Curse

How Nave’s arranged it

• Denounced
• Against the serpentGenesis 3:14Genesis 3:15
• Against Adam and EveGenesis 3:15–19
• Against the groundGenesis 3:17Genesis 3:18
• Against CainGenesis 4:11–16
• Against Canaan, Noah's sonGenesis 9:24–27
• Against MerozJudges 5:23
• Against Gehazi2 Kings 5:27
• Barak commands Balaam to curse IsraelNumbers 22:6Numbers 23:11
• See Benedictions
• CURSES OF THE MOSAIC LAWDeuteronomy 27:1–26Joshua 8:30–34
• See Blessings

The passages, in Bible order (12)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 12 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Genesis 3:14

   So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 3:142 voices

   “And the Lord God said unto the serpent,.... And to the devil in it; for what follows may be applied to both; literally to the serpent, and mystically to Satan; both are punished, and that very justly, the serpent in being the instrument Satan made use of, and is cursed for his sake, as the earth for man's; and the punishing the instrument as well as the principal, the more discovers God's detestation of the act for which they are punished, as appears in other instances, Exo 21:

   “The serpent is a type of the pleasures of the body. The woman stands for our senses and the man for our minds. Pleasure stirs the senses, which in turn have their effect on the mind. Pleasure, therefore, is the primary source of sin. For this reason, do not wonder at the fact that by God's judgment the serpent was first condemned, then the woman and finally the man. The order of condemnation, too, corresponded to that of the crimes committed, for pleasure usually captivates the senses, and the senses captivate the mind.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 3:14→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Genesis 3:15

   And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

   ›Commentary on Genesis 3:152 voices

   He has therefore, in His work of recapitulation, summed up all things, both waging war against our enemy, and crushing him who had at the beginning led us away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head, as thou canst perceive in Genesis that God said to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; He shall be on the watch for thy head, and thou on the watch for His heel."

   “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,....

   Everything gathered on Genesis 3:15→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Genesis 3:17

   And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 3:172 voices

   “The two sentences seem to have a certain similarity, yet in that similarity there is a great difference. There is a difference in the way a person eats of the earth, as the serpent is related to have done and the manner in which this is recorded of the man: 'In sadness shall you eat.' That very phrase 'in sadness' makes the precise difference. Note how important this difference is.

   “And unto Adam he said,....

   Everything gathered on Genesis 3:17→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Genesis 3:18

   Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 3:182 voices

   “There, too, is that distinction between the serpent who is said to eat the earth and Adam, to whom God said: ' You shall eat in sadness the herbs of the field.' [ Gen 3:18 ] We may note here a certain gradation. When we eat the earth, it seems that we are in a sort of warfare. when we eat the herbs, there is a certain advance. when finally, we eat bread, then our life of trial has reached it terminus.

   “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee,....

   Everything gathered on Genesis 3:18→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Genesis 4:11–16

   Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 4:11–162 voices

   “Now therefore you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. He refers to the earth as the Church, for no other earth but she opens her mouth to taste in the mystery the blood …

   “And now art thou cursed from the earth,....

   Everything gathered on Genesis 4:11–16→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Genesis 9:24–27

   When Noah awoke from his drunkenness and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

   ›Commentary on Genesis 9:24–272 voices

   “Now the three sons of Noah were Shem, Ham and Japheth, from whom again the race was multiplied: for these were the beginning of mankind after the flood. Now of these one fell under a curse, and the two (others) inherited a blessing by reason of their works.

   “But Noah, awakening from his wine, when he had learned what his younger son had done to him, said: Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers. Awakening from wine, Noah curses his offspring by whom he was mocked; however, …

   Everything gathered on Genesis 9:24–27→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Numbers 22:6

   So please come now and put a curse on this people, because they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land; for I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”

   ›Commentary on Numbers 22:62 voices

   “Come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people - Balaam, once a prophet of the true God, appears to have been one of the Moshelim, (see Num 21:27), who had added to his poetic gift that of sorcery or divination. It was supposed that prophets and sorcerers had a power to curse persons and places so as to confound all their designs, frustrate their counsels, enervate their strength, and fill them with fear, terror, and dismay. See Gen 9:25; Psa 109:6, Psa 109:20; Jos 6:26; Jer 17:5, Jer 17:

   “Come now, therefore, I pray thee,....

   Everything gathered on Numbers 22:6→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Numbers 23:11

   Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”

   ›Commentary on Numbers 23:111 voice

   “And Balak said unto Balaam, what hast thou done unto me?....

   Everything gathered on Numbers 23:11→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Deuteronomy 27:1–26

   Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all the commandments I am giving you today.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 27:1–261 voice

   “And Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying,.... The seventy elders, at the head of whom was Moses, which made the great sanhedrim, or council of the nation; Moses having recited all the laws of God to the people, these joined with him in an exhortation to them to observe and obey them: keep all the commandments which I command you this day; not in his own name, as being the supreme legislator, but in the name of the Lord, whom they had avouched to be their God and King, from whom he had received them.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 27:1–26→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Joshua 8:30–34

    At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,

    ›Commentary on Joshua 8:30–342 voices

    “Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal. As was commanded, Deu 27:

    “The account of this solemnity is very brief. An acquaintance with Deut. 27 is evidently presupposed; and the three several acts of which the solemnity consisted are only so far distinctly named as is necessary to show that the commands of Moses there given were fully carried out by Joshua. It is difficult to escape the conviction that these verses are here out of their proper and original place.

    Everything gathered on Joshua 8:30–34→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Judges 5:23

    ‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’

    ›Commentary on Judges 5:231 voice

    “(Judges 5:23) Cursed be the land of Meroz, said the Angel of the Lord. In Hebrew it is written: Curse Meroz, said the Angel of the Lord. The Angel of the Lord is understood by the Hebrews to be Michael, who commands Deborah to have the people of Israel curse Meroz, that is, the power of the Angel that presided over the Canaanites. For Meroz is interpreted as secret. Therefore, he is commanded to be cursed, that is, anathematized, because while the other angels fought for Israel, he not only did not fight, but also persevered in their adversity.

    Everything gathered on Judges 5:23→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. 2 Kings 5:27

    Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.

    ›Commentary on 2 Kings 5:272 voices

    “After Gehazi had come back from his meeting with Naaman, he entered Elisha's house, and [the prophet] asked him, according to custom, why he had moved away from him. "Where do you come from?" he said to Gehazi. He said this on purpose, so that …

    “Such cupidity must be tamed by munificence, which includes generosity and magnificence. It is the fountain which pours out water: for the fountain does not keep water within. According to the Philosopher, it is hard to be completely cured from cupidity, for cupidity is delightful …

    Everything gathered on 2 Kings 5:27→

    Verse page →Original language →