Revelation 22:3; No More Curse

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Revelation 22:3 (KJV)  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 

The absence of the curse and the presence of God and of the Lamb further characterise the restoration of Paradise – And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 

One way of relating “And there shall be no more curse” is to connect it with the next clause resulting I the rationale, because of the absence of the curse, divine rule will not terminate.

The curse as a hindrance to man’s fellowship with God will no longer exist (contra Genesis 3:8-9) (Swete, Lee).

Genesis 3:8-9 (KJV)  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 

The Tree of Life will heal the nations, and there will be no longer a curse from God on the nations, a curse imposed by Him in connection with the initial biblical appearance of the Tree of Life (Genesis 2:22-24) (Bullinger, Beckwith).

The “curse” imposed in Genesis 3 will no longer exist (Moffatt, Beasley-Murray, Johnson). This agrees with the anticipation of Zechariah 14:11 (Hughes, Revelation, p.233).

Zechariah 14:11 (KJV)  And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 

The word translated “curse” “katathema” occurs only here in the New Testament, but it is a cognate of another word “curse” “anathema” that occurs six times in the New Testament (Acts 23:14; Romans 9:3; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 16:22; Galatians 1:8, 9).

Acts 23:14 (KJV)  And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. 

Romans 9:3 (KJV)  For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 

1 Corinthians 12:3 (KJV)  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 

1 Corinthians 16:22 (KJV)  If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha. 

Galatians 1:8-9 (KJV)  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 

The latter noun in allocate except Acts 23:14 refers to the object toward which a sentence is directed, But Acts 23:14 refers to the sentence itself (Swete).

The latter meaning is more appropriate for katathema. The existence of a new creation lifts the bane that hung over the old creation throughout its existence after the Fall.

Nothing will remain to bar the residence of God among His people.

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 486]