Cursed by God? Galatians 3:13, Social Status, and Atonement Theory in the Context of Early Jewish Readings of Deuteronomy 21:23

Paul’s citation of Deut 21:23 in Gal 3:13 is often misunderstood, as Paul is
frequently thought to be declaring that Jesus, by virtue of his crucifixion,
fell under the curse which Deut 21:23 pronounces on victims of that form
of execution. This, it is claimed, was the mechanism by which Jesus atoned
for sin, as God transferred the curse resting on humans to Jesus, who bore
it vicariously. There is no evidence, however, that Second Temple Jews read
Deut 21 as cursing all crucifixion victims. Rather, a wealth of evidence
suggests that they understood the Law to curse only those crucified victims
who were truly guilty of capital offenses against God. Therefore, there is
good reason to believe that Paul, himself a Second Temple Jew convinced
of Jesus’s innocence, did not believe that Jesus was cursed by God solely
by virtue of his manner of death on a cross. Thus, Paul’s language in Gal
3:13 when he speaks of Christ “becoming a curse” rather than becoming
“accursed” is significant. It refers to Jesus’s humiliation and execration at
the hands of his fellow Jews, not his becoming vicariously cursed by God.
It is thus not an explanation of the mechanism by which Christ achieved
atonement. This reading receives virtually unanimous support from Patristic interpretations.
Key Words: Galatians, Deuteronomy, curse, crucifixion, cross, Law, redemption, atonement, patristics, church fathers