This word occurs once in the New Testament as far as as the AV is concerned. The Greek word is not translated. In the Greek it occurs another four times; each time it is translated by the word ‘accursed’ or something similar, such as ‘banned’ or ‘outcast’. The word has become familiarised in everyday English to signify something beneath contempt, despicable. In the days when Paul was writing his letters and amongst Jews and Christians the word had overtones of a supernatural kind.
We find ourselves obliged to consider Margaret’s question in Shakespeare’s ‘Richard the Third’. (His remains, you remember, were recently discovered under a car-park in Leicester.) Margaret asked: ’Can curses pierce the clouds and enter heaven?’ We shudder that such an issue should be raised at all. Surely malicious requests are out of court. We may utter an imprecation on the spur of the moment but we think it of no consequence. We certainly don’t want to bring God into it.
But curses just won’t go away. We have trolls. Romantic literature is fond of curses, fatal flaws in dynasties being a particular interest. The Hapsburgs are a notable example in European history. The Baskerville family is an equally notable example in fiction. And of course Exodus 20.5 offers a sanction for the belief. The mark put upon Cain (Genesis 4.15) qualifies the general rule. Paul takes up the subject in Galatians 3.10-14.
To return to the word in the New Testament, Paul makes use of it in 1 Corinthians 16.22. Those rejecting the Christian message are to be considered religious outlaws. This has little resonance today but we have to remember the sharp boundaries in a pagan or polytheistic societies where Christianity loomed as a threat to the existing order of things.
In Numbers 22-24 there is the curious story of a talking donkey reminding Balaam of his duty to refuse a curse. The experience elicits songs from Balaam and a protracted duel between himself and Balak, who insists the he curses Balak’s enemies. Again, we are reminded that this incident is set in days when differing interpretations of fate and destiny preoccupied minds. We are driven to think about the prophetic tradition, true and false. This may seem of distant interest to 21st century people but the validity of prophecy is very much at the heart of Christian belief.
ON THE RAILS
Local historians ferret out details of parish churches, memorable characters and quaint customs. Stephen Priestley and Neil Watson have put together 110 pages to celebrate ‘Boston’s Railway Heritage’. This lavishly illustrated account of steam, diesel and horse-power comes from former pupils of Boston Grammar School, Lincolnshire nowadays known as the school dating from Philip and Mary that Jonathan Van Tam attended. Enquiries can be routed via this website.
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