SEV Biblia, Chapter 16:22
El que no amare al Seor Jess, el Cristo, sea anatema. Nuestro Seor ha venido.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 16:22
Verse 22. If any man love not the Lord Jesus] This is directed immediately against the Jews. From chap. xii. 3, we find that the Jews, who pretended to be under the Spirit and teaching of God, called Jesus anaqema, or accursed; i.e. a person who should be devoted to destruction: see the note there. In this place the apostle retorts the whole upon themselves, and says: If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let HIM be anaqema, accursed, and devoted to destruction. This is not said in the way of a wish or imprecation, but as a prediction of what would certainly come upon them if they did not repent, and of what did come on them because they did not repent; but continued to hate and execrate the Lord Jesus; and of what still lies upon them, because they continue to hate and execrate the Redeemer of the world. It is generally allowed that the apostle refers here to some of the modes of excommunication among the Jews, of which there were three, viz.:- 1. Niddui ywdn , which signifies a simple separation or exclusion of a man from the synagogue, and from his wife and family, for THIRTY days.
2. Cherem rj which was inflicted on him who had borne the niddui, and who had not, in the thirty days, made proper compensation, in order to be reconciled to the synagogue. This was inflicted with dire execrations, which he was informed must all come upon him if he did not repent; but the cherem always supposed place for repentance.
3. Shammatha atm : this was the direst of all, and cut off all hope of reconciliation and repentance; after which the man was neither reconcilable to the synagogue, nor acknowledged as belonging even to the Jewish nation. See these different forms in Buxtorf's Rabbinical and Talmudical Lexicon, under their respective words.
In the Lexicon just now quoted, Buxtorf gives a form of the cherem, which he says he copied from an ancient Hebrew MS. Of this awful piece I shall lay a translation before the reader.
"By the sentence of the Lord of lords, let P. the son of P. be anathematized in both houses of judgment; the superior and inferior. Let him be anathematized among the highest saints; let him be anathematized among the seraphim and ophanim; and finally, let him be anathematized by all the congregations of the great and the small! Let great and continued plagues rest upon him; with great and horrible diseases! Let his house be the habitation of dragons! and let his constellation be darkened in the clouds! Let him be for indignation, and wrath, and burning! Let his carcass be thrown to the wild beasts and serpents! Let his enemies and his adversaries triumph over him! Let his silver and gold be given to others! And let all his children be exposed at the doors of their enemies! And let posterity be astonished at his day! Let him be accursed by the mouth of Addiriron and Achtariel; by the mouth of Sandalphon and Hadraniel; by the mouth of Ansisiel and Patchiel; by the mouth of Seraphiel and Sagansael; by the mouth of Michael and Gabriel; by the mouth of Raphael and Mesharetiel! Let him be anathematized by the mouth of Zaafzavif, and by the mouth of Hafhavif, who is the great God; and by the mouth of the seventy names of the supreme King; and lastly, by the mouth of Tsortak the great chancellor.
"Let him he swallowed up like Korah and his companions! Let his soul depart with fear and terror! Let the chiding of the Lord slay him! Let him be confounded as Achitophel was in his counsel! Let the leprosy of Gehazi be his leprosy! and let there be no resurrection of his ruins! In the sepulchres of the children of Israel let him not be buried! Let his wife be given to another, and let others bow themselves upon her in his death! In this anathema, let P. the son of P. be; and let this be his inheritance! But upon me and upon all Israel may God extend his peace and blessing, Amen." To this is added the 18th, 19th, and 20th verses of Deuteronomy 29, which the reader may read at his leisure.
There are many things in this cherem which require a comment, but this is not the place.
Anathema, maran-atha.] "Let him be accursed; our Lord cometh." I cannot see the reason why these words were left untranslated. The former is Greek, and has been already explained; the latter is Syriac (Syriac) maran-atha, our Lord is coming: i.e. to execute the judgment denounced.
Does not the apostle refer to the last verse in the Bible? Lest I come and smite the land ( rj cherem) with a curse? And does he not intimate that the Lord was coming to smite the Jewish land with that curse? Which took place a very few years after, and continues on that gainsaying and rebellious people to the present day. What the apostle has said was prophetic, and indicative of what was about to happen to that people.
God was then coming to inflict punishment upon them: he came, and they were broken and dispersed.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 22. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ , etc.] The Vulgate Latin, and the Syriac and Ethiopic versions, read our Lord. The apostle here does not so much mean profane and unregenerate sinners, who are destitute of love to Christ, from ignorance of him; nor such who, from the same principle, might persecute him in his members, for such are to be even prayed for, and wished well unto; and oftentimes such are called by grace, and become true and sincere lovers of Christ; and the apostle himself was an instance of it: some think the Jews are intended, who were the mortal enemies of Christ; hated his name and person, his Gospel and interest, and maliciously persecuted the same; they called Jesus accursed, and therefore deserved an anathema to be pronounced on them; it was prophesied of them, that their name should be left for a curse; and it was threatened to them, in case of non-repentance, upon the coming of John the Baptist, in the spirit of Elijah, that the Lord would come and smite their land with a curse; which had its accomplishment in the destruction of Jerusalem; (see Isaiah 65:15 Malachi 4:6); others think the Gnostics are intended, one of whose tenets was, that it was lawful not to confess Christ in a time of persecution, in order to save themselves; and such might be truly said not to love our Lord Jesus, and on whom such an anathema as after mentioned might rightly be denounced: though it should seem rather, that some persons in this church, or that infested it, are referred to as the false teachers, and those who sided with them, who made factions and divisions in the church of Christ; allowed themselves in the commission of fornication and incest, and such like impurities; had no regard to the peace of the consciences of weak brethren, but laid stumblingblocks in their way; behaved in a very irreverent manner at the Lords table, and gave in to very pernicious errors and heresies, particularly denying the resurrection of the dead; and by their many bad principles and practices plainly showed that they did not in deed and in truth love our Lord Jesus: wherefore of every such an one the apostle says, let him be anathema . The word anathema, answers to the Hebrew rj , and is rendered by it here in the Syriac version; and signifies anything separated and devoted to holy uses; and so it is used by the Septuagint, in ( Leviticus 27:28), and in the New Testament, ( Luke 21:5), and which, if alienated to any other purposes, entailed a curse on persons; hence it is often translated accursed, as ( Romans 9:3) ( Corinthians 12:3 Galatians 1:8,9), and here it signifies, that such persons that love not the Lord Jesus, should be rejected by the saints, and separated from their communion; and so the Arabic version renders it, let him be separated; that is, from the church; let him be cast out of it, and cut off from it; as, so living and dying without love to Christ, he will be accursed by him at the last day, and will have that awful sentence denounced on him, go ye cursed. The apostle adds another word, about which there is some difficulty, maranatha ; some make this to be the same with anathema; the one being the Syriac, the other the Greek word, as Abba, Father; and think that maranatha is put for atmrjm , maharamatha; others think that it is the same with atanwrjm , maharonatha, which signifies from wrath to come; and being joined with the other word, intends an anathematizing or devoting persons to wrath to come: others take it to be the last, and worse sort of excommunication among the Jews; and observe, that the first sort was called ywdn , Niddui, which was a separation from company and conversation, to which reference may be had in ( Luke 6:22); the second sort was called rj Cherem, to which anathema answers, and was a separation, attended with curses and imprecations; and a third sort was called atm , Shammatha, and is thought to answer to maranatha, giving the etymology of it, as if it was, ata , the name, i.e. God cometh, as maranatha read as two words, signify our Lord cometh: but this is not the etymology the Jews give of Shammatha f369 ; they ask, what is Shammatha? says Rab, htym , there is death; and Samuel says, hyhy hmm , desolations shall be; but of the other etymology there is no mention made among them; nor is ever the word maranatha used by them for excommunication; the sense of which certainly is, our Lord cometh; and the Ethiopic version, joining it with the former word, renders the whole thus, let him be anathema in the coming of our Lord, which seems to be pretty much the sense of the apostle: it is best to consider this word, or rather these two words, maran atha, our Lord cometh, as added by the apostle, to put persons in mind of the coming of Christ; either at the destruction of Jerusalem, to take vengeance on the Jews, who did not love, but hated him, and maliciously persecuted him, and his; or of the second coming of Christ to judgment, when all the wicked of the earth shall be accursed by him, and all such that love him not will be bid to depart from him.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 19-24 - Christianity by no means destroys civility. Religion should promote courteous and obliging temper towards all. Those give a false idea of religion, and reproach it, who would take encouragement from it to be sour and morose. And Christian salutations are not mere empt compliments; but are real expressions of good-will to others, an commend them to the Divine grace and blessing. Every Christian famil should be as a Christian church. Wherever two or three are gathere together in the name of Christ, and he is among them, there is church. Here is a solemn warning. Many who have Christ's name much in their mouths, have no true love to him in their hearts. None love his in truth, who do not love his laws, and keep his commandments. Many ar Christians in name, who do not love Christ Jesus the Lord in sincerity Such are separated from the people of God, and the favour of God. Thos who love not the Lord Jesus Christ, must perish without remedy. Let u not rest in any religious profession where there is not the love of Christ, earnest desires for his salvation, gratitude for his mercies and obedience to his commandments. The grace of our Lord Jesus Chris has in it all that is good, for time and for eternity. To wish that ou friends may have this grace with them, is wishing them the utmost good And this we should wish all our friends and brethren in Christ. We can wish them nothing greater, and we should wish them nothing less. Tru Christianity makes us wish those whom we love, the blessings of bot worlds; this is meant in wishing the grace of Christ to be with them The apostle had dealt plainly with the Corinthians, and told them of their faults with just severity; but he parts in love, and with solemn profession of his love to them for Christ's sake. May our love be with all who are in Christ Jesus. Let us try whether all thing appear worthless to us, when compared with Christ and his righteousness. Do we allow ourselves in any known sin, or in the neglect of any known duty? By such inquiries, faithfully made, we ma judge of the state of our souls __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
ει 1487 COND τις 5100 X-NSM ου 3756 PRT-N φιλει 5368 5719 V-PAI-3S τον 3588 T-ASM κυριον 2962 N-ASM ιησουν 2424 N-ASM χριστον 5547 N-ASM ητω 2277 5749 V-PXM-3S αναθεμα 331 N-NSN μαραν 3134 ARAM αθα 3134 ARAM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
22. Maran-atha. Not to be joined with anathema as one phrase. Rev., properly, a period after anathema. Maranatha means the Lord cometh. 138 It was a reminder of the second coming. The reason for the use of the Aramaic phrase is unknown. It is found in "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," ch. x., at the conclusion of the post-communion prayer. Compare Apoc. xxii. 20.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
16:22 anaqema. The word seems a bit harsh to us, but the refusal to love Christ (ou filei) on the part of a nominal Christian deserves anaqema (see on 12:3 for this word). maran aqa. this Aramaic phrase means "Our Lord (maran) cometh (aqa)" or, used as a proleptic perfect, "has come." It seems to be a sort of watchword (cf. #1Th 4:14ff.; Jas 5:7f.; Php 4:5; Re 1:7; 3:11; 22:20), expressing the lively hope that the Lord will come. It was a curious blunder in the King James Version that connected maran aqa with anaqema.
