Musing – What does it mean to be “Cursed”?

Hebraic Musing – What does it mean to be “Cursed”?

How should we understand the LORD’s use of the word “Curse” in Gen. 12:1-3 when He says to Abram "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."  NIV

I always thought that to be cursed is to have evil put on you.  And coming from a Greek-think culture, the dictionary definition fits – “a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one”.  However, our Bible was written in the Hebrew-think culture and is a Hebrew book.  What was the LORD’s intention when He promises to "bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse"?  Could the Hebrew meaning of “Curse” mean to make insignificant or we might say, minimize or do without.  In the honor-shame culture of the East, it would mean to dishonor.  There is nothing in the meaning having to do with imposing evil or wanting to wish harm on the person; rather, it is the withholding of the good that comes with blessings.  Let’s see how that might help us understand other classic “curses” we find in the Hebrew Scripture.

When the LORD dealt with Cain He said “Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground,  …. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you."  Gen 4:11-12  Cain lost the benefit of blessed ground.

The clearest example of blessings and curses is found in chapter 28 of Deuteronomy.  Conditional blessings are promised “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands … All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:”  Thirteen verses of blessings are promised.  But verse 15 starts ominously.  “However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”  And the next 50 verses describe life without those blessings.  Note that the LORD said “all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.”  He did not need to put them upon the disobedient peoples; they happen naturally as a result of disobedience. 

Greek-think deals with contrasts – Yes or No; Good or Evil; Holy or Satanic; Religious or Secular; either Law or Grace; Either/Or…    Whereas Hebrew-think does not deal with contrasts, but rather with “is or ain’t”; Holy or Unholy; Have or Have Not; Good or not good;…   The Hebrew mind asks “What must I do?”, but the Greek mind asks “Why must I do it?”  The Hebrew mind thinks of the Beauty of holiness, while the Greek mind seeks the holiness of beauty.

 Points to ponder

Try reading Deuteronomy 28 with a Hebrew mind-set.

Is being deprived of a privilege a punishment enough without need for the rod?

Is disciplining with a “Time-out” Hebrew or Greek think?

Greek-think vs. Hebrew-think is a topic of its own, worthy of study!

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, …
         But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  Josh 24:15

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      June 5, 2018

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Note – Inspired by Johanna Shager Hocker’ blog “The Power of the Spoken Word, …” May 29, 2018