What scriptures reference generational curses?

Answer 1

Exo 20:1-6 KJV And God spake all these words, saying, (v.2) I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (v.3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (v.4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: (v.5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (v.6) And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Deu 23:2-3 KJV A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD. (v.3) An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:

2Ki 10:30 KJV And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.....2Ki 15:12-15 KJV This was the word of the LORD which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass. (v.13) Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria. (v.14) For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. (v.15) And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

Psa 78:1-8 KJV Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. (v.2) I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: (v.3) Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. (v.4) We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. (v.5) For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: (v.6) That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: (v.7) That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: (v.8) And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

Psa 95:10-11 KJV Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: (v.11) Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

Psa 109:13 KJV Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

Pro 30:11-14 KJV There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. (v.12) There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. (v.13) There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. (v.14) There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

Isa 13:20-21 KJV It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. (v.21) But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

Jer 7:29 KJV Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

Jer 50:39 KJV Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

Ezekiel 18:1-20 NIV

The One Who Sins Will Die1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:

"'The parents eat sour grapes,

and the children's teeth are set on edge'?

3 "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child-both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.

5 "Suppose there is a righteous man

who does what is just and right.

6 He does not eat at the mountain shrines

or look to the idols of Israel.

He does not defile his neighbor's wife

or have sexual relations with a woman during her period.

7 He does not oppress anyone,

but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.

He does not commit robbery

but gives his food to the hungry

and provides clothing for the naked.

8 He does not lend to them at interest

or take a profit from them.

He withholds his hand from doing wrong

and judges fairly between two parties.

9 He follows my decrees

and faithfully keeps my laws.

That man is righteous;

he will surely live,

declares the Sovereign LORD.

10 "Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things[a] 11 (though the father has done none of them):

"He eats at the mountain shrines.

He defiles his neighbor's wife.

12 He oppresses the poor and needy.

He commits robbery.

He does not return what he took in pledge.

He looks to the idols.

He does detestable things.

13 He lends at interest and takes a profit.

Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.

14 "But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:

15 "He does not eat at the mountain shrines

or look to the idols of Israel.

He does not defile his neighbor's wife.

16 He does not oppress anyone

or require a pledge for a loan.

He does not commit robbery

but gives his food to the hungry

and provides clothing for the naked.

17 He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor

and takes no interest or profit from them.

He keeps my laws and follows my decrees.

He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live. 18 But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.

19 "Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live.20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

Answer 2

maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." - Exodus 34:7

Answer 3

There are many who claim that generational curses are Biblical, and even purport that success as a Christian is dependent on the eradication of these curses, However, the "generational curse" does not appear to be based on sound Biblical interpretation.

The argument for generational curses comes from a repeated formula in the Pentateuch (Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).

Numbers 14:18, for example, says, "The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation."

This passage could imply generational cursing (or bondage). However, it could simply be interpreted as the consequences of sin may be felt to the 3rd/4th generation. This is not only a possible interpretation, but it would also be expressing something that we know is true.

In contradiction to the idea of generational curses would be, for example, Jeremiah 31:29-30. In this passage, an explicit statement is made that individuals receive punishment for their own sins. Children do not receive judgment for the parents. That is also consistent with Jewish Law that did not punish the children for the parent's crimes.

Of course, one could still argue for generational curses despite the Jeremiah passage. The strongest passage against generational curses is Ezekiel chapter 18. This passage expands on the theme in Jeremiah 31 and appears to attempt to remove any doubt that generational curses are false.

Curiously, there is a third possibility. The possibility is that generational curses was a part of the distant past, but does not exist today. The passages in the Pentateuch could be interpreted to support generational curses. A couple of passages in II Kings could be used as an argument in favor of this (II Kings 10:30, 15:12). However, a look at these passages appear to be almost the opposite... a withholding of the consequences of sin. Regardless, the Jeremiah and Ezekiel passages appear to discount generational curses with the new covenant. In support of this is the absence of such curses in the New Testament.

The sum total of this appears to be either:

1. Generational curses are NOT Biblical, OR

2. Generational curses are not relevant today.