Early Christian ‚Binding Spells‘? The Formulas in 1 Cor 12:3 Read Against the Background of Ancient Curse Tablets

The Use of Spells and Curses in Antiquity Curses or binding spells were frequently used in antiquity1 to assert a person’s wishes and claims by trying to control opponents and competitors by inflicting physical, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual harm or even death.2 Curse texts were written on a variety of materials, for example, papyrus, ostraca, shells, or metal sheets.3 Curses and binding spells were also used in the form of inscriptions on buildings, boundary stones, grave epitaphs, or votive offerings. Of special interest in this chapter is a corpus of texts so far widely neglected in New Testament Studies: the defixionum tabellae, short defixiones, ancient curse tablets—thin lead tablets inscribed with curses, which were rolled up or folded, sometimes pierced by nails or needles, and often buried near shrines or temples or deposited in graves or wells.4 The lead itself, originally simply a cheap writing material, became a carrier of meaning over time, for the cold of the lead, its weight, and its property of being easily meltable, for example, are associated with the desired magical effect on the victim