by Kent Leslie ✉️
A curse be on him. [1.8] Okay, now I’m gonna quote Jesus’s brother James.
Jm 2.9-10: With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. 10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
Is this a biblical contradiction? Paul says “A curse be on him,” James says don’t?
In fact Paul himself says in Romans 12.14: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” And Jesus himself (and we should be following Jesus!) says, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” [Lk 6.28]
There’s only a contradiction if you translate ἀνάθεμα/anáthema as “curse him,” and I would argue that’s not quite right. The Liddell-Scott-Jones Lexicon, which is a Greek dictionary for all ancient Greek literature, not just the New Testament, defines anáthema like so:
- Anything dedicated.
- Anything devoted to evil, an accursed thing.
- A curse.
It doesn’t mean “A curse be on him,” and doesn’t have to be: A curse is already on him. He cursed himself by seriously distorting what the gospel is. Paul’s not telling the Galatians to curse them; he’s warning them to get away from them. Certainly don’t let them teach new believers!
You realize teaching people to curse heretics is kinda undermining all the grace and godly behavior Paul is trying to teach in this letter? But it surely does appeal to the flesh.
Better translation: The
Y’know the only thing Jesus ever cursed was a fig tree. And the only thing I ever curse is this one non-operational soda machine at work that keeps stealing my money. And that’s as it should be.