Arar (Curse)
ארר
STRONGS H779: ârar, aw-rar'; a primitive root; to execrate:—× bitterly curse.
This verb is connected to the idea of “binding” and “limitation” or “restriction”. It first appeared in Genesis 3:14:
And YHVH God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.”
A "curse" is contrasted with blessing, (blessing is the Hebrew word bracha), and bracha Hebraically means to release a person from limitations and restrictions. Being released, then, allows one to maximize their God-given potential and destiny. The ‘curse’ (arar) are those things that cause a person to be bound with restrictions and limitations, which then disallows their potential and destiny. A bracha is spoken to one who Sh’mas God (listen and do); the arar is spoken to the one who rebels and willfully refuses to submit.1
Arar is about powerlessness, which in the ancient world is about being separated from purpose or community. It relates to relationships between:
- the subject and the environment
- the subject and other people
- the subject and God.
Jeremiah 17:5 says that a man who trusts in other men for power and protection is cursed. This doesn’t mean his life will have bad things in it. It means he has broken trust with God and separated himself from the purposes of God.
