns. In the same way, blessings appear.
It was taken for granted that bad wishes on others, if one was protected by God and acted correctly, always had an effect. (Eccl. 3. 9; Zech. 5. 2; Num. 22. 6; Ps. 109. 18).
The New Testament changes the orientation and, since mercy is Jesus’ preference, cursing is rejected and blessing is preferred. Of the 18 times in the New Testament the verb to say evil (kataaraomai) is used and of the 5 times that it is said “to say evil” (katalogeo), together with the two dozen analogous terms (slander, diaballo; murmur, psizirismos ; slander, kata-laleo), in almost all of them they are presented as carriers of a negative idea.
The times in which cursing is used are solemn and forceful: “Go cursed into eternal fire” (Mt. 25.41). The Gospel has a law: “Bless those who curse you” (Lk. 6.28), which the Apostles spread everywhere: “Bless those who persecute you and do not curse them”. (Rom. 3.14)
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
It is a word of God, which produces misfortune or death on men or things because of sin. In the other towns of antiquity it had a magical effect that was fatally fulfilled. In Israel the effectiveness of the curse pronounced by a man depended on the just God and, therefore, the purely magical value was eliminated. The blessings and curses of the patriarchs on their offspring are effective and irrevocable, for being exponents of God’s designs. This dependence on God made them often become deprecations (“damn you”, “damn you God”). In salvation history, the curse is secondary, as a substitution for the blessing, which was God’s first plan. Cursed are those who refuse the blessing, that is, those who break the Covenant, those who are unfaithful to the commandments, sinners. The Law condemns those who break it (Di 11,26-29; 30,1.19; Rom 3,14; Gal 3,10; 2 Pe 2,14). Jesus forbids the curse: we must bless those who curse us (Lk 6,28), although he himself curses the fruitless fig tree (Mk 11,21), those who break the law (Jn 7,49). Saint Paul curses those who do not love the Lord (1 Cor 16:22). Jesus Christ became “accursed” (Gal 3,13); Cursed was the one who opposed God’s design, putting his salvation in the Law. Jesus submitted to that cursed situation to destroy it and propose to us the only way of salvation: the grace of his cross received by faith. Those who do not accept it or make it fruitful through charity will hear eternal damnation in the last judgment (Mt 25:41).
MNE
FERNANDEZ RAMOS, Felipe (Dir.), Dictionary of Jesus of Nazareth, Editorial Monte Carmelo, Burbos, 2001
Source: Dictionary of Jesus of Nazareth
Several Hebrew and Greek words in the Bible that are translated by the term “curse” or similar expressions convey the basic idea of wishing or pronouncing evil against someone.
The first curse was pronounced by God, after the Edenic rebellion, against the instigator of that rebellion through the agent that he had used: the serpent. (Ge 3:14, 15) This curse was to end in their destruction. At the same time the ground was cursed for Adam’s sake, which would result in its producing thorns and thistles, but not its destruction. (Ge 3:17, 18; 5:29) Jehovah’s curse on Cain condemned him to a life of fugitive. (Ge 4:11, 12)
After the Flood, the first curse pronounced by a human being was directed by Noah at Canaan, son of Ham, by condemning him to be a slave of Shem and Japheth. This curse saw its greatest fulfillment some eight centuries later, when the Semitic nation of Israel conquered Canaan. (Ge 9:25-27) Thus Joshua told the Gibeonites, descendants of Canaan, that they were “a cursed people” and were therefore held as slaves. (Jos 9:23.)
So this type of curse is not to be confused with blasphemy, nor does it imply violent anger, as the case of the Gibeonites demonstrates. In the texts cited above, the Hebrew word ´a·rár is used. It is found eighteen times in formal statements in Deuteronomy 27:15-26; 28:16-19, and also in solemn declarations, such as Exodus 22:28; Jeremiah 11:3; 17:5 and 48:10. The related noun me´e·rah· appears five times. (De 28:20; Pr 3:33; 28:27; Mal 2:2; 3:9) The Scriptural use of these words indicates a solemn declaration or prediction of evil, and when it comes from God or an authorized person by Him, it has a prophetic force and value. Joshua’s curse against any man who would in the future rebuild devastated Jericho was fulfilled many centuries later. (Jos 6:26; 1Ki 16:34) However, Jehovah disapproved of King Balak’s requests that Balaam curse Israel, and had blessings pronounced instead. (Nu 22:6–24:25; see EXECRATE.)
Another Hebrew word that is translated “oath” and “curse” is ‘a·lah, and it implies an oath that carries with it a curse as a penalty for its violation or falsehood. (Ge 24:41, ftn; Nu 5:21, 23, 27; De 29:19-21; 2Ch 34:24; 1Ki 8:31, 32; see OATH.)
The two basic words translated “curse” in the Greek Scriptures are a·ra· and a·na·the·ma, as well as related words such as ka·ta·ra, e·pi·ka·ta· ra·tos, ka·ta·ra·o·mai, ka·tá·the·ma, and ka·ta·the·ma·ti·zo.
The word a·rah has the meaning of imprecation or prayer invoking evil from a divine source. John uses the related word e·pa·ra·tos when he writes that the Pharisees viewed the common people who listened to Jesus as “accursed ones” who did not know the Law. (Joh 7:49) On the other hand, Paul showed that all Jews needed to be redeemed from the curse of the Law covenant by making Jesus Christ a curse instead of them by dying on the tree of…