Imprecatory Psalms, contained within the Book of Psalms of the Hebrew Bible (Hebrew: תנ"ך), are those that imprecate – invoke judgment, calamity or curses upon one's enemies or those perceived as the enemies of God. Major imprecatory Psalms include Psalm 69 and Psalm 109, while Psalms 5, 6, 11, 12, 35, 37, 40, 52, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 79, 83, 94, 137, 139 and 143 are also considered imprecatory. As an example, Psalm 69:24 states toward God, "Pour out Your indignation on them, and let Your burning anger overtake them."
The Psalms (Tehilim, תהילים, or "praises"), considered part of both Hebrew and Christian Scripture, served as ancient Israel's "psalter" or "hymnbook", which was used during temple and private worship.
The New Testament contains passages that quote verses from these Psalms which are not imprecatory in nature. Jesus is shown quoting from them in John 2:17 and John 15:25, while Paul the Apostle quotes from Psalm 69 in the Epistle to the Romans 11:9-10 and 15:3.
Imprecations in the Hebrew Bible are not limited to the Imprecatory Psalms. The Nevi'im (prophetic literature) contains many, as well, in the books of Hosea, Micah, and Jeremiah, for example, leading to their categorization as "imprecatory topoi". Alongside this, in the Third Sermon of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy of the Torah, Moses is shown describing a litany of curses that would befall Israel for rebelliousness. Many of the same curses were later warned about by Joshua, some 100 years after Moses's death.
The Old Testament is not alone in containing imprecations:
Imprecatory Bible passages have presented a variety of interpretive and ethical issues for scholars throughout various times in various situations. Even so, some[who?] Biblical scholars agree that their intent is to purposefully alarm, and that invokers of imprecations in the Psalms did so for purposes of self catharsis, and to lead group catharsis during temple worship (see Solomon's Temple), noting that this probably helped provide ontological security to the Psalms' principal audience, the Israelites, who were a minority within their larger Mesopotamian world.
Scholars also widely agree that imprecatory passages are never imprecatory in total, but are contextualized within messages of hope or promised mercy and blessing. More so than anything, particularly for passages from the Nevi'im, the intent is to provoke group or national repentance from evil acts and turn the hearers toward God. Liturgical reforms by the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council led to the removal of some of the imprecatory psalms from the Divine Office, or the editing of more problematic passages for liturgical use.[8]
Several theories have been put forth to interpret these psalms, justify their inclusion in the Bible, and apply them to life. These theories include the notion that the curses are allegorical, cathartic, belonging to a particular dispensation (time period), quotations of enemies, spells, prophecies, the words of the Messiah, or expressions of dependence.[9]
