Augustine of Hippo : OATH AND CURSE. — With regard to the words of the servant of Abraham, where he describes the orders of his master, where the Latin codices have: then you will be free of my oath or “my vow”, the Greek codices say: of my curse, for means "oath" "curse", and therefore also and mean "accursed". From this comes the question of knowing how that oath can be understood as a curse. And the reason has to be because one is cursed who acts against an oath. [ — QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 64 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)