What Does “Maranatha” Really Mean?

Most interpreters of the Bible and the average reader of the Scriptures have learned, and taught, that the word “maranatha” (which is found only in 1 Cor 16:22) means “Come, Lord” or “Our Lord Comes!” Is this correct?

Perhaps not, if Calvin and Bullinger (along with Luther) are to be believed. Calvin writes in his commentary on 1 Corinthians

Bullinger, on the authority of Theodore Bibliander, has affirmed, that, in the Chaldee dialect, Maharamata has the same meaning as the Hebrew term חרם, cherem, (accursed) and I was myself at one time assured of the same thing by Wolfgang Capito, a man of blessed memory. It is nothing unusual for the Apostles to write such terms differently from the way in which they are pronounced in the language from which they are derived; as may be seen even from the instances brought forward above. Paul, then, after pronouncing an anathema on those who do not love Christ, “Having excommunicated, and pronounced execrable those who do not love Jesus Christ” deeply affected with the seriousness of the matter, as if he reckoned that he had not said enough, added a term that was in common use among the Jews, and which they made use of in pronouncing a sentence of anathema — just as if, speaking in Latin, I should say, “I excommunicate thee,” but if I add — “and pronounce thee an anathema,” this would be an expression of more intense feeling.

In other words, ‘maranatha’ has nothing to do with the coming of the Lord- but goes hand in hand with the curse, anathema.

This solution, though not widely known (apparently) answers quite directly the curious problem as to why Paul would in one breath utter a curse against unbelievers and then say “The Lord Come”.

Are the Reformers right on this one? You decide. And, as an aside, it really is interesting to me that of all the things the Reformers have taught us about Scripture, this one, very intriguing bit, seems to have escaped much notice.