1 Corinthians 16:22 ~ “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.”
Definition of Anathema in the Bible
Merriam-Webster gives the following definitions for the word Anathema:
Someone or something intensely disliked or loathed —usually used as a predicate nominative; or one that is cursed by ecclesiastical authority.
A ban or curse solemnly pronounced by ecclesiastical authority and accompanied by excommunication; the denunciation of something as accursed.
Anathema, as used in the New Testament, comes from the Greek ana’thema, meaning “a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction.” Used only six times in the Bible, the word anathema is commonly translated as “accursed,” “cursed,” or “eternally condemned” in the more modern translations. Young’s Literal Translation, the American Standard Version, and the King James Version transliterate it as “anathema.”
Christian Meaning of Anathema in the Bible
The Greek word "anathema" consists of two words: "ana", which is a preposition indicating movement upwards, and "thema", which means a separate part of something. In military terminology, "thema" meant a detachment; in civil government "thema" meant a province. We currently use the word "theme", derived from "thema", to mean a specific topic of a written or intellectual work.
"Anathema" literally means the lifting up of something separate.
In the New Testament, in the writing of the Apostle Paul, it is used once in connection with "Maranatha", meaning the coming of the Lord. The combination of these words means separation until the coming of the Lord; in other words - being handed over to Him (1 Cor 16:22).
Christianity
Amen