Get Affordable VMs - excellent virtual server hosting


browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
anathema

more about anathema

anathema


  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Anathema  \A*nath"e*ma\,  n.;  pl  {Anathemas}.  [L.  anath?ma,  fr 
  Gr  ?  anything  devoted,  esp.  to  evil,  a  curse;  also  L. 
  anath?ma,  fr  Gr  ?  a  votive  offering;  all  fr  ?  to  set  up  as 
  a  votive  gift,  dedicate;  ?  up  +  ?  to  set  See  {Thesis}.] 
  1.  A  ban  or  curse  pronounced  with  religious  solemnity  by 
  ecclesiastical  authority,  and  accompanied  by 
  excommunication.  Hence:  Denunciation  of  anything  as 
  accursed. 
 
  [They]  denounce  anathemas  against  unbelievers. 
  --Priestley. 
 
  2.  An  imprecation;  a  curse;  a  malediction. 
 
  Finally  she  fled  to  London  followed  by  the  anathemas 
  of  both  [families].  --Thackeray. 
 
  3.  Any  person  or  thing  anathematized,  or  cursed  by 
  ecclesiastical  authority. 
 
  The  Jewish  nation  were  an  anathema  destined  to 
  destruction.  St  Paul  .  .  .  says  he  could  wish,  to 
  save  them  from  it  to  become  an  anathema,  and  be 
  destroyed  himself.  --Locke. 
 
  {Anathema  Maranatha}(see  --1  Cor.  xvi.  22),  an  expression 
  commonly  considered  as  a  highly  intensified  form  of 
  anathema.  Maran  atha  is  now  considered  as  a  separate 
  sentence,  meaning,  ``Our  Lord  cometh.'' 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  anathema 
  n  1:  a  detested  person;  "he  is  an  anathema  to  me"  [syn:  {bete 
  noire}] 
  2:  a  formal  ecclesiastical  curse  accompanied  by  excommunication 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Anathema 
  anything  laid  up  or  suspended;  hence  anything  laid  up  in  a 
  temple  or  set  apart  as  sacred.  In  this  sense  the  form  of  the 
  word  is  _anath(ee)ma_,  once  in  plural  used  in  the  Greek  New 
  Testament,  in  Luke  21:5,  where  it  is  rendered  "gifts."  In  the 
  LXX.  the  form  _anathema_  is  generally  used  as  the  rendering  of 
  the  Hebrew  word  _herem_,  derived  from  a  verb  which  means  (1)  to 
  consecrate  or  devote;  and  (2)  to  exterminate.  Any  object  so 
  devoted  to  the  Lord  could  not  be  redeemed  (Num.  18:14;  Lev. 
  27:28,  29);  and  hence  the  idea  of  exterminating  connected  with 
  the  word  The  Hebrew  verb  (haram)  is  frequently  used  of  the 
  extermination  of  idolatrous  nations.  It  had  a  wide  range  of 
  application.  The  _anathema_  or  _herem_  was  a  person  or  thing 
  irrevocably  devoted  to  God  (Lev.  27:21,  28);  and  "none  devoted 
  shall  be  ransomed.  He  shall  surely  be  put  to  death"  (27:29).  The 
  word  therefore  carried  the  idea  of  devoted  to  destruction  (Num. 
  21:2,  3;  Josh.  6:17);  and  hence  generally  it  meant  a  thing 
  accursed.  In  Deut.  7:26  an  idol  is  called  a  _herem_  = 
  _anathema_,  a  thing  accursed. 
 
  In  the  New  Testament  this  word  always  implies  execration.  In 
  some  cases  an  individual  denounces  an  anathema  on  himself  unless 
  certain  conditions  are  fulfilled  (Acts  23:12,  14,  21).  "To  call 
  Jesus  accursed"  [anathema]  (1  Cor.  12:3)  is  to  pronounce  him 
  execrated  or  accursed.  If  any  one  preached  another  gospel,  the 
  apostle  says,  "let  him  be  accursed"  (Gal.  1:8,  9);  i.e.,  let  his 
  conduct  in  so  doing  be  accounted  accursed. 
 
  In  Rom.  9:3,  the  expression  accursed"  (anathema)  from  Christ, 
  i.e.,  excluded  from  fellowship  or  alliance  with  Christ,  has 
  occasioned  much  difficulty.  The  apostle  here  does  not  speak  of 
  his  wish  as  a  possible  thing  It  is  simply  a  vehement  expression 
  of  feeling,  showing  how  strong  was  his  desire  for  the  salvation 
  of  his  people. 
 
  The  anathema  in  1  Cor.  16:22  denotes  simply  that  they  who  love 
  not  the  Lord  are  rightly  objects  of  loathing  and  execration  to 
  all  holy  beings;  they  are  guilty  of  a  crime  that  merits  the 
  severest  condemnation;  they  are  exposed  to  the  just  sentence  of 
  "everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord." 
 
 
  From  Hitchcock's  Bible  Names  Dictionary  (late  1800's)  [hitchcock]: 
 
  Anathema,  separated;  set  apart 
 




more about anathema