What does 1 Corinthians 16:22 mean?

The previous verse reveals that Paul is writing the end of this long letter to the Corinthians with his own hand instead of dictating it to someone else. Use of a trained scribe, called an amanuensis, to record dictated words, was common in that era. Paul sometimes did this to emphasize a strong point, which he does with this curse. To contrast this with a more-typical benediction, some refer to this statement as a malediction.

This curse is really a prayer: Let anyone who has no love for the Lord be accursed. The difference between genuine believers and unbelievers—especially false teachers—was true love for Christ. Paul likely was asking God to specially curse those who would come among the Christians in Corinth to lead them away from faith in Christ through false teaching.

Paul follows this with another, even shorter prayer: Our Lord, come! Paul deeply longed for Christ to return and all things to be made right. Christians around the world still join Paul in praying for the Lord's soon return.