By Dave Wyant
The apostle Paul makes a shocking statement in Gal 1:8: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” Paul pronounces a curse on anyone who preaches a gospel different from his. For emphasis, he repeats this curse again in the very next verse. The Greek noun translated as “accursed” is ἀνάθεμα. Our English word anathema is simply a transliteration of this Greek word. English versions of the Bible are almost unanimous in translating this term as “cursed” or “accursed.” However, the NIV84 translates the phrase anathema estō as “let him be eternally condemned!” The NET Bible renders it, “let him be condemned to hell!” The NET Translator’s Note states: “The translation gives the outcome which is implied by this dreadful curse.”i A brief look at the Greek noun anathema will demonstrate that this is an unwarranted implication and an incorrect translation.
The term anathema occurs six times in the Greek NT. Luke uses it once in Acts 23:14. There, more than forty men placed themselves under an oath, anathema. They would either kill Paul or die trying. The context of this verse clearly indicates that physical death, not spiritual destiny, is in view. The other five occurrences of this term are in the Pauline Epistles: once in Romans and twice in both 1 Corinthians and Galatians. In Rom 9:3, Paul wishes that he, himself, could be anathema for the sake of his fellow Israelites. In 1 Cor 12:3, he asserts that no one speaking by the Spirit says that Jesus is anathema. In 1 Cor 16:22, he also pronounces an anathema on Corinthian believers who do not love the Lord. The other two occurrences are in Galatians, where Paul also includes himself under the conditions of the anathema (Gal 1:8, 9).ii What is the nature of this anathema?
Translating the Greek noun anathema as “eternally condemned” or “condemned to hell” presumes a spiritualized connotation with a soteriological implication that is unwarranted. It is crucial to observe that in 1 Corinthians, Paul is speaking to born-again believers who are eternally secure. He is also speaking about born-again believers who are eternally secure. Furthermore, Paul is himself an eternally secure believer when, in Rom 9:3, he wishes that he could be anathema on behalf of his fellow Israelites. From a theological perspective, Paul has neither the ability nor the authority to consign anyone to hell, especially not an angel from heaven, or even himself, for that matter. The NIV84’s and the NET Bible’s translation of anathema as “eternally condemned!” or “condemned to hell!” is gratuitous. It assumes a salvific sense of this term that is not justified. But if the Greek noun anathema should not be interpreted soteriologically, how should it be understood?
The Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the OT, provides the historical and theological context for the Jewish concept of the Greek term anathema. In this literature, it occurs twenty-two times to translate the Hebrew noun, ם רֶ ח hērem. This word describes people and things that were set apart by and to the LORD for temporal, physical destruction (Lev 27:28–29).iii The Israelites were commanded to separate themselves completely from anyone or anything that had been set apart by and to the LORD for destruction. It was banned. Association with anyone or anything that had been banned placed one under the same anathema, physical destruction (Deut 7:26).
The account of Achan provides a good example of the concept of anathema. The LORD revealed to Joshua that someone within the camp had taken items that were banned. As a result, the Israelites were also cursed (Josh 7:13). This anathema entailed the loss of the LORD’s presence with them and, consequentially, defeat in battle. Joshua explains this curse as the LORD’s temporal wrath on the Israelites and on Achan by means of physical death (Josh 22:20). Both verses use the Hebrew term hērem, which is translated by the Greek noun anathema in the LXX. The principle is that those who associate with that which has been anathematized become anathema themselves.
Paul picks up this meaning from the LXX in his use of the word anathema in Gal 1:8 and 9. Here, he uses his apostolic authority to anathematize the Judaizers and anyone who proclaims a false gospel. This proclamation involves two things. First, he assigns the Judaizers the designation of anathema. This is their status. They have been set apart by and to the Lord for temporal, physical destruction. Second, he implicitly commands the believers of the Galatian churches to separate themselves from the Judaizers. The Greek verb estō in the phrase “let him be anathema” is an imperative. The implication of this command is that the believers of the Galatian churches must separate themselves from the Judaizers because Paul had designated them as anathema. Failure to do so would result in their incurring the same status and fate. The Galatian believers had been influenced by their association with the Judaizers and their false gospel. If they continued to remain under the influence of the Judaizers, they risked the same fate: temporal, physical destruction.
The correct translation of the Greek noun anathema is “cursed” or “accursed.” The correct interpretation of Gal 1:8 and 9 is that the Judaizers had been set apart by and to the Lord for temporal, physical destruction.iv The Galatians must avoid them lest they incur the same consequence. The correct application for today is that believers must be careful with whom they associate, especially in their weekly assemblies at the Lord’s Table. Assembling with those who require good works to obtain justification or good fruit to prove justification places one at risk of temporal, physical destruction. Paul’s anathema of the Judaizers in Gal 1:8-9 is temporal and physical destruction, not spiritual and eternal damnation.
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David Wyant is the pastor of Bethel Church of the Brethren in Middletown, OH. He is also an adjunct professor at Southern Evangelical Seminary and a part-time hospital chaplain. He has a PhD in Biblical Studies from Baptist Bible Seminary and an MDiv from Moody Theological Seminary. He lives with his wife Lynn and their cat, Pixi, in Youngstown, OH.
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i Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), tn13.
ii In Galatians 3:13, Paul states that Jesus became “a curse for us.” However, here, as well as in Galatians 3:10, he uses a different Greek noun, κατάρα.
iii The first clause of the Hebrew text of Leviticus 27:28 could be translated, “Nevertheless, any devoted thing which a man devotes to the LORD” (author’s translation). This is because the Hebrew noun hērem, “devoted,” is a cognate of the Hebrew verb, ḥrm, “to devote.” There is also an interesting word play in the Greek translation of this clause, which reads, “Any ‘set apart thing,’ anathema, which a man ‘sets apart,’ anathē, to the Lord” (author’s translation). Again, this is because the Greek noun anathema is a cognate of the Greek verb anatithēmi, which is a compound verb from the root tithēmi. Interestingly, Paul uses this same compound verb in Gal 2:2, which states that Paul “set forth, anethemēn, his gospel to them” (author’s translation). Paul uses another compound verb with the root tithēmi in Gal 1:16 and 2:6, prosanatithēmi. In Gal 1:16, Paul asserts that after his conversion, he did not “consult with, prosanathemēn, anyone.” In Gal 2:6, Paul states that after he “set forth,” anethemēn, his gospel to the apostles, they “added,” prosanethento, nothing. Adding, prosanatithēmi, anything to the gospel of grace places one under a curse, anathema.
iv Many commentators understand the anathema in Gal 1:8-9 to refer to eternal condemnation. See, for example, Campbell, “Galatians” in TBKC (p. 591); George, Galatians, p. 99; and Meyer, Galatians, p. 26.