ἀνάθεμα
anáthema · G331 · Greek · 7 occurrences
Meanings
-
curse
The content of what is expressed in a curse
ExamplesActs 23:14 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have put ourselves under an oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.
-
cursed, accursed
That which has been cursed
ExamplesRomans 9:3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen, my kinsmen according to the flesh,
1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha!
How it’s used In 2 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- λέγωto say 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἸησοῦςJesus 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 2 words
- κατάρα katára · G2671 · to curse, curse
- Both terms belong to the vocabulary of cursing. ἀνάθεμα denotes something devoted to destruction or placed under religious ban, connoting consecration to divine judgment, while κατάρα emphasizes the spoken curse or imprecation itself — a real distinguishing feature in scope and focus (a devoted state versus a spoken curse) within a shared, substantive overlap of curse-vocabulary.
- ἀρά ará · G685 · curse
- Both terms denote solemn declarations invoking divine judgment or cursing, though ἀνάθεμα (anathema) typically frames the curse as an institutional ban or state of excommunication, while ἀρά (ara) emphasizes the verbal act of imprecation itself. The terms overlap functionally in contexts of religious pronouncement but reflect different aspects of cursing — communal exclusion versus direct malediction.
In the other Testament 2 words
- חֵרֶם chêrem · H2764 · dragnet, something devoted to God, something devoted for destruction
- Hebrew חֵרֶם (ḥerem) denotes the consecration of something to complete destruction as devoted to God (often in holy war contexts), while Greek ἀνάθεμα extends from the concrete sense of something devoted/dedicated to the derivative sense of a religious ban or curse, with both terms sharing the core semantic field of religious dedication that results in separation or destruction.
- חָרַם châram · H2763 · to split into two parts
- The Hebrew חָרַם (châram, H2763) denotes the act of placing something under sacred ban or devoting it to destruction (the herem concept), while the Greek ἀνάθεμα (anáthema, G331) denotes the resulting state of being under such a ban or the thing/person so cursed — חָרַם (châram, H2763) is the verbal action of consecrating-to-destruction, ἀνάθεμα (anáthema, G331) is the nominal result of that consecration.
Semantic domains 2 entries
- Curse33.473
- In Romans 9:3, Paul writes, “I could wish that I myself were accursed (anáthema), separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen,” using the noun to name the state of being under a curse that he would take on himself.
- Cursed, accursed33.474
- In Galatians 1:8, Paul declares that anyone preaching a contrary gospel, “even if we, or an angel from heaven,” “is to be accursed (anáthema)!” using the word predicatively to describe a person as under a curse.
Word family 49 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (τος, τό (equivalent to τό ἀνατεθειμένον); 1. properly, a thing set up or laid by in…
1. properly, a thing set up or laid by in order to be kept; specifically a votive offering, which after being consecrated to a god was hung upon the walls or columns of his temple, or put in some other conspicuous place: 2 Macc. 2:13 (Plutarch, Pelop c. 25); Lk 21:5 in L T, for ἀναθήμασι R G Tr WH; for the two forms are sometimes confounded in the manuscripts; Moeris, ἀνάθημα ἀττικῶς, ἀνάθεμα ἑλληνικῶς. Cf. ἐπίθημα, ἐπίθεμα, etc., in Lob. ad Phryn., p. 249 (cf. 445; Paral. 417; see also Lipsius, Gram. Unters., p. 41).
2. ἀνάθεμα in the Sept. is generally the translation of the Heb. חֵרֶם, a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed, and, if an animal, to be slain (Lev 27:28, Lev 27:29); therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction, Josh 6:17; Josh 7:12, etc. (Winer's Grammar, 32); a thing abominable and detestable, an accursed thing, Deut 7:26. Hence, in the N. T. ἀνάθεμα denotes a. a curse: ἀναθέματι ἀναθεματίζειν, Acts 23:14 (Winers Grammar, 466 (484); Buttmann, 184 (159)).
b. a man accursed, devoted to the direst woes (equivalent to ἐπικατάρατος): ἀνάθεμα ἔστω, Gal 1:8; 1 Cor 16:22; ἀνάθεμα λέγειν τινα to execrate one, 1 Cor 12:3 (R G, but L T Tr WH have restored ἀνάθεμα Ἰησοῦς, namely, ἔστω); ἀνάθεμα εἶναι ἀπό τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Rom 9:3 (pregnantly equivalent to doomed and so separated from Christ). Cf. the full remarks on this word in Fritzsche on Romans, vol. ii., 247ff; Wieseler on Galatians, p. 39ff; (a translation of the latter by Prof. Riddle in Schaff's Lange on Romans, p. 302ff; see also Trench, § v.; Lightfoot on Galatians, the passage cited; Ellicott ibid.; Tholuck on Romans, the passage cited; BB. DD., under the words, Anathema, Excommunication).
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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