Deuteronomy 27:26

Cursed Is Every One

Doctrine shifted

Quoted by the apostles in Galatians 3:10, in the older Greek wording

Paul quoted a curse with one small word the later Hebrew does not have.

Side by Side

The Older Text

Septuagint, translated before Messiah

Cursed is every man that continues not in all the words of this law to do them: and all the people shall say, So be it.

The Later Text

Masoretic, finished about 1,000 years after the cross

Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen. (No “all” before “the words.”)

Quoted in Galatians 3:10

Paul on seeking entry by works

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Your KJV reads: “all the words” in Deuteronomy, printing “all” in italics because the Hebrew lacks it, and the Greek wording in Galatians.

See what changed and why ↓

What Your Bible Says

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Galatians 3:10 KJV

Paul is writing to people who were being told they must earn their place among Yahuah’s people by their own works. His answer: anyone who tries to stand on his own record stands under the curse, because the Law requires all, and no man has done all.

What the Jewish Bible Says

Word for word, the Hebrew reads: “Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them.” There is no “every” and no “all.” Your KJV has “all,” but prints it in italics, its sign for a word the translators supplied.

What Changed

Without “all,” the curse can be read as falling only on the man who refuses to uphold the Law, the one who throws it off. A man who upholds it in general, while failing in many points, could think himself safe.

With “all,” the curse falls on anyone who does not continue in every word. That is the line Paul needed, and the line he quoted.

What the Curse Is Not

The curse is not the Law. Paul says “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12). The curse falls on those who seek entry by their own works instead of by the blood.

Messiah hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.

Galatians 3:13 KJV

Messiah redeemed us from the curse the Law pronounces, not from the Law itself. After deliverance, believers walk in it: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).

Which One Is Right?

The Greek Bible, translated before Messiah, has “every man” and “all the words.”

The Samaritan Torah, copied apart from the rabbis, also has “all.” Jerome noted this around 400 AD.

Paul quoted it with “all things.”

The Masoretic text has no “all.”

Purpose of the Change

The effect of the shorter wording is a curse a man might hope to escape by upholding the Law in general. That weakens the very point Paul pressed: no man enters by his own record, so every man needs the blood.

The Bottom Line

No man continues in all, so no man enters by his own record. The blood is the way in; the Law is the walk after.

At the end the curse is gone and the commandments remain: “there shall be no more curse” (Revelation 22:3), and “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life” (Revelation 22:14).

Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it

The Missing Word

The Hebrew word for “all” is kol. It is not in the Masoretic text of this verse. Your KJV supplies it in italics. It stands in the Greek and in the Samaritan Torah. Jerome, who worked from Hebrew copies around 400 AD, said he found it in the Samaritan text and charged the Jewish copies with leaving it out.

Twelve Curses

Deuteronomy 27 lists twelve curses, read out by the Levites while half the tribes stood on Mount Ebal, from making a hidden idol (27:15) onward. After each one, all the people said Amen. Verse 26 closes the list and sums it up. The Greek makes the summary cover everything; the Masoretic leaves it open.

Works of the Law

Paul’s phrase “as many as are of the works of the law” means those who look to their own law-keeping to make them right with Yahuah. The next verse explains: “no man is justified by the law in the sight of God” (Galatians 3:11). The Law shows the way to walk. It was never the door.

Not Against the Promises

Paul asks the question himself: “Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid” (Galatians 3:21). Those who read Galatians as an attack on the Torah skip that line.

An Honest Note

The Hebrew verb “confirm” means to uphold or establish, and some argue it already implies the whole Law. The KJV translators seem to have thought so, since they added “all.” Even so, the Greek and the Samaritan carry the word itself, and Paul’s quotation rests on it.