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Deut. 21:22-23 | “The Cursed One”
An Executed Criminal is Cursed
The ancient Jews believed that people who were killed for their crimes were cursed by God. They had good biblical precedent for that belief as there are many examples in the Law of Moses about executing those who commit various crimes. If you received the death penalty, the Jews believed, you were under God’s curse.
This is one of the things the early Jewish opponents used against the early Christians. They would say, “How could you say that Jesus is the Messiah or in any way blessed by God if he was crucified? Don’t you know that people executed for their crimes are cursed by God?”
Paul and the other apostles had to answer this objection, and the way they did was by agreeing with their opponents. “Jesus,” they said, “was indeed cursed by God, just not for the reasons you think he was.”
So why did the apostles teach that Jesus was cursed by God? Let’s get our bearings by looking at a couple verses in Deuteronomy 21. Then we’ll look at what Paul does with these verses in Galatians 3. And then we’ll close by discussing why Jesus being cursed by God is good news for us.
“A Hanged Man is Cursed by God”
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 is a brief regulation about what to do with the body of an executed felon. There were several crimes in ancient Israel that called for the death penalty, things like adultery and sorcery, and even being a rebellious kid (21:18-21).
This seems severe to our modern ears, but the point was that Israel as a nation was supposed to reflect the holiness of God to other unholy nations. So evil had to be “purged” from the midst of the nation. If a holy nation was living in unholy ways, then what would that say about their God?
So the death penalty was enacted for various crimes. But sometimes the one executed would then be hung up on a tree after they died. The sequence in verse 22 implies that the criminal is executed and then they’re hung up on the tree. The hanging part wasn’t commanded, but it was a common practice in the ancient near east.
Why would Israel do this? So that the one executed would be an example of what happens to those who commit capital crimes. The dead body was displayed as a warning, “forcefully warning the Israelites concerning the results of breaking covenant laws that were punishable by death.”[1]
The law doesn’t sanction hanging the corpses up on a tree, but it does impose certain restrictions on the practice. The limitations imposed were that the body had to be removed before nighttime and that it had to be buried (v. 23a). The reason for these limitations is to avoid “defiling” or “polluting” the land, to avoid the symbolic desecration of the holy land, a land that belonged to the Lord. This is why John points out that the Jews wanted to take Jesus’ body down from the cross before the Sabbath began (Jn. 19:31).
The middle of verse 23 is important for our purposes, “for a hanged man is cursed by God.” What does it mean that this person was under God’s curse? Was he cursed because he was hung on a tree or hung on a tree because he was cursed? I think it’s the latter. The person was killed because of an egregious sin against the Lord, thus putting them under the Lord’s curse. The hanging part was optional, so that couldn’t be what cursed them, but nonetheless, they were considered cursed.
The Curse of the Law
Now that we understand the context of this obscure Old Testament law, let’s see what Paul does with it in Galatians 3:13. Paul says that Jesus redeems us from the law’s curse because he “became a curse for us,” and then he quotes Deuteronomy 21:23, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”
The first step in Paul’s argument is that anyone who doesn’t keep the whole law is “under a curse” (v. 10). This is why it’s impossible to be justified by the law (v. 11). And why salvation must be by faith (v. 12). Paul is saying, “If you can keep the whole law, great, you’ll live! But the problem is you can’t keep the law, so you’re under its curse. Works don’t work!”
“Curse” here doesn’t mean a spooky spell put on someone that brings bad luck. It means God’s judgment. Paul says that the law’s curse, or God’s judgment, looms over those who haven’t kept the whole law. Have you kept the whole law?
We might keep some of the law some of the time but no one keeps all the law all the time. But that’s actually not the main problem. The main problem is relying on yourself rather than relying on God (vv. 11-12). It’s not just that we break some laws, but that our whole life’s orientation is toward ourselves, not toward God.
Some people rebel against God by breaking his law, some by keeping it. But keeping the law out of self-reliance is rejecting God’s help. Martin Luther saw this clearly, saying:
“Outwardly you keep the law with works out of fear of punishment or love of gain…You’d rather act otherwise if the law didn’t exist. It follows then, that you, in the depths of your heart, are an enemy of the law…Because in doing such works the heart abhors the law and yet is forced to obey it.[2]
He’s saying we keep the law but would rather not because we don’t love it. But to avoid punishment and to look good, we keep it. Our hearts “abhor” the law and yet keep it anyway.
Do you see how desperate our situation is? Why there’s a curse on those who don’t keep the law from their hearts?
Redemption from the Curse
But Paul says there’s rescue from the curse (v. 13). He says that Jesus pays the price that the law demands, that he became a curse for us so that the curse is no longer on us.
The accusation from Paul’s Jewish opponents that Jesus was cursed because he was “hung on a tree” is correct. He was cursed by God. But not because he was a criminal. Jesus never sinned, so his execution was totally unjust. But like a criminal, he was hung on a tree to be a display of God’s justice, to reveal how seriously God takes sin. But he wasn’t hanging there for his sin, but for ours.
In his death, Jesus receives the curse God’s people deserve because they’ve broken God’s law in order to release them from the law’s curse.
The result of this is in verse 14. Jesus becoming a curse means that the blessing of Abraham can be enjoyed by Gentiles too. All people can be part of God’s people. And it means that the promised Holy Spirit is given to those who believe. The curse is removed and life is given.
Good News For Us
Why is this good news for us? It’s good news because it means that Jesus’ death solves our greatest problem. If you’ve broken God’s law, you’re under his curse. And we’ve all broken his law and deserve his judgment. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
Our sin is a much bigger deal than we realize. Sin is why the world is on fire. Sin destroys families, hurts our bodies, relationships, churches, finances, friendships, work, community, nation, politics, and economy. Sin has literally corrupted every good thing God made.
But sin isn’t some nebulous force in the world. It’s in you. You’ve broken God’s law, done what you should not have done and not done what you should have done. And because God is holy and just and good, he must punish sin. Lawbreakers are under God’s curse.
The Bible says that it’s our sin that curses us, not our circumstances, and that Jesus died to save us from the one, not the other. And that only those who understand this and put their faith in Jesus are truly blessed. Verse 9, “Those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham.”
Only by trusting in Christ will you be given the ability to want to keep God’s law. Luther again:
“That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law; (it is) faith that brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ. The Spirit, in turn, renders the heart glad and free, as the law demands. The good works proceed from faith itself.”[3]
Christ died to rescue us from God’s curse. Faith in this promise is the only thing that can set your heart free.
[1]Ardel Caneday, “‘Redeemed from the Curse of the Law’: The Use of Deut 21:22-23 in Gal 3:13,” Trinity Journal, no. 10 (1989): 199.
[2]Quoted in Tim Chester, Reforming Joy: A Conversation Between Paul, the Reformers, and the Church Today (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), 52.
[3]Ibid.
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An Executed Criminal is Cursed
The ancient Jews believed that people who were killed for their crimes were cursed by God. They had good biblical precedent for that belief as there are many examples in the Law of Moses about executing those who commit various crimes. If you received the death penalty, the Jews believed, you were under God’s curse.
This is one of the things the early Jewish opponents used against the early Christians. They would say, “How could you say that Jesus is the Messiah or in any way blessed by God if he was crucified? Don’t you know that people executed for their crimes are cursed by God?”
Paul and the other apostles had to answer this objection, and the way they did was by agreeing with their opponents. “Jesus,” they said, “was indeed cursed by God, just not for the reasons you think he was.”
So why did the apostles teach that Jesus was cursed by God? Let’s get our bearings by looking at a couple verses in Deuteronomy 21. Then we’ll look at what Paul does with these verses in Galatians 3. And then we’ll close by discussing why Jesus being cursed by God is good news for us.
“A Hanged Man is Cursed by God”
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 is a brief regulation about what to do with the body of an executed felon. There were several crimes in ancient Israel that called for the death penalty, things like adultery and sorcery, and even being a rebellious kid (21:18-21).
This seems severe to our modern ears, but the point was that Israel as a nation was supposed to reflect the holiness of God to other unholy nations. So evil had to be “purged” from the midst of the nation. If a holy nation was living in unholy ways, then what would that say about their God?
So the death penalty was enacted for various crimes. But sometimes the one executed would then be hung up on a tree after they died. The sequence in verse 22 implies that the criminal is executed and then they’re hung up on the tree. The hanging part wasn’t commanded, but it was a common practice in the ancient near east.
Why would Israel do this? So that the one executed would be an example of what happens to those who commit capital crimes. The dead body was displayed as a warning, “forcefully warning the Israelites concerning the results of breaking covenant laws that were punishable by death.”[1]
The law doesn’t sanction hanging the corpses up on a tree, but it does impose certain restrictions on the practice. The limitations imposed were that the body had to be removed before nighttime and that it had to be buried (v. 23a). The reason for these limitations is to avoid “defiling” or “polluting” the land, to avoid the symbolic desecration of the holy land, a land that belonged to the Lord. This is why John points out that the Jews wanted to take Jesus’ body down from the cross before the Sabbath began (Jn. 19:31).
The middle of verse 23 is important for our purposes, “for a hanged man is cursed by God.” What does it mean that this person was under God’s curse? Was he cursed because he was hung on a tree or hung on a tree because he was cursed? I think it’s the latter. The person was killed because of an egregious sin against the Lord, thus putting them under the Lord’s curse. The hanging part was optional, so that couldn’t be what cursed them, but nonetheless, they were considered cursed.
The Curse of the Law
Now that we understand the context of this obscure Old Testament law, let’s see what Paul does with it in Galatians 3:13. Paul says that Jesus redeems us from the law’s curse because he “became a curse for us,” and then he quotes Deuteronomy 21:23, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”
The first step in Paul’s argument is that anyone who doesn’t keep the whole law is “under a curse” (v. 10). This is why it’s impossible to be justified by the law (v. 11). And why salvation must be by faith (v. 12). Paul is saying, “If you can keep the whole law, great, you’ll live! But the problem is you can’t keep the law, so you’re under its curse. Works don’t work!”
“Curse” here doesn’t mean a spooky spell put on someone that brings bad luck. It means God’s judgment. Paul says that the law’s curse, or God’s judgment, looms over those who haven’t kept the whole law. Have you kept the whole law?
We might keep some of the law some of the time but no one keeps all the law all the time. But that’s actually not the main problem. The main problem is relying on yourself rather than relying on God (vv. 11-12). It’s not just that we break some laws, but that our whole life’s orientation is toward ourselves, not toward God.
Some people rebel against God by breaking his law, some by keeping it. But keeping the law out of self-reliance is rejecting God’s help. Martin Luther saw this clearly, saying:
“Outwardly you keep the law with works out of fear of punishment or love of gain…You’d rather act otherwise if the law didn’t exist. It follows then, that you, in the depths of your heart, are an enemy of the law…Because in doing such works the heart abhors the law and yet is forced to obey it.[2]
He’s saying we keep the law but would rather not because we don’t love it. But to avoid punishment and to look good, we keep it. Our hearts “abhor” the law and yet keep it anyway.
Do you see how desperate our situation is? Why there’s a curse on those who don’t keep the law from their hearts?
Redemption from the Curse
But Paul says there’s rescue from the curse (v. 13). He says that Jesus pays the price that the law demands, that he became a curse for us so that the curse is no longer on us.
The accusation from Paul’s Jewish opponents that Jesus was cursed because he was “hung on a tree” is correct. He was cursed by God. But not because he was a criminal. Jesus never sinned, so his execution was totally unjust. But like a criminal, he was hung on a tree to be a display of God’s justice, to reveal how seriously God takes sin. But he wasn’t hanging there for his sin, but for ours.
In his death, Jesus receives the curse God’s people deserve because they’ve broken God’s law in order to release them from the law’s curse.
The result of this is in verse 14. Jesus becoming a curse means that the blessing of Abraham can be enjoyed by Gentiles too. All people can be part of God’s people. And it means that the promised Holy Spirit is given to those who believe. The curse is removed and life is given.
Good News For Us
Why is this good news for us? It’s good news because it means that Jesus’ death solves our greatest problem. If you’ve broken God’s law, you’re under his curse. And we’ve all broken his law and deserve his judgment. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
Our sin is a much bigger deal than we realize. Sin is why the world is on fire. Sin destroys families, hurts our bodies, relationships, churches, finances, friendships, work, community, nation, politics, and economy. Sin has literally corrupted every good thing God made.
But sin isn’t some nebulous force in the world. It’s in you. You’ve broken God’s law, done what you should not have done and not done what you should have done. And because God is holy and just and good, he must punish sin. Lawbreakers are under God’s curse.
The Bible says that it’s our sin that curses us, not our circumstances, and that Jesus died to save us from the one, not the other. And that only those who understand this and put their faith in Jesus are truly blessed. Verse 9, “Those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham.”
Only by trusting in Christ will you be given the ability to want to keep God’s law. Luther again:
“That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law; (it is) faith that brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ. The Spirit, in turn, renders the heart glad and free, as the law demands. The good works proceed from faith itself.”[3]
Christ died to rescue us from God’s curse. Faith in this promise is the only thing that can set your heart free.
[1]Ardel Caneday, “‘Redeemed from the Curse of the Law’: The Use of Deut 21:22-23 in Gal 3:13,” Trinity Journal, no. 10 (1989): 199.
[2]Quoted in Tim Chester, Reforming Joy: A Conversation Between Paul, the Reformers, and the Church Today (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), 52.
[3]Ibid.