What does קְלָלָה (qĕlālāh) mean in the Bible?
Curse or vilification must be read through its speaker, object and stated setting. Deuteronomy places blessing and curse before the addressed people with named covenant obedience and disobedience.
Hebrew · H7045
קְלָלָה
Curse or vilification must be read through its speaker, object and stated setting. Deuteronomy places blessing and curse before the addressed people with named covenant obedience and disobedience.
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קְלָלָהH7045
Pronunciationqĕlālāh
What does קְלָלָה (qĕlālāh) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for קְלָלָה (H7045) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7045?
The BSB source-word alignment has 33 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and a curse (3), and cursing (3), curse (3), a curse (2), an object of cursing (2).
Where does קְלָלָה (qĕlālāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 27:12. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (11), Jeremiah (9), Genesis (2), Proverbs (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Curse or vilification must be read through its speaker, object and stated setting. Deuteronomy places blessing and curse before the addressed people with named covenant obedience and disobedience. Its instruction about an executed body also limits overnight exposure and requires burial, a detail that must remain beside the curse language. Another passage recalls the Lord turning Balaam's intended curse into blessing because of his love for Israel.
Proverbs compares an undeserved curse with a bird that does not settle. Genesis records Jacob fearing a curse and Rebekah saying it should fall on her within a deceptive plan, not an independently verified method of transferring harm. These distinct contexts cannot diagnose a present illness, prove every accusation true or authorize a leader's threat. Read actual words, recipients and conditions without selling protection, inventing inherited guilt or turning ancient judgment instructions into present violence.
How the Bible Uses It
Covenant conditions, an exposure-and-burial limit, Balaam's reversal, an undeserved curse, attributed family speech and promised restoration supply different settings. Speaker and stated authority distinguish threat, instruction and hope.
- Deut.11.26
See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse—
Blessing and curse are set before the addressed people with explicit obedience and disobedience conditions, retaining the covenant instruction rather than a private diagnosis.
- Deut.23.5
Yet the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, and the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.
The Lord turns Balaam's intended curse into blessing because of his love for Israel, preserving the named actors and recipients instead of a purchased curse-removal technique.
- Prov.26.2
Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
The undeserved curse is compared with a bird that does not settle, retaining the wisdom comparison without claiming that every threatening speaker controls another person's future.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itand a curse3×Deuteronomy 11:26, 2 Kings 22:19, Jeremiah 49:13
and cursing3×Deuteronomy 30:19, Jeremiah 24:9, Jeremiah 25:18
curse3×Deuteronomy 21:23, Deuteronomy 29:27, Proverbs 26:2
a curse2×Genesis 27:12, Zechariah 8:13
an object of cursing2×Jeremiah 26:6, Jeremiah 44:8
curses2×Deuteronomy 28:15, Deuteronomy 28:45
of vilification2×Jeremiah 42:18, Jeremiah 44:12
the curse2×Deuteronomy 23:5, Nehemiah 13:2
The cursing [that]2×Psalms 109:17, Psalms 109:18
. . .1×1 Kings 2:8
and an object of cursing1×Jeremiah 44:22
and curses1×Deuteronomy 30:1
and the curse1×Deuteronomy 11:29
and the curses1×Joshua 8:34
as a curse1×Proverbs 27:14
but a curse1×Deuteronomy 11:28
deliver the curse1×Deuteronomy 27:13
So the curse1×Judges 9:57
the cursing [I receive]1×2 Samuel 16:12
will use this curse1×Jeremiah 29:22
Your curse1×Genesis 27:13
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 27:12קְלָלָ֖הtoa curseNoun - feminine singularGenesis 27:13קִלְלָתְךָ֖toYour curseNoun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singularDeuteronomy 11:26וּקְלָלָֽה׃toand a curseConjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singularDeuteronomy 11:28וְהַקְּלָלָ֗הtobut a curseConjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine singularDeuteronomy 11:29הַקְּלָלָ֖הtoand the curseArticle | Noun - feminine singularDeuteronomy 21:23קִלְלַ֥תtocurseNoun - feminine singular constructDeuteronomy 23:5הַקְּלָלָ֖הtothe curseArticle | Noun - feminine singularDeuteronomy 27:13הַקְּלָלָ֖הtodeliver the curseArticle | Noun - feminine singularDeuteronomy 28:15הַקְּלָל֥וֹתtocursesArticle | Noun - feminine pluralDeuteronomy 28:45הַקְּלָל֣וֹתtocursesArticle | Noun - feminine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 27:12
Aligned rows33
Books represented12
Genesis2Deuteronomy11Joshua1Judges12 Samuel11 Kings12 Kings1Nehemiah1Psalms2Proverbs2Jeremiah9Zechariah1
Source forms
הַקְּלָלָ֖ה4xhaq·qə·lā·lāhDeuteronomy 11:29, Deuteronomy 23:5, Deuteronomy 27:13, Nehemiah 13:2
וְלִקְלָלָ֖ה3xwə·liq·lā·lāhJeremiah 25:18, Jeremiah 44:12, Jeremiah 49:13
וְהַקְּלָלָ֑ה2xwə·haq·qə·lā·lāhDeuteronomy 30:19, Joshua 8:34
וְלִקְלָלָ֔ה2xwə·liq·lā·lāh2 Kings 22:19, Jeremiah 24:9
הַקְּלָלָ֔ה1xhaq·qə·lā·lāhDeuteronomy 29:27
הַקְּלָל֥וֹת1xhaq·qə·lā·lō·wṯDeuteronomy 28:15
הַקְּלָל֣וֹת1xhaq·qə·lā·lō·wṯDeuteronomy 28:45
וְהַקְּלָלָ֗ה1xwə·haq·qə·lā·lāhDeuteronomy 11:28
Parsing patterns
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular7x2 Kings 22:19, Jeremiah 24:9, Jeremiah 25:18, Jeremiah 42:18
Noun - feminine singular7xGenesis 27:12, 1 Kings 2:8, Psalms 109:17, Psalms 109:18
Article | Noun - feminine singular5xDeuteronomy 11:29, Deuteronomy 23:5, Deuteronomy 27:13, Deuteronomy 29:27
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine singular4xDeuteronomy 11:28, Deuteronomy 30:1, Deuteronomy 30:19, Joshua 8:34
Noun - feminine singular construct3xDeuteronomy 21:23, Judges 9:57, Proverbs 26:2
Article | Noun - feminine plural2xDeuteronomy 28:15, Deuteronomy 28:45
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular2xJeremiah 26:6, Jeremiah 44:8
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular1xDeuteronomy 11:26
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Respond to fear with accountable care rather than paid guarantees or blame.
- Avoid present violence, private medical judgments or a complete curse doctrine from the noun.
Avoid claiming...
- Every threat reveals deserved guilt, inherited harm or the cause of an illness.
- The noun authorizes modern execution, a paid protection technique or universal spiritual transfer.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Curse as divine judgment invoked against covenant-breakers; moves from spoken vilification to enacted supernatural harm
Source Gloss
vilification
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Curse as divine judgment invoked against covenant-breakers; moves from spoken vilification to enacted supernatural harm
vilification BDB: curse Usage: (ac-) curse(-d, -ing).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
A vilification or curse that comes without cause and will not land on its target
A vilification or loud blessing given early in the morning that is perceived as a curse by the recipient
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 33 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
A curse reference cannot be evaluated apart from its speaker and setting. Deuteronomy's blessing-and-curse instruction supplies actual covenant conditions, and the body-on-a-tree instruction also requires burial rather than unlimited exposure. Balaam's hostile intention is explicitly reversed by the Lord's love for Israel, while Proverbs distinguishes an undeserved curse from a rightful accusation.
Jacob's fear and Rebekah's reply remain character speech within a deceptive plan, not a narrated doctrine of transferable spiritual injury. Zechariah's promise names Judah and Israel as recipients of a changed public standing. Teach these actual statements and limits without inventing present inherited guilt, a medical cause or a purchase that guarantees protection.
Galatians' explicit use of the tree passage belongs to its argument about Christ's redemption, whose wording should remain visible without turning the noun alone into a complete curse-removal system or authority to threaten another person.
Anchor passage
Deut.23.5
Doctrinal connections
- Deuteronomy 11:26-28 states blessing and curse with obedience and following other gods as named conditions, retaining the addressed covenant setting.
- Deuteronomy 21:22-23 names an executed body's exposure and requires burial that day, preserving the limit without authorizing present readers to enact violence.
- Deuteronomy 23:4-5 recalls Balaam's intended curse and the Lord's loving reversal for Israel, keeping the specific actors rather than a universal paid technique.
- Proverbs 26:1-2 compares an undeserved curse with a moving bird that does not settle, distinguishing false threat from a complete account of every harm.
- Genesis 27:10-14 attributes feared curse and the reply to Jacob and Rebekah within their plan, without endorsing a procedure of spiritual transfer.
- Zechariah 8:11-15 names Judah and Israel in the promise to save and make them a blessing, preserving recipients and restoration instead of modern identity assignments.
The licensed Hebrew range names curse or vilification. Covenant consequence, hostile speech and a person's feared outcome receive their role from the sentence and authority named there. A shared noun does not make every threat deserved, explain an illness or authenticate a speaker's claimed spiritual power.
From Old to New Testament
Galatians 3:13-14 explicitly quotes the tree curse passage while naming Christ's redemption and the blessing promised to Abraham coming to the Gentiles. Preserve that supplied connection and its actual argument. The quotation does not authorize a present execution, diagnose an individual's illness as a curse or make paid rituals a required way to receive the stated promise; the noun alone does not settle every theological question about the passage.