ANATHEMA (iivci.Ofe.za), literally anything laid up or suspended (from civariemuc, to lay up), and hence anything laid up in a temple, set apart as sacred. In this general sense the form employed is avoienya, a word of not unfrequent occurrence in Greek classic authors, and found once in the N. T., Luke xxi. 5. The form ctvcieckm, as well as its meaning, appears to be peculiar to the Hellenistic dialect (Valckcnaer, &hal. tom. i. p. 593). The distinction has probably arisen from the special use made of the word by the Greek Jews. In the Septuagint, civ:Weisa is the ordinary rendering of the Hebrew word niri, cherem (although in some instances it varies between the two forms, as in Lev. xxvii. 28, 29), and in order to ascertain its meaning it will be necessary to inquire into the signification of this word.
We find that the inr; was a person or thing con secrated or devoted irrevocably to God, and that it differed from anything merely vowed or sanctified to the Lord in this respect, that the latter could he redeemed (Lev. xxvii. 1-27), whilst the former was irreclaimable (Lev. xxvii. 2t, 28) : hence, in reference to living creatures, the devoted thing, whether man or beast, must be put to death (Lev. xxvii. 29). The prominent idea, therefore, which the word conveyed was that of a person or thing devoted to destruction, or accursed. Thus the cities of the Canaanites were anathematized (Num. xxi. 2, 3), and after their complete destruction the name of the place was called Hormah ; Sept. civci km). Thus, again the city of Jericho was made an anathema to the Lord (Josh. vi. 17), that is, every living thing in it (except Rahab and her family) was devoted to death ; that which could be destroyed by fire was burnt, and all that could not be thus consumed (as gold and silver) was for ever alienated from man and devoted to the use of the sanctuary (Josh. vi. 24). The prominence thus given to the idea of a thing- accursed led naturally to the use of the word in cases where there was no reference whatever to consecration to the service of God, as in Deut. vii. 26, where an idol is called 12117, or apd0e,ua, and the Israelites are warned against idolatry lest they should be anathema like it. In these instances the term denotes the object of the curse, but it is sometimes used to designate the curse itself (e. g., Deut. xx. 17, Sept.; comp. Acts xxiii. 14), and it is in this latter sense that the English word is generally employed.
In this sense, also, the Jews of later times use the Hebrew term, though with a somewhat different meaning as to the curse intended. The of the Rabbins signifies excommunication or exclusion from the Jewish church. The more recent Rab
binical writers reckon three kinds or degrees of excommunication, all of which are occasionally designated by the generic term Intl (Elias Levita, in Sepher Tisbi). The first of these, is merely a temporary separation or suspension from ecclesi astical privileges, involving, however, various civil inconveniences, particularly seclusion from society to the distance of four cubits. The person thus excommunicated was not debarred entering the temple, but instead of going in on the right hand, as was customary, he was obliged to enter on the left, the usual way of departure : if he died whilst in this condition there was no mourning for him, but a stone was thrown on his coffin to indicate that he was separated from the people and had deserved stoning. Buxtorf (Lex. Chald. Talm. et Rabbin., col. 1304) enumerates twenty-four causes of this kind of excommunication : it lasted thirty days and was pronounced without a curse. If the individual did not repent at the expiration of the term (which, however, according to Buxtorf, was extended in such cases to sixty or ninety days), the second kind of excommunication was resorted to. This was called simply and more properly ann. It could only be pronounced by an assembly of at least ten persons, and was always accompanied with curses. The formula employed is given at length by Buxtorf (Lex. col. Sz8). A person thus excommunicated was cut off from all religious and social privileges : it was unlawful either to eat or drink with him (compare i Cor. v. t). The curse could be dissolved, however, by three com mon persons, or by one person of dignity. If the excommunicated person still continued impenitent, a yet more severe sentence was, according to the later Rabbins, pronounced against him, which was termed Nnnui (Elias Levita, in Tisbi). It is described as a complete excision from the church and the giving up of the individual to the judgment of God and to final perdition. There is, however, reason to believe that these three grades are of recent origin. The Talmudists frequently use the terms by which the first and last are designated interchangeably, and some Rabbinical writers (whom Lightfoot has followed in his Hone Hebr. et Tabu., ad i Cor. v. 5) consider the last to be a lower grade than the second ; yet it is probable that the classification rests on the fact that the sentence was more or less severe according to the circumstances of the case ; and though we cannot expect to find the three grades distinctly marked in the writings of the N. T., we may not improbably consider the phrase droaupdfc‘ryop VOLE& John xvi.