Curse, Cursed

A curse is a serious spoken statement or prayer that asks for judgment to come upon a person, a group of people, or something else, such as the earth or a nation.

The word “curse” can also describe a judgment from God that has already happened or that God has already decided to carry out.

The act of cursing is the opposite of the act of blessing.

Curses and blessings were connected to ancient pagan beliefs. People thought that the spirits of “the gods” would act for them if they repeated special words or performed certain actions, such as offering sacrifices. They believed a spoken curse had hidden power to harm enemies. In some pagan cultures, people wrote curses on clay jars and then smashed them. This act symbolically started or made the curse happen.

Tombs were often protected by spoken curses that warned people not to disturb them. Royal inscriptions were also protected by curses that threatened harm on anyone who might change, destroy, or ignore the written decree (Ezra 6:11–12).

Among the Hebrews, a curse was valid only within a covenant framework overseen by God and was spoken for justice. In the Old Testament, a curse was an important part of a covenant relationship. This relationship could be between God and the community, between God and an individual, or among members of the community.

Breaking a covenant's terms meant deserving the covenant curse or curses. A curse spoken outside this covenant framework had no real power. “Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest” (Proverbs 26:2). One could cancel a curse by pronouncing a blessing (Exodus 12:32; Judges 17:1–2; 2 Samuel 21:1–3).

The Mosaic law forbade people from cursing:

their parents (Exodus 21:17; see also Proverbs 20:20; Matthew 15:4),

the ruler (Exodus 22:28), or

a deaf person (Leviticus 19:14).

A man who thought his wife was unfaithful could ask a priest to test her, which would curse her if guilty (Numbers 5:11–31). People might curse themselves to prove their honesty or promises (Numbers 5:19–22; Job 31:7–10, 16–22; Psalm 137:5–6). In the New Testament, the apostle Peter followed the Old Testament practice by using a curse to deny knowing Jesus (Mark 14:71). Some men who wanted to kill the apostle Paul showed their seriousness with a solemn curse (Acts 23:12, 14, 21). Cursing God was punishable by death (Leviticus 24:10–16; see also Exodus 22:28; Isaiah 8:21–22).

Curses in the Bible include:

God's curse on the serpent and the ground when Adam and Eve fell in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:14–19);

God's curse on Cain (Genesis 4:11–12);

God's curse on those who curse Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:3); and

God's curse on those who trust in human strength instead of the Lord (Jeremiah 17:5).

When the Israelites traveled through Moab to the promised land, Moab's king, Balak, hired Balaam to curse them. However, they learned they could not curse those God had blessed (Numbers 22–24). Joshua cursed anyone who tried to rebuild Jericho (Joshua 6:26; which was fulfilled in 1 Kings 16:34). King Saul made a curse that nearly cost his son Jonathan's life (1 Samuel 14:24, 43–45).

Many other curses appear in the Old Testament (see, for example, Genesis 9:25; 49:5–7; Joshua 9:22–23; Judges 9:7–21, 57; 2 Samuel 16:5–13; 1 Kings 21:17–24; 2 Kings 2:24; Malachi 2:2; 4:6). The word "woe" (meaning "destruction") also represents a curse (Isaiah 5:8–23; see also Matthew 23:13–33, where "alas" and "woe" can mean sorrow or impending doom).

Psalm 109 includes a long curse against the psalmist's enemies because they falsely accused him (see also Psalms 58:6–11; 69:19–28; 143:12). The prophet Jeremiah also asked God to punish his tormentors (Jeremiah 11:20; 12:3; 15:15; 17:18; 18:21–22; 20:11–12) and not forgive them (18:23). These curses are hard for Christians today to understand because they differ from the New Testament's teachings to "bless those who curse you" (Luke 6:28; see also Romans 12:14). Jesus gave the command to "love your enemies" in Matthew 5:44. This command may be intended to point beyond the cursing practiced in the Old Testament to a deeper understanding of loving others as ourselves.

In Old Testament times, people often protected contracts or treaties by speaking a curse on anyone who broke them. Sometimes, they sealed a covenant by cutting an animal in half and having the parties walk between the pieces. The dead animal symbolized the curse that would fall on the violator. God agreed to face such a curse if he broke the covenant he made with Abraham (Genesis 15:7–21). Later, God accused Israel's leaders and people of breaking their covenant with him and warned them of the consequences (Jeremiah 34:18–19).

A key part of the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai was the promise of blessings for keeping it and curses for breaking it (Deuteronomy 11:26–28; 27:15–26; 28:15–68; 30:19; see also Leviticus 26:3–39). Israel experienced these curses during the time of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The covenant breakers, including the king, faced a curse (Jeremiah 11:3; Ezekiel 17:11–21).

A special type of curse was the ban or anathema. It was a vow to dedicate people, animals, or objects under this curse to God. Priests could use objects under the ban (Numbers 18:14; Ezekiel 44:29), but this did not apply to living beings. All people or animals under the ban were sacrificed or destroyed (Leviticus 27:28–29).

The ban was often used in Israel’s wars against its pagan neighbors. Sometimes everything was declared anathema (Joshua 6:17–19), but usually only people and heathen images were destroyed (Deuteronomy 2:34; 3:6; 7:2, 25–26—even melted gold from images was not kept).

Violating the ban by keeping any cursed items meant coming under the ban oneself. Because Achan did not respect the ban on Jericho, the curse affected all Israel until Achan confessed and was executed (Joshua 7).

After the exile, the Jews stopped using the ban to put people to death. Instead, they excommunicated those who violated a curse, removing them from the congregation of Israel (Ezra 10:8). This meant the person was no longer part of God's people and was considered "dead."

Jewish synagogues used excommunication, or anathema, during the New Testament period (Luke 6:22; John 9:22; 12:42; 16:2). Later, Christians excommunicated people by declaring them outside the redeemed community (Matthew 18:17) or "hand this man over to Satan" (1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20). Both practices came from the Old Testament ban. Unlike that curse, excommunication could be lifted once the person repented.

Before his conversion, Saul of Tarsus tried to force Christians to reject Christ by calling him cursed (see Acts 26:11). Later, as an apostle, Paul (formerly Saul) warned that no one speaking by the Spirit of God could call Jesus cursed (1 Corinthians 12:3). Paul declared that anyone preaching a different gospel than the one he and the other apostles preached was destined for judgment (Galatians 1:8–9).

Paul expressed a wish to be cut off from salvation if it could lead to the salvation of his fellow Israelites (Romans 9:3). His wish showed the love of Christ, who took on the "curse of the law" by suffering and dying on the cross to save people from that curse (Galatians 3:8–14; see Deuteronomy 21:22–23). The New Testament promises a future time when "no longer will there be any curse" (Revelation 22:3).

See also War, Holy.