Blessings and Curses

The Power of Words:

In the very beginning of the entire Bible (Genesis chapter 1), YHWH spoke the world into existence. Very short story, right? Well, it’s not so short that it doesn’t have a moral and the moral is: words have POWER.

Throughout recorded history, there have been stories and mythologies which refer to the kind of ‘magic’ which involves spells, incantations, magic words and all that silliness.

The thing is though – when you follow these kinds of folklore back far enough, you eventually get to the original basis of the stories which is (usually) something a bit more ‘real.’

In this case, we’ve got a Bible full of mentions of blessings and curses – spoken words which cause good and bad things to happen to people, places, things and even times.

As you can see from the graph above, the words derived from ‘bless’ (bless, blesses, blessed, blessing) are found cover to cover in the Bible (over 500 times). While ‘curse words’ (curse, curses, cursed, cursing) aren’t used quite as frequently (under 300 times), they can still be found throughout.

Clearly, these words were an important and common feature of the beliefs of Israel throughout the Bible. That makes it strange that they AREN’T more prominent in the religions derived from and based on the Bible today. Most people now think a blessing is something you say before you eat and a curse is any word considered impolite to use in polite company. So, it’s reasonable to say that the meanings of these words is essentially lost to most of us. Well – let’s take them back!

Two Sides of the Same Coin

At the end of this study, you’ll find a couple of excerpts from the TDOT (Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament) which speak to the etymology and usage of the words blessing and curse, but for now, I’m going to simplify (a lot) just to get the basic concepts across before digging into a few different examples.

Essentially, blessings and curses are opposites of one another. A blessing is when GOOD things are said of, wished for, prognosticated about, happen to or provided for a person, place, thing or time. That being the case, a curse is when BAD things are said of, wished for, prognosticated about, happen to or provided for a person, place, thing or time.

So while a bit simplistic, these definitions are still pretty broad. And aơer going through a few scriptural cases of both, I think these concepts along with their manifestations and applications will start to make a ton more sense to you. With that in mind, let’s start looking at the most important blessing AND curse in the entire Bible – a single pair that is discussed in both the New and Old Testaments and happens to be the source of quite a bit of misunderstanding within Christianity.

The Blessing and the Curse of the Law

When YHWH gave Israel the Law (of Moses) written on the stone tablets, it came with a blessing and a curse. This was a feature of many covenants (even Biblical) in that time that there would be a curse for violating a covenant (treaty / contract) and potentially even a blessing rewarded for adherence. As the Law was a feature of the covenant between YHWH and His people, the appearance of a blessing and a curse should come as no surprise.

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 “See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of YHWH your god, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of YHWH your god, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.”

So, for those of us in a pact with YHWH, there are some RULES. The new covenant ( just like the old covenant) comes with terms and conditions. That’s the very nature of what a contract is, right? Well, here are the terms that come with the Law (aka the commandments). It’s the same law that was written on stone in the old covenant that is now written on our hearts in the new.

You’ll have to forgive the unusually large passage I’m about to give you, but this is the most comprehensive and widely referenced blessing/curse in the entire Bible. It’s also a big part of our covenant with YHWH. It’s an entire chapter of Deuteronomy, but it’s one WELL WORTH reading before continuing in this study any further.

The Full Text of the Blessing and the Curse of the Law:

The Blessing

Deuteronomy 28 “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey YHWH your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, that YHWH your God will put you high above all the nations of the earth.

“And all these blessings will come to you and reach you if you obey YHWH your God:

“Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the country.

“Blessed will be the children of your womb, the produce of your ground, and the offspring of your animals: the newborn of your herd and the young of your flock.

“Blessed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.

“Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.

“YHWH will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated by you; they will go out against you one way and will flee at your presence seven ways. “YHWH will command the blessing for you in your barns and in everything that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land that YHWH your God is giving you. “YHWH will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of YHWH your God and walk in His ways. “So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of YHWH, and they will be afraid of you. “And YHWH will give you more than enough prosperity, in the children of your womb, in the offspring of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land which YHWH swore to your fathers to give you. “YHWH will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless every work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.

“And YHWH will make you the head and not the tail, and you will only be above, and not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of YHWH your God which I am commanding you today, to follow them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or the left, to pursue other gods to serve them.

The Curse

“But it shall come about, if you do not obey YHWH your God, to be careful to follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

“Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the country.

“Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.

“Cursed will be the children of your womb, the produce of your ground, the newborn of your herd, and the offspring of your flock.

“Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out.

“YHWH will send against you curses, panic, and rebuke, in everything you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have abandoned Me.

“YHWH will make the plague cling to you until He has eliminated you from the land where you are entering to take possession of it. “YHWH will strike you with consumption, inflammation, fever, feverish heat, and with the sword, with blight, and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish. “The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. “YHWH will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

“YHWH will cause you to be defeated by your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways from their presence, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. “Your dead bodies will serve as food for all birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

“YHWH will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, the festering rash, and with scabies, from which you cannot be healed. “YHWH will strike you with insanity, blindness, and with confusion of mind; and you will be groping about at noon, just as a person who is blind gropes in the darkness, and you will not be successful in your ways; but you will only be oppressed and robbed all the time, with no one to save you. “You will betroth a woman, but another man will violate her; you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not make use of its fruit. “Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey will be snatched away from you, and will not be restored to you; your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. “Your sons and your daughter will be given to another people, while your eyes look on and long for them constantly; but there will be nothing you can do. “A people whom you do not know will eat the produce of your ground and every product of your labor, and you will never be anything but oppressed and mistreated continually. “You will also be driven insane by the sight of what you see. “YHWH will strike you on the knees and thighs with severe boils from which you cannot be healed, and strike you from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. “YHWH will bring you and your king, whom you appoint over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, made of wood and stone. “And you will become an object of horror, a song of mockery, and an object of taunting among all the peoples where YHWH drives you.

“You will bring out a great amount of seed to the field, but you will gather in little, because the locust will devour it. “You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor bring in the harvest because the worm will eat it. “You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will drop off prematurely. “You will father sons and daughters but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity. “The cricket will take possession of all your trees and the produce of your ground. “The stranger who is among you will rise above you higher and higher, and you will go down lower and lower. “He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head, and you will be the tail.

“So all these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey YHWH your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. “And they will become a sign and a wonder against you and your descendants forever.

“Since you did not serve YHWH your God with joy and a cheerful heart, in gratitude for the abundance of all things; you will serve your enemies whom YHWH will send against you, in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and devoid of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

“YHWH will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down; a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation with a defiant attitude, who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. “Furthermore, it will eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed; a nation that will leave you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the newborn of your cattle or the young of your flock, until they have eliminated you. “And it will besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it will besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which YHWH your God has given you. “Then you will eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom YHWH your God has given you, during the siege and the hardship by which your enemy will oppress you.

“The man who is refined and very delicate among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife he cherishes, and toward the rest of his children who are left, so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the hardship by which your enemy will oppress you in all your towns. “The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and tenderness, will be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, and toward her afterbirth that comes from between her legs, and toward her children to whom she gives birth, because she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the hardship with which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.

“If you are not careful to follow all the words of this Law that are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, YHWH your God, then YHWH will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. “And He will bring back on you every disease of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. “Also every sickness and every plague, which are not written in the book of this Law, YHWH will bring on you until you are destroyed. “Then you will be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey YHWH your God. “And it will come about that, just as YHWH rejoiced over you to be good to you, and make you numerous, so will YHWH rejoice over you to wipe you out and destroy you; and you will be torn away from the land which you are entering to possess. “Furthermore, YHWH will scatter you among all the peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which you and your fathers have not known. “Among those nations you will find no peace, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there YHWH will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. “So your lives will be hanging in doubt before you; and you will be terrified night and day, and have no assurance of your life. “In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And at evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the terror of your heart which you fear, and the sight of your eyes which you will see. “And YHWH will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I said to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”

So it turns out that once we actually enter into a covenant with YHWH, there are some very material consequences to our actions that don’t apply to the rest of the people in the world. If we obey the commandments, some specific and really GREAT things come our way. But on the flip side, when we ignore and break his laws, well – nobody probably wants to be standing real close to us when we do!

The Magic of Blessings and Curses

So are blessings and curses really magic? Well, no, but they may seem that way to onlookers. After all, “magic” is the word we use for anything we perceive to be supernatural and inexplicable. In this case, what’s happening is neither. Our god is the source of the power behind blessings and curses, and He is not “supernatural;” His nature is just beyond the explanatory capacity of our science. And they’re easily explained as the nature of how and why they ‘work’ are written in the Bible.

When a prophet blesses or curses, it has a lot of kick! Consider the account of what happened when Elisha cursed some boys who were ridiculing him for having the same FANTASTIC hairdo that I have.

2 Kings 2:23-24 Now he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the road, some young boys came out from the city and ridiculed him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of YHWH. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two of the boys.

Well that certainly didn’t take long! And Messiah was also a prophet, and we saw His use of blessings and curses both to dramatic effect. There was for example that story of the fig tree that had no figs when he was hungry:

Mark 11:12-14, 20-23 On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

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As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. And being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree that You cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered and *said to them, “Have faith in YHWH. “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him.

And let’s not forget about him blessing a small lunch and turning it into a buffet!

Matthew 14:17-21 They said to Him, “We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Clearly prophets have some real authority behind their blessings and curses, but what about the rest of us? Well, it turns out that ours aren’t exactly toothless either. While there’s no specific promise that says every blessing or curse we utter will generate immediate results, the scriptures do attest to them having at least SOME significance.

We are commanded to bless YHWH. We are forbidden from cursing him or one another (within covenant). We can’t curse rulers of our people, the deaf or our parents either.

Deuteronomy 8:10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless YHWH your God for the good land which He has given you.

Exodus 22:28 You shall not curse YHWH, nor curse a ruler of your people.

Leviticus 19:14 You shall not curse a person who is deaf, nor put a stumbling block before a person who is blind, but you shall revere your god; I am YHWH.

Leviticus 20:9 If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall certainly be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and has brought his own death upon himself.

The point here is that these commandments wouldn’t exist if our blessings and curses were irrelevant. Above and beyond this, we (faithful) are protected against curses! Ever hear that old playground limerick “I’m rubber, you’re glue: whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you?” Well, SURPRISE – IT’S ACTUALLY BIBLICAL!!!!!

Genesis 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

How cool is that? If somebody blesses me, that person will BE blessed. But if somebody curses me, WHOOPSIEDAISIES! But back to the original point, blessings and curses have power in YHWH and should therefore be used APPROPRIATELY.

A Focus on Fruitfulness

One theme you’ll see in the Bible is that many blessings focus on fruitfulness. Your children will be nations, these animals will multiply and fill the Earth, these fishes and breads will be enough to feed thousands.

Genesis 1:22 YHWH blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

Genesis 24:35 “YHWH has greatly blessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and slave women, and camels and donkeys.

Genesis 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, become thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them.”

Now, here’s a bit of an asymmetry between blessings and curses. Whereas most blessings pertain to fruitfulness, most curses seem to be unspecific in nature. So it’s “Be fruitful and multiply a lot” on the blessing side and a much more sinister sounding generalization like “Be cursed” on the other.

Jeremiah 17:5 This is what YHWH says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from YHWH.”

Galatians 3:13 Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us, for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.”

Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold firm your integrity? Curse YHWH and die!”

The “Be-attitudes” (Beatitudes) vs the “Don’t-Be Attitudes” (Curses)

In Matthew chapter 5, Messiah offered some encouragement in the form of a series of well-known and oơ quoted blessings.

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see YHWH.

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of YHWH.

Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

What people might not realize is that he was essentially putting a positive spin on another passage of scripture that involves a series of curses. So – another cool symmetry between the two.

Deuteronomy 27:15 ‘Cursed is the person who makes a carved image or cast metal image, an abomination to YHWH, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall reply and say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:16 ‘Cursed is one who treats his father or mother contemptuously.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:17 ‘Cursed is one who displaces his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:18 ‘Cursed is one who misleads a person who is blind on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:19 ‘Cursed is one who distorts the justice due a stranger, an orphan, or a widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:20 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s garment.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:21 ‘Cursed is one who has sexual intercourse with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:22 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:23 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:24 ‘Cursed is he who attacks his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:25 ‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to attack an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:26 ‘Cursed is anyone who does not fulfill the words of this Law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

And, just like the blessing and the curse of the Law, the curses outweigh the blessings.

Bummer, right? I guess maybe we’re more motivated by the stick than the carrot!

Conclusion

That’s quite a bit about blessings, and that’s not even everything. There are prophetic blessings such as the blessing of Ephraim, the blessing of Mt. Gerizim, the Aaronic blessing and so on. They’re great topics for further research!

For now, take this away: your words have power. Be careful to whom you wish success or failure. Doing either can blow up in your own face!

2 John 10-11 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not bid him godspeed; for the one who gives him a blessing participates in his evil deeds.

Supplemental Word Study Material from the TDOT:

Blessing

Whereas several Hebrew roots are equivalent in meaning to Eng. “curse” (→ אלה ʾālāh, → ʾārar, za am, qabhabh ꜥ or [Vol. 2, p. 303] naqabh, and קללqālal),33 we find what we call “blessing” only in the root brk, and yet semantically “blessing” does not exhaust the meaning of brk, which includes the concepts of greeting, congratulating, thanking, and praising. Disregarding the meanings “knee” and “pool,” perhaps we may outline the theological connections in which brk appears as follows:

1. Just as the curse was intended to destroy a man’s solidarity with others when he grossly transgressed the basic ethical norms of his clan, religious community, or people, or to prevent his resisting powerful enemies, so the blessing is intended to strengthen solidarity with individuals and groups with whom he has or seeks particularly close social, racial, and religious relationships, to whom he owes special thanks, or whose works for his own community or for friends he appreciates. This solidarity was demonstrated by expressing congratulations, by uttering stereotyped formulas of blessing and appreciation (among which the barukh-formula was the most common), and by commending someone to God by extolling him and praying that God might bless him. The greeting is also a demonstration of solidarity, and therefore uses brk.

2. Like the curse, the blessing is rooted in magical thought, in the concept of the efficacious power of a solemn word uttered in stereotyped formulas. But there are only a few traces of this in the OT, above all in the pre-Yahwistic words of blessing spoken by a tribal father or a tribal mother (Gen. 24:60; 49:8–12). By the time the Yahwist incorporated these words into his work in light of his theological view of history, the blessing (like the curse) had lost its magical connotation. In the OT the blessing is almost always attributed to God or closely connected with him. The godly man knew that the only kind of benedictory wishes he could utter were those which God alone could bring to reality. Since a blessing can be brought to reality by God alone, and since it denotes an attachment with or a strengthening of solidarity, it is necessary that the person uttering the blessing be in fellowship with God, seek it, or be worthy of it. Therefore, the blessing (like the curse) is revocable, and can be changed into a curse.

Gen. 27:34–40 is not incompatible with this statement. In this text, one must keep in mind that the Yahwist, merely on the basis of his own contemporary historical situation in which “Jacob” actually prevailed over “Esau,” took over the tradition of a blessing of Isaac and molded it into a narrative. Thus, it would have been wholly impossible for him to have even considered that the surreptitious blessing could be revoked. The logical flow of the narrative also prevented any possibility of a revocation. It dealt with the blessing of the firstborn, to whom his brothers were subordinate. This kind of blessing is indivisible. Moreover, it was uttered “before Yahweh,” i.e., with God as witness, and therefore has sacral sanction. A revocation of this blessing would have been possible only if Jacob had been cursed. It would not have been possible for the father, Isaac, to abandon all solidarity with Jacob, which would have resulted in a curse on [Vol. 2, p. 304] him. Consequently, the surreptitious blessing had to remain in force, in keeping with the axiom “Quod dixi, dixi” (What I have spoken, I have spoken). Thus the blessing of Isaac was regarded as indivisible and irrevocable, not because of the magical ideas of the Yahwist or his source, but because of the special situation being described and the purpose that the Yahwist had in mind in this narrative.

The close connection between word and power comes from the ancient mooring of the idea of “blessing” in magical thought. When people are object of the verb, brk almost always denotes the uttering of words and formulas which (when the proper stipulations are given and when the words are expressed in a legitimate manner) release a power that brings happiness, prosperity, success, respect, fertility, etc., to the person being blessed, and even beyond his family restores all the blessings that establish friendly relations with the one being blessed. Therefore, in the noun and verb forms of brk, benedictory word and auspicious power are inseparably connected, and the barukh of the one praised with words is the same as the barukh which, as proof of the effect of those words (which indicated the use of the barukh-formula), is brought to reality by beneficial powers.

Curse

In Israel. From this background, we get an insight into the variety of ideas concerning the curse reflected in the OT. We detect a Sitz im Leben in the private sphere in texts like Jgs. 17:1–3; Jer. 17:12–18; 18:18–23; Ps. 58; 59:13f. (12f.); 69:21–29(20–28); and 109.

Here a woman endangered by a thief, one who is unjustly persecuted, and a person threatened by a malicious sorcerer, see no other way to protect themselves than to pronounce a curse, but all of these appear in the form of prayers that Yahweh would intervene. The Israelite law also prohibits the use of malicious sorcery upon penalty of death (Ex. 22:17[18]). As the study of ʾalah and of the ʾarur-formula has shown, the curse found its way into Israelite law very early as a part of the oath, and as a guarantee of treaty agreements, authoritative ordinances and statutes, and public and sacral institutions. Moreover, Jer. 34:18 shows that the curse also could be replaced by or accompanied by symbolic acts, pointing to the death of violators of the treaty. When Israel adopted the idea of a treaty or of a unilateral legal union of God with his people, which is without analogy elsewhere in the ancient Near East, she went so far as to transfer the form of the symbolically expressed conditional oath-curse to Yahweh (Gen. 15:17f.; so also, in the sprinkling of the blood not only on the people but also on the altar, in Ex. 24:6, the altar is probably intended as a representation of Yahweh). In the cult tradition found in D and H, the whole ethico-religious system, which now was considered to be the Yahweh covenant, was also secured by long ratifications of curses and blessings (Dt. 27f.; Lev. 26), analogous to the ancient Near Eastern treaty texts. It was probably under the influence of this cult tradition that the people also adopted many forms of the curse saying in their proclamation of calamity.

Even though rituals like that found in Nu. 5:11–30 strongly suggest magical practices, the curse has a stronger religious emphasis in the OT than it does in the ancient Near Eastern literature. This is the case because in the OT the curse is a means of seeing to it that the will of God, divine judgment, and divine acts of vengeance proclaimed in the judicial system, in ethics, and in religion are executed. Viewed in this light, the so-called Imprecatory Psalms and other [Vol. 1, p. 418] imprecatory texts, which seem strange to the modern reader, are expressions of faith in the just rule of Yahweh in situations in which the godly person or the people sees no other source of help or possible means of securing just treatment. If a person knows that an unwarranted curse will recoil on its author (Ps. 10:7–15; 109:16–19), that God will turn such a curse into a blessing for the person who is cursed unjustly (2 S. 16:12; Ps. 109:28; cf. the Oracles of Balaam in Nu. 22–24), that “like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight” (Prov. 26:2), then the curse has lost its dread as a terrifying and effective decree.