CURSES

 

The words for curse in the Hebrew are:

1.          alah meaning oath, execration, imprecation

2.          cherem meaning a devoted thing, a devoted thing

3.          meera meaning curse, execration

4.          qelalah meaning a reviling, thing lightly esteemed

5.          shebuah meaning curse, execration

6.          taalah meaning swearing, oath

7.          arar meaning to curse, to be cursed, to be made cursed

8.          drar meaning to curse

9.          galal meaning to be lightly esteemed, vilified

 

The words for curse in the Greek are:

1.           katara meaning a curse, a thorough curse, to bind under, one upon whom a curse lies,

2.           anathematize meaning to anathematize and anathematize thoroughly

3.           kakologeo meaning to speak evil of, wish a curse against one

4.           katara meaning to wish a curse against one, full cursing

5.           ara meaning a curse, cursing

6.           anathema meaning to bind under a great curse

7.           anathematize meaning to curse

 

OLD TESTAMENT:

1.            Genesis 3:14 “And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed (drar) above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

2.            Genesis 8:21 “And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse (qalal) the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

3.            Genesis 12:3 “And I will bless them that bless thee (Abraham/nation), and curse (arar) him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

4.            Genesis 27:12-13 “My father peradventure will feel me (Jacob), and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse (qelalah) upon me, and not a blessing.  And his mother said unto him, upon me be thy curse (qelalah), my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.”

5.            Exodus 21:17 “And he that curseth (qalal) his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.”

6.            Numbers 5:21 “Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing (alah), and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;”

7.            Numbers 23:7-8 “And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me to Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse (qabab) me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse (qabab), whom God hath not cursed (qabab)?  Or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?

8.            Deuteronomy 7:25-26 “The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God.  Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed (cherem) thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed (cherem) thing.”

9.            Deuteronomy 11:26-28 “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse (qelalah).  A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I commanded you this day: And a curse (qelalah), if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day to go after other gods, which ye have not known.”

10.        Deuteronomy 23:5 “Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balam; but the Lord thy God turned the curse (qelalah) into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee.”

11.        Deuteronomy 27:15-26; 28:15-19Cursed (arar) be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord…Cursed (arar) be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them…All these curses (arar) shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed (arar) shall thou be when thou comest in, and cursed (arar) shalt thou be when thou goest out.”

12.        Deuteronomy 28”15, 45 “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statues which I command thee this day; that all these curses (qelalah) shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Moreover all these curses (qelalah) shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statues which he commanded thee:”

13.        Deuteronomy 30:5-7 “The Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy father.  And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and thou mayest live.  And the Lord thy God will put all these curses (alah) upon thine enemies, and on them that hat thee, which persecuted thee.”

14.        Joshua 6:17-18 “And the city shall be accurse, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.  And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse (cherem), and trouble it.”

15.        I Samuel 17:43 “And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that a how comest to me with staves?  And the Philistine cursed (qalal) David by his gods.”

16.        II Kings 2:24 “And Elijah turned back, and looked on them, and cursed (qalal) them in the name of the Lord.  And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.”

17.        II Kings 22:19 “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse (qelalah), and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.  Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.”

18.        II Chronicles 34:24-25 “Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses (alah) that re written in the book which thy have read before the King of Judah: Because thy have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.”

19.        Nehemiah 10:29 “The people clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse (alah), and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statues;”

20.        Nehemiah 13:2 “Because thy met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse (qelalah) them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.”

21.        Job 31:30 “Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse (alah) to his soul.”

22.        Job 3:1-2 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed (qalal) his day.  Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.”

23.        Psalms 62:4 “They delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse (qalal) inwardly.”

24.        Proverbs 3:33 “The curse (cherem) of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.”

25.        Proverbs 28:27 “He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse (cherem).”

26.        Ecclesiastes 10:20 “Curse(qalal)not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse(qalal) not the rich in thy bedchamber; for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.”

27.        Isaiah 24:6 “Therefore hath the curse(alah) devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.”

28.        Isaiah 43:28 “Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.”(cherem)

29.        Isaiah 65:15 “And ye shall leave your name for a curse(shebuah) unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:”

30.        Jeremiah 29:18 “And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse(alah), and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord.”

31.        Lamentations 3:65 “Give them(enemies) sorrow of heart, thy(Lord) curse(taalah) unto them.”

32.        Daniel 9:11 “Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse(alah) is poured upon the law of Moses the servant of God.”

33.        Zechariah 5:3 “Then said he unto me, This is the curse(alah) that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every on that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it: and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.”

34.        Zechariah 8:13 “And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse(qelalah) among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing’ fear not, but let your hands be strong.”

35.        Malachi 2:2 “If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, said the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse(arar) upon you, and I will curse(arar) your blessings: yea, I have cursed(arar) them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.”

36.        Malachi 3:9 “Ye are cursed(arar) with a curse(arar): for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.”

37.        Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their father, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse(cherem).”

 

NEW TESTAMENT:

1.            Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse(to wish a curse against) you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute;”

2.            Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10 “For God commanded, saying Honor thy father and mother: and he that curseth (kakologeo) father or mother, let him die the death.”

3.            Matthew 25:41-46 “Then they shall say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed(katara), into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me not drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.  In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

4.            Mark 11:13-14, 20-21,22-24 “Jesus seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.  And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever.  And his disciples heard it.  And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst(to wish a curse against one) is withered away.  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that you ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

5.            Mark 14:71; Matthew 26:74 “Peter began to curse(anathematize) and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.”

6.            Luke 6:28 “Bless them that curse(to wish a curse against) you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”

7.            John 7:49 Chief priests and Pharisees: “But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed(one upon whom a curse lies).”

8.            Acts 23:12 “Certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse(anathema), saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.”

9.            Acts 23:14 “And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse(anathema), that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.”

10.        Romans 9:3 “For I could wish that myself were accursed(anathama) from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

11.        Romans 12:14 “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse(to wish a curse against)not.”

12.        Romans 3:10, 14 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Whose mouth is full of cursing(ara) and bitterness:”

13.        I Corinthians 12:3 “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed(anathama): and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”

14.        Galatians 1:8-9 “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed(anathama().  As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed(anathama).”

15.        Galatians 3:10 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse(katara): for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.  But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith.

16.        Galatians 3:13-14 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse(katara) of the law, being made a curse(katara) for us: for it is written, Cursed (one upon whom a curse lies) is everyone that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit, through faith.”

17.        Hebrews 6:7-8 “For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is night unto cursing(katara); whose end is to be burned.”

18.        James 3:9-10 “Therewith the tongue bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse(to wish a curse against) we men, which are made after the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing(katara).  My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”

19.        Revelation 22:3 “And there shall be no more curse(a thing put up for execration): but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:”

 

Note: Examples of the Lord returning curses:

Hebrew shub=to turn back.

1.          I Samuel 25:39 “The Lord hath returned(shub=to cause to turn back) the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head.”

2.          II Samuel 16:8 “The Lord returned(shub) upon thee(David) all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou has reigned; and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou are a bloody man.

3.          I Kings 2:32, 44 “And the Lord shall return(shub) his blood upon his own head.  The Lord shall return(shub) thy wickedness upon thine own head:”

4.          Psalms 7:16 “His mischief shall return(shub) upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.”

5.          Joel 3:4, 7 “I will return your recompence(gemul=deserving) upon your own head:”

 

Note: Caution New Testament:

1.            Romans 12:19 Vengeance (ekdikesis=full vengeance) is mine; I will repay saith the Lord.”

 

 

 
 

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