Curse, Cursing (Noun and Verb), Cursed, Accursed

Curse, Cursing (Noun and Verb), Cursed, Accursed

in its most usual meaning, “a malediction, cursing” (its other meaning is “a prayer”), is used in Rom 3:14 (often in the Sept.).

kata, “down,” intensive, and No. 1, denotes an “execration, imprecation, curse,” uttered out of malevolence, Jam 3:10; 2Pe 2:14; or pronounced by God in His righteous judgment, as upon a land doomed to barrenness, Heb 6:8; upon those who seek for justification by obedience, in part or completely, to the Law, Gal 3:10, Gal 3:13; in this 13th verse it is used concretely of Christ, as having “become a curse” for us, i.e., by voluntarily undergoing on the Cross the appointed penalty of the “curse.” He thus was identified, on our behalf, with the doom of sin. Here, not the verb in the Sept. of Deu 21:23 is used (see B, No. 3), but the concrete noun.

transliterated from the Greek, is frequently used in the Sept., where it translates the Heb. cherem, “a thing devoted to God,” whether (a) for His service, as the sacrifices, Lev 27:28 (cp. anathema, a votive offering, gift), or (b) for its destruction, as an idol, Deu 7:26, or a city, Jos 6:17. Later it acquired the more general meaning of “the disfavor of Jehovah,” e.g., Zec 14:11. This is the meaning in the NT. It is used of (a) the sentence pronounced, Act 23:14 (lit., “cursed themselves with a curse;” see anathematizo below); (b) of the object on which the “curse” is laid, “accursed;” in the following, the RV keeps to the word “anathema,” Rom 9:3; 1Co 12:3; 1Co 16:22; Gal 1:8-9, all of which the AV renders by “accursed” except 1Co 16:22, where it has “Anathema.” In Gal 1:8-9, the Apostle declares in the strongest manner that the Gospel he preached was the one and only way of salvation, and that to preach another was to nullify the Death of Christ.

or, as in some mss., the longer form katanathema, is stronger than No. 3 (kata, intensive), and denotes, by metonymy, “an accursed thing” (the object cursed being put for the curse pronounced), Rev 22:3.

akin to No. 3, signifies “to declare anathema,” i.e., “devoted to destruction, accursed, to curse,” Mar 14:71, or “to bind by a curse,” Act 23:12, Act 23:14, Act 23:21.

a strengthened form of No. 1, denotes “to utter curses against,” Mat 26:74; cp. Mark’s word concerning the same occasion (No. 1).

akin to A, No. 2, primarily signifies “to pray against, to wish evil against a person or thing,” hence “to curse,” Mat 25:41; Mar 11:21; Luk 6:28; Rom 12:14; Jam 3:9. Some mss. have it in Mat 5:44.

“to speak evil” (kakos, “evil,” lego, “to speak”), is translated by the verb “to curse” in Mat 15:4; Mar 7:10, “to speak evil of father and mother,” not necessarily “to curse,” is what the Lord intended (RV). AV and RV have the verb “to speak evil” in Mar 9:39; Act 19:9. See EVIL.

cursed, accursed” (epi, “upon,” and A, No. 2), is used in Gal 3:10, Gal 3:13.

“accursed,” is found, in the best mss., in Joh 7:49, RV, “accursed,” instead of No. 1.

Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words