Cursing (685) (ara) (only here in the NT) originally it meant a wish, a petition, a prayer, but from the time of Homer it came to mean a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one, an imprecation (invocation of evil upon another), a curse which the deity was to execute. Eventually ara came to mean a malediction, the evil invoked, the mischief itself, the realized curse. In Greek mythology Ara was personified as the goddess of destruction and revenge. Cursing refers to wanting the worst for someone and publicly expressing that desire in caustic, derisive language. It represents open, public expression of emotional hostility against one’s enemy. Full of cursing pictures constant cursing, as if ready to be spilled at the least provocation. Preacher's Bible Commentary notes that... The “curse” in New Testament times was not so much a “swear word” as we would think of it. It meant the use of words which of themselves held the power to bring about the desired effect of their malediction. Springing from a bitter root, this practice was prevalent enough to strike fear in the hearts of all, even to the point of death in some. (Briscoe, D. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. The Preacher's Commentary Series, New Testament. 2003; Thomas Nelson) Newell says "To prove this, you need only take your stand upon any street, and strike upon the mouth a passerby. As well strike a hornets' nest! How men do curse others! Bitterness is ever ready! What fearful folly for a race speaking thus to imagine that by "being baptized, " and "joining the church" they are ready to "go to heaven, " and be in the holy company on high, with the meek and lowly Son of God and the holy angels, -and all this without a thought of being forgiven, washed, born again!" (Romans 3: Devotional and Expositional) Spurgeon comments on Psalm 10:7 writing that "Out of his own mouth he will be condemned. There is not only a little evil there, but his mouth is full of it. There is cursing which he spits against both God and men, deceit with which he entraps the unwary, and fraud by which, even in his common dealings, he robs his neighbors. Beware of such a man. Under his tongue. Deep in his throat are the unborn words which shall come forth as mischief and iniquity." (Treasury of David). The Apostle James says that “The tongue is set on fire of hell.” Ray Stedman comments that... "Cursing is blaming God; that is profanity. Bitterness is reproaching God because of the way he has run your life. This is what we hear all the time, even from Christians. We hear complaints about your circumstances, where God has placed you, and what he is doing with your life -- cursing and bitterness." (Read the full text of the sermon Total Wipeout)