Reference: Anathema
American
That is, a curse, a ban, signifies properly something set apart, separated, devoted. It is understood principally to denote the absolute, irrevocable, and entire separation of a person from the communion of the faithful, or from the number of the living, or from the privileges of society; or the devoting of any man, animal, city or thing, to be extirpated, destroyed, consumed, and, as it were, annihilated, Le 27. Thus Jericho, Jos 6:17-21, and Achan were accursed, Jos 7:1-25.
Another kind of anathema, very peculiarly expressed, occurs
1Co 16:22: "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema, Maranatha." This last word is made up of two Syriac words, signifying, "The Lord cometh," that is, the Lord will surely come, and will execute this curse, by condemning those who love him not. At the same time, the opposite is also implied, that is, the Lord cometh also to reward those who love him. See EXCOMMUNICATION.
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And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are in it, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. read more. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated to the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD. So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. read more. And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labor thither; for they are but few. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, why hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? O that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of Jordan. O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turn their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites, and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will environ us, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do to thy great name? And the LORD said to Joshua, Arise; Why liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own goods. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Rise, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thy enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come according to their families: and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man. And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. So Joshua rose early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: And he brought his household man by man; and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to him; and tell me now what thou hast done, hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them, and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them from the midst of the tent, and brought them to Joshua, and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them to the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
Easton
anything laid up or suspended; hence anything laid up in a temple or set apart as sacred. In this sense the form of the word is anath(ee)ma, once in plural used in the Greek New Testament, in Lu 21:5, where it is rendered "gifts." In the LXX. the form anathema is generally used as the rendering of the Hebrew word herem, derived from a verb which means (1) to consecrate or devote; and (2) to exterminate. Any object so devoted to the Lord could not be redeemed (Nu 18:14; Le 27:28-29); and hence the idea of exterminating connected with the word. The Hebrew verb (haram) is frequently used of the extermination of idolatrous nations. It had a wide range of application. The anathema or herem was a person or thing irrevocably devoted to God (Le 27:21,28); and "none devoted shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death" (Le 27:29). The word therefore carried the idea of devoted to destruction (Nu 21:2-3; Jos 6:17); and hence generally it meant a thing accursed. In De 7:26 an idol is called a herem = anathema, a thing accursed.
In the New Testament this word always implies execration. In some cases an individual denounces an anathema on himself unless certain conditions are fulfilled (Ac 23:12,14,21). "To call Jesus accursed" [anathema] (1Co 12:3) is to pronounce him execrated or accursed. If any one preached another gospel, the apostle says, "let him be accursed" (Ga 1:8-9); i.e., let his conduct in so doing be accounted accursed.
In Ro 9:3, the expression "accursed" (anathema) from Christ, i.e., excluded from fellowship or alliance with Christ, has occasioned much difficulty. The apostle here does not speak of his wish as a possible thing. It is simply a vehement expression of feeling, showing how strong was his desire for the salvation of his people.
The anathema in 1Co 16:22 denotes simply that they who love not the Lord are rightly objects of loathing and execration to all holy beings; they are guilty of a crime that merits the severest condemnation; they are exposed to the just sentence of "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord."
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But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a field devoted: the possession of it shall be the priest's.
Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote to the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD.
Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote to the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD. None devoted, which shall be devoted by men, shall be redeemed: but shall surely be put to death.
None devoted, which shall be devoted by men, shall be redeemed: but shall surely be put to death.
And Israel vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thy house, lest thou shouldst be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.
And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are in it, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
And as some spoke of the temple, that it was adorned with goodly stones, and gifts, he said,
And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying, that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.
But do not thou yield to them: for there are of them who lie in wait for him more than forty men, who have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now they are ready, looking for a promise from thee.
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God, calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.
If any man loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran-atha.
But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so I say now again, If any man preacheth any other gospel to you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Fausets
Hebrew cheerem; "a thing or person devoted;" so, accursed to the Lord, and incapable of being redeemed, and, if a person, doomed to death (Le 27:28-29; 1Co 12:3; 16:22; Ga 1:9; Ro 9:3, compare Ex 32:32). "I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren," lit. "I was wishing," i.e., the wish was rising within me, so intense is my love for Israel, that I myself were sacrificed in soul as well as body for their sake, were such wish lawful, which it is not; the wish remained incomplete, checked by calmer and more sober thoughts, which vehement zeal for the moment forgot. It never passed beyond the region of deepfeeling, wherein he was transported momentarily out of all other considerations into the all absorbing one, "an ecstasy of charity" (Bacon). "ANATHEMA-MARANATHA" (i.e., "the Lord cometh") 1Co 16:22.
An Aramaic watchword of the first age, suitable for believers in all ages: If He come not to bless, He shall come to smite with a curse) alludes to Mal 4:5-6; "To those who fear in the New Testament 'love' the Lord's name, He comes as the Sun of Righteousness with healing on His wings;" but to those who fear and love Him not, lie will come smiting the earth with a "curse" (cheerem or anathema). Paul pronounces the anathema on those loving Him not, while as yet He is not come, that by fleeing to Him now they may escape the curse and gain the blessing. Paul is God's inspired mouthpiece proclaiming the doom to which those not loving Jesus are set apart, and his inspired prayer of anathema is but praying that (God's will be done. In the Old Testament forcible setting apart to His glory of what ought to have been, but was not willingly, consecrated to Him, is implied.
So in the case of Jericho the city was so devoted to destruction, and all in it, except Rahab; and the silver, gold, brass, and iron, were consecrated to Jehovah (Jos 6:17-26). Similarly Israel's vow (Nu 21:1-3): "if Thou wilt deliver this people into my hand, I will utterly destroy (Hebrew make a cheerem or anathema of) their cities." Therefore they called that place Hormah (Chormah), i.e., the place made a (cheerem) or anathema of; put under a ban; devoted to God for destruction as accursed). This gives the true view of the dooming of the Canaanites; the sinners themselves were to be made an awful example of God's punitive justice to which they were set apart; their possessions were properly the Lord's, but were given by Him to Israel as a gift henceforth to be used to His glory.
The degree of the work of destruction varied: men alone (De 20:18); men, women, and children, the cattle and spoil kept for the army (De 2:34-35); every living creature (De 20:16; 1Sa 15:3); virgins excepted (Nu 31:17). Had the Canaanites humbled themselves before God's judgment and submitted, they would have been spared; but they were given up to judicial hardening to their own ruin (Jos 11:19-20).
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Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin: and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin: and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote to the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD.
Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote to the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD. None devoted, which shall be devoted by men, shall be redeemed: but shall surely be put to death.
None devoted, which shall be devoted by men, shall be redeemed: but shall surely be put to death.
And when king Arad the Canaanite, who dwelt in the south, heard that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
And when king Arad the Canaanite, who dwelt in the south, heard that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. And Israel vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
And Israel vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones of every city, we left none to remain.
And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones of every city, we left none to remain. Only the cattle we took for a prey to ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.
Only the cattle we took for a prey to ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.
But of the cities of these people which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
But of the cities of these people which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
That they may not teach you to do after all their abominations which they have done to their gods; so would ye sin against the LORD your God.
That they may not teach you to do after all their abominations which they have done to their gods; so would ye sin against the LORD your God.
And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are in it, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are in it, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated to the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.
But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated to the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD. So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. But Joshua had said to the two men that spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye swore to her.
But Joshua had said to the two men that spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye swore to her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.
And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was in it: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was in it: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even to this day; because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even to this day; because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay its foundation in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay its foundation in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.
There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
If any man loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran-atha.
If any man loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran-atha.
As we said before, so I say now again, If any man preacheth any other gospel to you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so I say now again, If any man preacheth any other gospel to you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Hastings
Morish
This is a Greek word untranslated in 1Co 16:22; it occurs also in Ro 9:3; 1Co 12:3; Ga 1:8-9 and is uniformly translated 'accursed.' The solemn passage in 1 Cor. 16 is "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed, Maranatha (the Lord cometh)." In Galatians it is said that if any person or even an angel from heaven preached any other gospel than that which they had received, let him be accursed. Two solemn denunciations relating to the person of the Lord Jesus and the gospel of God.
The word ??????? was used for any votive offering in a heathen temple, which could not be redeemed; hence anything devoted. In the N.T. it is devoted to God's curse, destruction.
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For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
If any man loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran-atha.
But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so I say now again, If any man preacheth any other gospel to you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Smith
Anathema,
which literally means a thing suspended, is the equivalent of the Hebrew word signifying a thing or person voted. Any object so devoted to Jehovah was irredeemable. If an inanimate object, it was to be given to the priests,
if a living creature or even a man, it was to be slain.
The word anathema frequently occurs in St. Paul's writings, and is generally translated accused. An examination of the passages in which it occurs shows that it had acquired a more general sense as expressive either of strong feeling,
or of dislike and condemnation.
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Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote to the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD. None devoted, which shall be devoted by men, shall be redeemed: but shall surely be put to death.
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God, calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.
If any man loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran-atha.
As we said before, so I say now again, If any man preacheth any other gospel to you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Watsons
ANATHEMA, from ?????????, signifies something set apart, separated, or devoted, Mic 4:13, or the formula by which this is effected. To anathematize is generally understood to denote the cutting off or separating any one from the communion of the faithful, the number of the living, or the privileges of society; or the devoting of an animal, city, or other thing, to destruction. See ACCURSED.
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Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain to JEHOVAH, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.