“Studying Curses and Curse Stories: Some Musings on Methodology”, Tony Chartrand-Burke, Atkinson School of Arts and Letters, York University

This introduction to the special session will include a summary of the results of an annotated bibliography currently in progress and open discussion on such issues as the forms, functions, and reception of curses and curse stories in antiquity.

“Joshua’s Curse on Jericho: Fulfillment and Partial Reversal”, Daniel R. Miller, Bishop’s University.

In Josh 6:26, after the Israelites have devoted the city of Jericho to the ban, Joshua pronounces an incantatory curse on anybody who would rebuild Jericho. In 1 Kgs 16:34, it is related that one Hiel of Bethel rebuilds the city, but “at the cost of Abiram his firstborn” and “of his youngest son Segub”; thus is Joshua¹s latent incantation fulfilled. In 2 Kgs 2:20­21, the “man of God” Elisha purifies the Jericho spring (presumably poisoned by Joshua’s curse) with a magical ritual that includes an incantation. Taken together, these three passages constitute a discontinuous “curse story” of the Deuteronomistic historian (containing not one but two incantations).

“Writing / Elijah / Cursing: 2 Chronicles 21:11-20”, Christine Mitchell, St. Andrew’s College

In 1-2 Chronicles, there are a number of prophetic voices that proclaim Yhwh’s curse upon the king or Israel/Judah, usually foretelling the exile.  Only 2 Chr 21:11-20 depicts the curse as being in written form, and only in this passage is the king explicitly cursed with illness. This curse story is also the only story of Elijah in Chronicles.  In this paper, I explore the operation of generic power in the construction of the letter and the reception of the episode in Chronicles, in the biblical canon, and in scholarship.  I argue that the figure of Elijah can be read as a type of the implied author “the Chronicler,” and the cursing letter and its fulfillment as a parable for the text and reception of Chronicles.  What might it mean to read Chronicles as a curse?

“Curses and Ideology among the Qumran Covenanters”, Sarianna Metso, University of Toronto.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are rich with curses. Most are in texts describing the covenant renewal ceremony. These liturgical works are not mere imitations based on biblical texts but genuinely new creations giving expression to specific ideological emphases of the community. A motivational shift from law to wisdom can be detected: whereas curses in the Hebrew Bible have their ideological basis in the conduct-consequence relationship of covenantal discourse, curses in the Essene writings often function as an expression of the dualistic worldview of the Qumran covenanters, stating the (predestined) fate of an individual not belonging in the lot of the sons of light.

“Divine Violence and Righteous Anger”, Kimberly Stratton, Carleton University.

This paper explores the role violence plays in curses and eschatological imaginings, where violence is anticipated for another group. How does calling down divine/demonic violence/vengeance upon an “other” serve to alleviate a sense of injustice or suffering? What is the history and relationship between curses and fantasies of eschatological judgment? How was this violence regarded in its ancient context?