Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BLESS, BLESSING

The Hebrew root brk bears a number of unrelated etymological meanings: the verbal and nominal forms of “bless"; the verbal and nominal forms of “kneel”; and a noun, “pool, pond, basin.” Even within the semantic range “bless,” brk can mean to bestow goodness or favor or to greet, congratulate, thank, make peace, worship, or praise. The qal passive participle bārûḵ, meaning “blessed,” occurs most often in the formula “blessed be . . .” In seven occurrences, bāraḵ is used for “curse” (e.g., Ps. 10:3); because such curses are directed against God, most scholars attribute them to scribal emendation in spite of the lack of textual evidence.

Brk is most often a relational marker, signifying the existence of some sacral, legal, or social relationship. God, angels, and humanity may bless; God, humanity, animals, and inanimate objects can be blessed. Precisely what is conveyed by the act of blessing differs depending upon both its grantor and grantee. Foremost, however, blessing is a performative utterance, or speech act, that brings good upon someone or something in contrast to cursing, which is maleficent to its recipient.

God repeatedly blesses individuals (Job 42:12), groups (cf. Exod. 32:29), and nations (Jer. 4:2), particularly Israel (Deut. 26:15), in accordance with a divine-human covenantal relationship. This idea is emphasized in the Deuteronomistic history and the Prophets through God’s conveying of blessings for covenantal obedience, as opposed to curses for covenantal breach (Deut. 27–28). Such blessings and curses would serve to enforce the provision of the law (Josh. 8:34). It is probable that the Hebrew writers modeled this covenant relationship on ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaties. It should be noted that there is wide disagreement among scholars regarding the extent to which divine blessing has to do with salvation history rather than nature and creation as established in the primeval history. The benefactions of God are diverse and include vitality, health, longevity, fertility, land, prosperity, honor, victory, and power. God also blesses creatures (Gen. 1:22; Deut. 28:4) and inanimate objects, such as land (Deut. 26:15), dwellings (Prov. 3:33), crops (Deut. 7:13), bread and water (Exod. 23:25), work (Deut. 28:8), and the sabbath (Gen. 2:3), usually for the benefit of humanity.

Humans may also bless. While early 20th-century scholarship suggested that blessings in the ancient world held a power independent of God, the most recent scholarship concludes that God is the original source of all human blessings (Num. 6:22-27; 23:20). First, humans may bless others in their role as intermediaries for God, e.g., family heads (Gen. 9:1), leaders (Exod. 39:43), kings (2 Sam. 6:18 = 1 Chr. 16:2), prophets (Num. 23:11), priests (1 Sam. 2:20), or disciples (Acts 3:26). Such blessings may hold legal or sacral significance. A deathbed blessing from the family head serves as an irrevocable bequest of property (Gen. 27–28, 48–49). A blessing may also hold the legal status of a peace treaty when offered by a king or other in authority (2 Kgs. 18:31 = Isa. 36:16). Priests are especially important for their liturgical function (Num. 6:24-26).

Second, a human may seek to invoke divine blessing upon another, which might be offered by anyone in the more mundane affairs of life in greeting (Gen. 47:7), in parting (Gen. 24:60), between host and guest (1 Sam. 25:14), in friendship (2 Sam. 21:3), as congratulations (1 Chr. 18:10), in gratitude (Neh. 11:2), or in homage (2 Sam. 14:22). One might also bless oneself (Deut. 29:19[MT 18]). In all such cases, the blessing denotes the presence of a relationship between the giver and the receiver that is grounded in the divine-human relationship.

Third, humans sometimes bless things. This is another aspect of the invocation of God’s favor upon humanity, which arises upon use of a blessed object. The consecration of articles of sacrifice is perhaps the most significant example of this category (1 Sam. 9:13).

Finally, humans and angels may bless God (Ps. 134:1-2; 103:20). Scholars disagree concerning the significance of this type of blessing: can it signify the bestowal of favor or goodness upon God? The answer depends not only upon one’s view of ancient Israelite theology, but also upon one’s anthropological view of the ancient Israelites regarding the magical power of the speech act itself. Later scholarship suggests that most likely brk here denotes only the acts of worship, praise, or thanksgiving (Ps. 115:17-18).

The English word “blessed” may additionally be used to translate Heb. ʾašrê (or ʾōšer, Gen. 30:13), which might also be rendered “happy.” This word is most frequently found in the blessing formula found in Psalms and Proverbs: “blessed are those . . .” The NT equivalent is Gk. makários, found most notably in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5).

In the NT the blessings of Jesus take on considerable importance. Jesus blesses (Gk. eulogéō) the elements of the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 26:26-28), and accordingly Paul calls the communion wine the cup of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). Jesus also blesses the loaves of the feeding miracles (Matt.14:19), as well as the disciples themselves (Luke 24:50-51). The blessing on those who curse and revile the followers of the Lord is another significant theme (Luke 6:28). In Paul’s writings “blessed” takes on additional meaning in that God is called blessed in the sense of being holy (Rom. 1:25).

Bibliography. C. W. Mitchell, The Meaning of BRK “To Bless” in the Old Testament. SBLDS 95 (Atlanta, 1987); R. Westbrook, “Undivided Inheritance,” in Property and the Family in Biblical Law. JSOT Sup 113 (Sheffield, 1991), 188-41; C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church. OBT (Philadelphia, 1978).

F. Rachel Magdalene

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BLESS, BLESSING

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)