Outside the Fence
Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5 NASB
Cursed – What does it mean to be cursed? Be careful. The Hebrew word ʾārar might not be what you think about curses. “A striking fact is that there is such a proliferation of words in Hebrew which have been generally all translated ‘to curse.’ The list includes at least six: ʾārar, qālal, ʾālâ, qābab, nāqab, zāʿam. To group all of them together under the one general English equivalent, ‘to curse,’ is much too superficial.”[1]
On the basis of Akkadian arāru “to snare, bind” and the noun irritu “noose, sling” Brichto, following Speiser, advances the interpretation that Hebrew ʾārar means “to bind (with a spell), hem in with obstacles, render powerless to resist.” Thus the original curse in Gen 3:14, 17, “cursed are you above all cattle” and “cursed is the ground for your sake” means “you are banned/anathematized from all the other animals” and “condemned be the soil (i.e., fertility to men is banned) on your account.” Similarly, God’s word to Cain, “you are cursed from the earth” means Cain is banned from the soil, or more specifically, he is banned from enjoying its productivity.[2]
“Cursed” is about powerlessness, and powerlessness in the ancient biblical world is about being separated from purpose or community. What “cursed” is not about is magic, spells or evil omens. “The mechanical magical execution of the treaty-curse … stands in glaring contrast to the ego-theological approach of prophetic writings … the ego of the Lord is the focal point of the threat, the execution and punishment of a curse … Curses of the ancient Near East, those outside the Old Testament, are directed against a transgression on private property … but the moral and ethical obligation in connection with his duty to one God and love to his neighbour is not touched on”.[3] In other words, a biblical curse is a religious idea. It’s about relationships between the subject and the environment, the subject and other people, or the subject and God. When the Lord says through Jeremiah that a man who trusts in other men for power and protection is cursed, he does not mean that his life will be filled with bad things. He means that he has broken trust with YHVH and separated himself from the purposes of God.
If this is clear, then there is one implication that needs articulation. It is common in some religious circles to speak about generational curses, as if the disobedient acts of one generation cause disastrous consequences for a subsequent generation. Hopefully, we can now see that such an idea is not a biblical one. This idea is more like magic spells. The prophets are straightforward when it comes to sin and its consequences. No man is guilty for another man’s sin. Of course there are consequences for actions, and these often affect others, but this is not a curse since it does not automatically separate a person from the purposes of God. That can only happen through individual choice. Is this a relief? Well, I’m not sure. It leaves the whole issue in my hands. Frankly, I would rather have someone else to blame.
Topical Index: curse, ʾārar, Jeremiah 17:5
[1] Hamilton, V. P. (1999). 168 אָרַר. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 75). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Fensham, F. C., “Common Trends in Curses of the Near Eastern Treaties and Kudurru-Inscriptions Compared with the Maledictions of Amos and Isaiah,” ZAW 75:173-174.
