Biblical Curses

Throughout the Jewish, Christian and Muslim Bibles a few foreboding curses are mentioned in the biblical scriptures. According to Dictionary.com, the definition of curse is as followed:

[Noun]

> a formula/charm intended to cause misfortune to another  

> the act of reciting such a formula  

> an ecclesiastical censure 

Biblical references stand out in such a definition. The Creator first concocted and imposed the curse, explained His reasons for casting the curse and then ended with a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.

Curse of the Serpent and Mankind

"And the Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, more than every beast of the field; on your belly shall you go and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel." ~ Genesis 3:15

Sometimes called the divine curse, this denunciation was aimed at Satan for enticing Eve to eat from the forbidden tree that was off limits to her and Adam. She in turn, encouraged Adam to partake of fruit, which resulted in a permanent curse upon both Satan and mankind. In rabbinical Judaism, the contrasting groups of "seed of the woman" and "seed of the serpent" are generally taken as plural, and the promise "he will bruise your head" applied to Adam/mankind bruising the serpent's head. There is a Jewish tradition where a messiah is said to be a remedy to the bruising of the heel of the "seed of the woman." In turn, a tradition found in some old eastern Christian sources (including the Kitab al-Magall and the Cave of Treasures) holds that the serpent's head was crushed at Golgotha, described as a skull-shaped hill at the centre of the Earth, where Shem and Melchizedek had placed the body of Adam. Catholics often understand the woman of Genesis 3:15 to refer primarily to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The promised seed therefore must refer primarily to the Messiah. Martin Luther, in his Commentary on Genesis (Luther's Works, vol. 1, pp. 192–193, American Edition), identifies the "seed of the woman" as the coming Messiah (Jesus) and not Mary. In a derived sense, Luther in his Lectures on Romans identifies the "seed of the woman" with the word of God in the church. As for mankind the main thing understood about their curse was the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, where life was easy, to a hard and treacherous lifetime of stress and labor, followed by a guaranteed death (Gen. 3:17). The Creator went a little further with His punishment towards the woman and imposed that childbirth would come with great pain (Gen. 3:16). In both instances, the consequences of this particular curse seems to have remained in effect since practically the beginning of mankind.

Curse of Cain:

"And He said [to Cain], “What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be on the earth.”

This curse was the result of Cain murdering his brother, Abel, and lying about the murder to the Creator. When Cain spilled his brother's blood, the earth became cursed as soon as the blood hit the ground. This story originates many years after the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. According to biblical narrative of Genesis 4:11-16, a "mark was placed upon Cain". Some believe this was a physical mark, while other denominations proclaim the "mark" was a sign. The Hebrew Bible states if someone did harm to Cain, the damage would come back sevenfold on them. Many scholars of religion believe Genesis 4:12 gives a two-part sentencing for Cain's curse: 1) The land became cursed as soon as Abel's blood hit the ground causing the earth not to yield any kind of produce for Cain. Which many portend is the reason why Cain went on to build grand cities. 2) The "mark" was a distinct implication of Cain being cursed as a fugitive and wanderer who went on to live a nomadic lifestyle which brought about many physical afflictions. Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher that lived between c/20 BC - c/50 AD, interpreted the curse [from the Greek Septuagint] as an allegory for Cain's fear of being "soulless". Likewise, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Targums translate the verse to mean that Cain feared being "an exile and an unstable man". Remarkably, the curse of Cain is not mentioned again after the Great Flood of Noah.

Curse of Ham:

"And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." (Genesis 9:24-27)

The curse of Ham, which was actually placed upon his youngest son, Canaan, is recorded in the Book of Genesis and was imposed by the patriarch Noah. The story of this curse, which begins with Noah's "drunken nakedness" and his son (Ham) "seeing his father's nakedness", has drawn many narratives over the last 2,000 years. Some scholars believe the story's scenario revolves around the subjection of the Canaanite people to the Israelites, while other theologians interpret it as an explanation for "black skin". Some Catholics, Muslims and Jews agree with the "black skin" theory, as well as a justification for slavery. Other denominations of the Christians, Muslims and Jews disagree with the "black skin" theory based on the biblical context of Ham himself not being cursed and no mention of skin color in the scriptures. For many years after the formation of the Latter Day Saint movement, the Mormons used the curse of Ham to prevent the ordination of black men to its priesthood. The Book of Jubilees also recounts the episode between Ham and Noah [and Noah's resulting curse against Canaan] in similar terms. Additionally, Jubilees explains further that Noah had allocated Canaan a land west of the Nile along with his three brothers, but that he violated this agreement and instead chose to squat in the land which Shem inherited (and later Abraham), and so rightly deserved the curse of slavery. Regardless of all the scenarios that surround the story of this curse, it remains a mystery why the curse was placed upon Ham's son (Canaan) instead of Ham himself, who was the actual perpetrator of the sin that was committed.

It is interesting to point out the three curses mentioned in the Holy Books occurred at different times throughout early ancient history - two were imposed before the Great Flood and the last one was declared by Noah after the Great Flood. While the Curse of Cain seemed to end when God's wrath brought forth the waters of the deep and flooded the world, the Curse of the Serpent and Mankind continues into our modern 21st century. And, the Curse of Canaan most likely will continue to be a debated subject among the modern scholars and theologians, the obscure story remaining a shrouded mystery.