Seven Curses Jesus took on Himself

2021

Abstract As many texts from the ancient Near East, including the Hebrew Bible, demonstrate, people made use of curses, and virtually anyone could pronounce one. Curses appeal to the supernatural realm to somehow injure an offender or enemy. Although the curse depends on the supernatural or the heavenly realm for its execution, it has been suggested in recent scholarship that the efficacy of a curse should be understood by means of speech act theory. From this perspective, the social setting in which a curse is pronounced determines its efficacy. It will be effective if the curse is performed by a person who is sanctioned for this function by the community; if all the persons who are affected by the curse are present and hear the curse pronounced; and if the name of the controlling deity is invoked. If any of these criteria is not met, the imprecation will not work. It is the aim of the present study to challenge this relatively new approach to the biblical curse. Two test cases are studied at length: the curse of Saul on any soldier who would break the fast he called for in order to triumph in battle (1 Samuel 14); and the curse Jacob levelled on the person who stole Laban’s teraphim (Genesis 31). In the course of analysis attention is paid to: features of curses, how they operate, and the role of the deity and divine agents in activating the curses. It is found that, although the terms proposed within speech act theory may play some role in biblical curses, a malediction is not dependent on those terms in order to operate. In the case of Saul’s curse, it is unclear that it was Saul’s place to impose the curse and that Jonathan, on whom the curse landed, was present to hear it. The efficacy of the curse has much to do with its intractability. The same two deficiencies are present in the case of Jacob’s curse, which affected Rachel; and again, its efficacy seems to follow from its intractability.

Stimulus, 2016

This is a full version of a paper given at SBL San Antonio in 2023: “Recovering a Curse in Psalm 119:21: The Place of Curses in Psalms of Lament.” Biblical Hebrew Poetry Section. Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, November 20, 2023. San Antonio, TX. .

In this thoughtful and complex volume, Brian Britt explores the fascinating world of the curse-beginning in ancient Israel and blossoming outward, in selected moments, toward the modern period and up to present-day debates regarding hate speech. Perhaps the most striking, general reminder offered by Britt's study regards the juxtaposition of the frequency of ancient cursing vis-à-vis what would seem to be the loss of the curse among modern devotees of the biblical tradition. Cursing, oaths, and so on were apparently a common part of ancient religious discourse. But what about the "afterlives" (177) of these curses and their home in the world of powerful or numinous speech?

Liber Annuus Studii Biblici Franciscani, 2012

The twentieth century resulted in a significant grow of the corpus of Old Aramaic inscriptions. Several of the discovered texts contain a series of curses which show a significant degree of similarity. The present contribution aims at a comparative analysis of the curses found in the Tel Fekheriye inscription (KAI 309), the Bukan inscription (KAI 320) and the Sefire treaties (KAI 222-224) as well as at their interpretation in the larger context of the West Semitic literary tradition attested in the Hebrew Bible and in the Phoenician epigraphs. The shared stock of expressions and images employed in the curses clearly points to the existence of a common tradition. This tradition goes back to the rural and pastoral lifestyle as it is revealed by the imagery of the curses (famine, infertility). Its distinct character is apparent when compared with the Phoenician curses that use a set of images such as a broken scepter and an overturned throne that betray a royal ideology. The level of literary sophistication of the curses indicates their transmission and subsequent elaboration in scribal circles. The occurrence of the same motifs in the Old Aramaic inscriptions and in a few passages of the Hebrew Bible hints at the common cognitive environment shared by the Aramaeans and Israelites and possibly the existence of a shared tradition. The scribal nature of this tradition is, however, evident only later, as in the case of Tobit and Ahiqar or Amherst papyrus 63 and Psalm 20, when it is possible to speak about knowledge of literary works by the scribes and not just stock phrases and formulas as is the case with the curses.

2020

The concept of the seven deadly sins has been used in Catholic confessionalpractices through the usage of penitential manuals, but this concept has also been discussed by variousphilosophers such as Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon. Moreover, the concept was so popular thatpoets such as Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower and Christopher Marlowe, authors suchas William Langland and theologians such as John Wycliffe among others have also used this concept,whether to enrich their works or shed light on the concept from their own perspective. This papertracks the development of the concept from the “deserts of Egypt”, through Hellenistic theology, SoulJourney, the Gnostics, aerial demons and the ascetics to the works of Evagrius of Pontus and JohnCassian to the standardization of the concept by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6 th century

The primary concern of this study is to understand how curse affects the power of blessing in Genesis 1–11. First, we examine the semantics of blessing and curse in light of their history of interpretation. Second, each blessing (1:22, 28; 9:1–3, 7, 26, 27) and curse (3:14–15, 16, 17–19; 4:11–12; 9:25) that occurs within reported speech in Genesis 1–11 is categorized and examined according to its linguistic pattern and performative character. Third, the role of blessing and/or curse is determined in the development of narrative tension in the various discourse units of Genesis 1–11. Blessing and curse are shown to be intimately connected to Creation theology: blessing is given to drive Creation toward its intended telos, while curse is pronounced when that telos is threatened. Both are a central part of Yahweh's upholding of the Order of Creation. Curse affects the power of blessing both negatively and positively in Genesis 1–11. Negatively, curse causes hostility and alienation, and can also be held partially responsible for the epidemic of death. But curse does not have the final word. Positively, curse mitigates rebellion by imposing restrictions on the transgressor. Furthermore, curse carries with it a way for life to continue. The narrative of Genesis 1–11 bespeaks of the power words have in the world. Some create, some commission, some empower; while others punish, others alienate, and others cause death. From the beginning God has intended good for his Creation. Blessings and curses are one way of achieving that end.

Religion Compass, 2007

As many extant texts demonstrate, the world of the Ancient Near East was replete with curses. They managed almost every feature of life from simple business affairs to complex international relations. Of significant importance for the survivability of any society at that time was the maintenance of the happiness of the local deity or deities whose ongoing presence and patronage was inexorably linked to the preservation of their respective tribe, city, or empire. Cursing importuned these patron deities, as well as personal deities, to injure others so that the well-being of their tribal or city residents might be sustained. A curse's ultimate purpose was to inspire heavenly rage by soliciting supernatural powers to intercede in situations that were believed to be beyond mortal control such as injustices, disease, injury, or just plain bad luck. The following study will review the underlying features of all curses in the Ancient Near East. The deities, as will be shown, played a central role in the execution of maledictions. They were viewed as the agents who would, in one way or another, realize the requested punishment should they judge in the speaker's favor. This analysis will be followed by an examination of the most common types of curses the Ancient Near Easterners used.