“Brother, I have a doubt about a topic; please clarify. I am working as a Bible teacher in a Bible school, and I am teaching, “World Religious Survey”; in that, while I was teaching about Hinduism, there were so many people who curse others and bless others in different ways. …One of the Bible students asked me, “If it was wrong, then, how could Jacob, Moses and some other personalities do it?” I am also a little confused by it. So, please help me to teach about this clearly.”
Note what our Lord Jesus Christ said about cursing a person. “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44 NKJV). The Greek word for “curse” in this verse appears elsewhere in the New Testament in Mark 11:21, Luke 6:28, Romans 12:14 and James 3:9. Luke 6:28 is a parallel account to Matthew 5:44, and Romans 12:14 corresponds to both of these citations, where it reads, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” James 3:9–10 also teaches the same lesson, where we find, “With it [the “tongue” v. 8] we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.” The words “curse” and “cursing” in these two verses are related forms of the same Greek word, sharing the same definition.
Incidentally, the NKJV, KJV and YLT translations are based on the Textus Receptus Greek manuscript and have the Greek word in Matthew 5:44 for “curse.” However, the NA27 or Nestle-Aland 27th Edition Greek manuscript—on which the ASV, ESV and others are based—does not use the Greek word for “curse” in Matthew 5:44. It reads there, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (ESV). Many regard this latter Greek manuscript as more accurate because it relies on manuscripts that are older than the manuscripts on which the Textus Receptus depends.
Nevertheless, the Bible addresses the subject matter of placing a curse on someone or something. Both Greek manuscripts and their respective English translations refer to the “curse” in James 3:9–10. The Greek definition for these occurrences of “curse” or “cursing” mean, ‘to make a pronouncement of doom on someone or on something.’ Mark 11:20–21 refers to a curse that Jesus placed on a fig tree which lacked fruit. “Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away’” (NKJV). A few verses earlier, Mark 11:14 records the curse that Jesus had placed upon that tree. “… ‘Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.’”
We see, then, that the “curse” or “cursing” in these contexts refers not to foul language but to the pronouncement of doom on someone or something. Jesus effectively placed a pronouncement of doom on the fig tree. Other Scriptures address foul or otherwise sinful language (Ephesians 4:29; 5:4; Colossians 3:8).
In the Old Testament, God established curses that would affect disobedient souls (Deuteronomy 27:11–26). We’ve already noted that another member of the Godhead placed a curse on a fig tree. In addition, we observed in James 3:9–10 that men are not permitted to place curses on others. James 4:11–12 forbids even Christians to pronounce a judgment of eternal doom on others—even if from the Scriptures we may see that if persons continue to pursue their ungodly ways they will be lost. It’s not our job to pronounce that kind of judgment on anyone.
The warnings by Moses of the impending plagues upon Egypt might be considered curses. However, he merely acted upon behalf of the Lord (Exodus 7–12). God made those curses or plagues through His prophet Moses. Jacob is an example of one who issued blessings upon his children (Genesis 49:28); generally, blessings were not and are not forbidden.
