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Book of Revelation's vision of the apocalypse inspired by pagan curses, researcher claims
The cryptic Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible deliberately uses the language and verbal elements seen in Roman curse tablets, probably in an effort to reinforce its message, one researcher says.
The curse on this lead tablet is written in Greek against someone called Kardelos. It dates from the fourth century A.D. and was found in a room in ancient Rome that held funerary urns. (Image credit: Public Domain)
The cryptic language of the Book of Revelation — famous for its exotic imagery, including a red beast with seven heads and a symbolic female figure likened to the evils of Babylon — is deliberately similar to language used in ancient Roman "curse tablets," according to new research.
The ongoing work suggests that the Book of Revelation — a section of the Christian Bible that scholars think was written in the late first century A.D. — attempted to distinguish the budding religion from the paganism of the Roman Empire at that time by phrasing its message in a familiar form that would have reinforced its ominous message.
"My research compiles the evidence of where the curse tablets explain striking features in the Revelation text better than other pre-texts," Michael Hölscher, a researcher in the biblical studies department at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, told Live Science in an email.
Hölscher is conducting a research project into the similarities between the Book of Revelation and Roman curse tablets for Germany's national research agency (DFG).
He said a key example from the Book of Revelation is that God is spoken of "binding" and "releasing" Satan. The same terminology is used in Roman curse tablets, which are also known as "defixiones" — Latin for "bindings" — because they often "bind" or compel their victim to perform a certain action.
Another example is that Revelation describes enemies with all-inclusive formulas, as curse tablets do: "whether the person is male or female, free or slave … such formulations also occur in the Book of Revelation," Hölscher said. For example, the 13th chapter of Revelation prophesies that a "mark of the beast" will be imposed on "all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave…"
Other scholars, however, disagree, calling a link between the two "tenuous."
It weighs 67.9 grams, providing a balanced and controlled feel during play. The weight distribution is also designed to optimize spin time and enhance the yoyo's overall performance.
Book of Revelation
The exotic imagery of the Book of Revelation includes false prophet (at left) and a red seven-headed beast or dragon that may represent Satan. This image is from the Apocalypse flamande, an illuminated manuscript of the Book of Revelation created in the 15th century. (Image credit: Public Domain)
The Book of Revelation — also known as Revelation, the Revelation to John, or the Apocalypse of John — is interpreted by most modern scholars as an attempt to prophesize the end of the world and the second coming of Christ. According to Revelation, nonbelievers would be cast into hell, while Christians would ascend to heaven during the second coming.
Because someone named John wrote one of the four Gospels, it was assumed that he also wrote the Revelation to John. But according to the scholar Bart Ehrman, writing in "The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings" (Oxford University Press, 2011) the author of Revelation is now thought to be a man dubbed John of Patmos, who wrote it in about A.D. 96 after seeing or hearing about the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
The Book of Revelation describes the end of the world — the Apocalypse — with images that would have been familiar to early Christians. It also introduces the "number of the beast," likely a reference to the Roman emperor Nero, whose name can be rendered in Hebrew numerology as "666" and who was infamous for brutally persecuting Christians.
Hölscher said it's not only the phrasing in Revelation that is inspired by Roman curse tablets but also the actions it describes — for example, an angel casts a great stone to destroy Babylon, which is a type of curse ritual.
The influence of curse tablets is also evident in verbal elements derived from the practice of curse writing, Hölscher said. For example, figures associated with deities in Revelation often have the names of those deities written on their bodies — the followers of the beast, for example, wear the beast's name or number on their hands or foreheads.
Can a Christian be cursed?
The Bible tells us that, “like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest” (Proverbs 26:2b). This means that curses made against innocent persons have no effect. The one declaring the curse against the innocent might as well try to dictate where a sparrow in flight should land. God’s children have been justified by God (Romans 5:1) and are therefore undeserving of punishment (Romans 8:1). God does not allow His children to be cursed. No one has the power to curse one whom God has decided to bless. God is the only One able to pronounce judgment.
Spells in the Bible are always described negatively. Deuteronomy 18:10–11 numbers those who cast spells with those who commit other acts detestable to the Lord such as child sacrifice, witchcraft, sorcery, divination, or necromancy (consulting with the dead). Micah 5:12 says that God will destroy witchcraft and those who cast spells. Revelation 18 describes spells as part of the deception that will be used by the Antichrist and his “great city of Babylon” (verses 21–24). Though the end-times deception will be so great that even the elect would be deceived if God did not protect them (Matthew 24:24), God will utterly destroy Satan, the Antichrist, and all who follow them (Revelation 19—20).
Cursing those whom God has blessed is dangerous business. Balaam tried to curse God’s people, Israel, and found that he could not (Numbers 22—24). Wisdom warns that “whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them” (Proverbs 26:27). David prayed for help against his enemy who had cursed him: “He loved to pronounce a curse—may it come back on him. . . . He wore cursing as his garment; . . . May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him” (Psalm 109:17–19). The Christian cannot be cursed. God’s blessing is more powerful than any curse.
The Christian has been born again as a new person in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). As believers, we are in the constant presence of the Holy Spirit who lives within us and under whose protection we dwell (Romans 8:11). We do not need to worry about anyone casting any sort of pagan spell on us. Voodoo, witchcraft, hexes, and curses have no power over us because they come from Satan, and Satan is no match for the Lord. We know that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
God has won the victory, and in Christ we are overcomers. “Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). The shield God gives us “can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). We are free to worship God without fear (John 8:36). “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).
Origin of Horse Head Used for Pagan Curse Still Unknown
Capital-area police are still trying to determine the origin of the severed horse head that was mounted on a stake on the land of a small capital-area community last week, RÚV reports. The grotesque totem, which derives from ancient pagan tradition, is called a nithing pole and is intended to curse the receiver.
DCI Stella Mjöll Aðalsteinsdóttir says that police have not received any reports of missing horses. Icelandic horses are microchipped, but this is no use to authorities in this instance, either: the head used on the nithing pole was severed above the neck, where its chip would have been located. Police are still awaiting the final report from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST), but are conducting their own parallel investigation, which Stella Mjöll said she was unable to comment further on at time of writing.
Animal did not suffer
Police believe it unlikely that the head was taken from a slaughterhouse, as there are strict rules about the disposal of byproducts at such facilities. According to the information that MAST has been able to provide about the animal thus far, the horse was two years old and was killed with a single shot to the head. Sigríður Björnsdóttir, a veterinarian of equine diseases at MAST, noted that the head has not started to rot, which either means that the animal was shot shortly before the nithing pole was erected, or that the head was stored in a refrigerator beforehand.
Under Icelandic law, horse owners are permitted to slaughter their animals without a veterinarian present, as long as it is done correctly. Thankfully, this seems to have been the case with the horse in question. Hallgerður Hauksdóttir, chair of the Animal Welfare Association of Iceland, says the organization will not be investigating the incident themselves, as it does not appear that the animal suffered.
Nithing poles in recent years
As mentioned, nithing poles are used in pagan tradition to curse the receiver. It is only considered a true nithing pole if a horse head is used.
One of the most famous uses of a nithing pole occurs in ch. 60 of Egill’s saga, which was written around 1240 AD, but nithing poles—or symbolic variations thereof—have been erected in Iceland several times in much more recent memory.
The last instance of a real nithing pole being erected was in the Reykjavík suburb of Breiðholt in 2012. In that case, it remains unknown who the pole was intended to curse, or where the horse head was sourced.
In 2006, a farmer in Otradalur in the Westfjords attempted to curse a neighbor using a nithing pole topped with a calf’s head. The man was charged with making a threat on the neighbor’s life.
In 2018, an opponent of salmon farming erected a nithing pole topped with a cod’s head in Bíldudalur in West Iceland.
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