Blood curse
Encyclopedia
The blood curse is a New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

 passage from the verse .

Versions of the scriptural quotation

  • Ιδων δε ο Πιλατος οτι ουδεν ωφελει αλλα μαλλον θορυβος γινεται, λαβων υδωρ απενιψατο τας χειρας απεναντι του οχλου, λεγων αθωος ειμι απο του αιματος του δικαιου τουτου; υμεις οψεσθε. Και αποκριθεις πας ο λαος ειπεν, το αιμα αυτου εφ ημας και επι τα τεκνα ημων. Greek New Testament

  • Videns autem Pilatus quia nihil proficeret sed magis tumultus fieret, accepta aqua lavit manus coram populo, dicens innocens ego sum a sanguine iusti huius: vos videritis. Et respondens universus populus dixit: Sanguis eius super nos et super filios nostros. Vulgate
    Vulgate
    The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...


  • When Pilate saw that he could not prevail, but rather that a tumult was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it." Then answered all the people and said, "His blood be on us, and on our children!" (KJV
    King James Version of the Bible
    The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV, is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611...

    )

  • When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" (NIV
    New International Version
    The New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. Published by Zondervan in the United States and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, it has become one of the most popular modern translations in history.-History:...

    )

  • So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." Then the people as a whole answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" (NRSV
    New Revised Standard Version
    The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is an English translation of the Bible released in 1989 in the USA. It is a thorough revision of the Revised Standard Version .There are three editions of the NRSV:...

    )

  • When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this Man's blood; see to that yourselves." And all the people said, "His blood shall be on us and on our children!" (NASB
    New American Standard Bible
    The New American Standard Bible , also informally called New American Standard Version , is an English translation of the Bible....

    )

  • When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. Look to it yourselves." And the whole people said in reply, "His blood be upon us and upon our children." (NAB
    New American Bible
    The New American Bible is a Catholic Bible translation first published in 1970. It had its beginnings in the Confraternity Bible, which began to be translated from the original languages in 1948....

    )

  • When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, and that there was danger of a riot, he took water and washed his hands in full view of the crowd. 'My hands are clean of this man's blood,' he declared. 'See to that yourselves.' With one voice the people cried, 'His blood be on us and on our children.' (REB
    Revised English Bible
    The Revised English Bible is a 1989 English language translation of the Bible and updates the New English Bible, of 1970. As with its predecessor, it is published by the publishing houses of both Oxford University and Cambridge University....

    )

Note to the quotation

The actual curse is understood to be το αιμα αυτου εφ ημας και επι τα τεκνα ημων, which would be in a word-by-word translation: The blood his on us and on the born ours. As can easily be seen there is no verb in the original of the blood curse. The vulgate translates here true, but most translations insert some verb here. In translation the text can thus take the form of a wish, expressing the desire for the death of Jesus ("be", "komme", "kome"), it will get some tense, usually a future one, which allows for the translation to be read as some prophecy, which alters the mere acceptance of the responsibility which would have been Pilate's, expressed by "πας ο λαος" of the author in the "undeniable biblical testimony" of the blood curse.

Possible interpretations

It is possible that Matthew, the author of the Gospel in which the verses appear, understood them to be an ironic echo of , in which Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

 sprinkles sacrificial blood on his people after reading the Book of the Covenant
Covenant Code
The Covenant Code, or alternatively Book of the Covenant, is the name given by academics to a text appearing in the Torah at Exodus - . Biblically, the text is the second of the law codes given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai...

 to them as a means of ratifying the covenant. Interpreted thus, the words would have actually been an unintentional expression of desire for ratification of the New Covenant
New Covenant
The New Covenant is a concept originally derived from the Hebrew Bible. The term "New Covenant" is used in the Bible to refer to an epochal relationship of restoration and peace following a period of trial and judgment...

. Also see .

Another possibility is that this contrasts with the pagan sailors who threw Jonah
Jonah
Jonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation...

 (whom Jesus was to give the sign of in ) into the ocean, praying, "O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us." .

As well, it is possible that the author of the Gospel understood the words to be an ironic echo of , in which the Deuteronomic Code
Deuteronomic Code
The Deuteronomic Code is the name given by academics to the law code within the Book of Deuteronomy. It contains "a variety of topics including religious ceremonies and ritual purity, civil and criminal law, and the conduct of war"...

 commands that the elders of a town nearest which an unknown murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 victim is found declare "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did we witness the bloodshed. Accept expiation, O Lord, for your people Israel whom you redeemed, and do not let the guilt of innocent blood rest upon your people Israel: let this bloodshed be expiated on their behalf." In the blood curse, the elders accordingly leave the expiation to the people, who ironically accept communal responsibility for Jesus's death. In this manner, the blood curse would be an invocation of the Deutermonic Code passage's converse. Pontius Pilate also noted that he found no fault in Jesus Christ. Also, see , and .

It is also possible that the author meant the blood curse as a curse indeed, one fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, to explain that disaster and to put the blame on the leaders of concurrent Judean (Jewish) movements who had led the masses to destruction. See .

However, it appears that this self curse may be in violation of , , , , , see also Biblical law in Christianity
Biblical law in Christianity
Christian views of the Old Covenant have been central to Christian theology and practice since the circumcision controversy in Early Christianity. There are differing views about the applicability of the Old Covenant among Christian denominations...

. This curse also stands in contrast to Jesus' forgiveness in and their repentance in .
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