Introduction
Everybody who has a speaking
knowledge of English has a perception of the meanings for bless
and blessing.
However, when one reads some of the "blessings" in the Hebrew
bible, there is something of a disconnect between the modern conception and the
words present in the text.
Clearly, something has been lost in translation between the ancient
practice and modern perception.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists the following meanings for this
word group:
·
Bless
o
To hallow, consecrate by religious rite
o
To invoke divine care
o
To praise, glorify
o
To endow, favor
·
Blessing (as a noun)
o
Approval
o
Something conducive to happiness
o
A short statement before an event (e.g., grace
before a meal)
The etymology for the modern term
is Old English bletsian, which was the term for consecration with
blood. This original use is more
closely related to the Hebrew concept of ברית (covenant) than
with that of ברך (bless). The Greek and Latin terms used to
translate the ברך word group are
ευλογεω and benedictio,
respectively, and both terms mean essentially to speak good words.
There is some semantic connection
between these terms and the use of the ברך word group, but the correspondence is hardly complete.
ברך Word Group
In biblical Hebrew this root
includes three different terms – one verb and two nouns. The verb form occurs a total of 327
times, and its root meaning is to kneel with bless
as a derived sense. The verb is
attested in the following inflections:
·
Qal stem is attested a total of 74 times. Of these the infinitive absolute occurs
once, imperfect forms occur twice, and the passive participle (ברוך)
occurs 71 times. The literal root
meaning occurs just once (Ps 95:6); all other occurrences have been translated
by bless (transitive) or blessed (passive).
·
Niphal stem is attested a total of three
times. This usage may be
understood as either the passive or the reflexive of the Qal stem.
·
Piel stem is attested 230 times. BDB lists five different uses:
o
Men bless God
o
God blesses men
o
Men bless men
o
Men greet men
o
Used sarcastically to express antithetical sense
·
Pual stem is attested a total of 12 times. This usage is consistently the passive
of the Piel stem.
·
Hiphil stem is attested once with the causative
of the root meaning – cause to kneel.
·
Hithpael stem is attested seven times. Each occurrence expresses the reflexive
of the Piel stem.
One noun form with the literal meaning
of knee occurs a total of 26 times. The second noun form – ברכה – occurs 71
times and has the primary meaning of blessing.
Meaning of ברך Word Group
Clearly, the root meaning of ברך has nothing to do with the
etymological meaning of the Old English term bletsian, but there
is a common range of usage between the modern English term bless
and the Hebrew word group of ברך. Yet, there remains specific 'blessings'
in the Torah particularly that do not correspond to the modern idea of blessing
at all. Of particular interest are
the blessing of Isaac for Jacob and Esau, the blessing of Jacob for Ephraim and
Manasseh and then for the 12 tribes, and finally the blessing of Moses for the
tribes prior to their crossing the Jorden.
Blessing for Jacob
As most people are aware, Jacob
obtained the blessing that Isaac intended to bestow on Esau by deceit. This was to be the blessing for the
first-born son. Esau was
physically the first-born son, but he sold his status as the first-born son to
Jacob for a pot of stew. The
blessing as preserved in Gen 27:28, 29 is as follows:
May God give you
the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new
wine.
May peoples
serve you and nations bow down to you;
Be master of
your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you.
Cursed be those
who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.
Did Jacob experience any of this
blessing during his life? Mostly
no. He did receive significant
wealth in livestock, 12 sons, and major problems due to the rivalry between
Joseph and his 10 older brothers.
During the time of the kings David and Solomon, some aspects of the
blessing were realized, but the entire blessing has never been realized to this
day. It is no accident that
essentially all of the later prophets promise what amounts to fulfillment of
this blessing in the times to come.
Blessing for Esau
Esau came in to his father some
period of time after Jacob had left seeking his father's blessing, but his
father's blessing left something to be desired:
Behold, away
from the fertility of the land shall be your dwelling
And away from
the dew of heaven from above.
By your sword
you shall live, and your brother shall you serve.
But it will come
about when you become restless that you will break his yoke from your neck.
Did Esau experience these things
in his life? Esau lived in an area
that became known as Edom, which is mostly a desert region. He became extremely wealthy in terms of
material possessions and he fathered a line of kings. They were war-like raiders and a continual problem for
Israel during the time of the judges, but they were subdued during the time of
David and Solomon. During the
subsequent centuries, the Edomites came under domination of the great powers of
the region just as Israel and Judah did.
However, in the first century BCE the Idumeans, descendants of Esau,
adopted the religion of the Jews, and Herod became their king. Thus, essentially all of Isaac's 'blessing'
has been realized for Esau's line of descendants.
Blessing for Ephraim and Manasseh
Joseph was Jacob's favorite son,
so he gave a special blessing to his two sons (Gen 48:15, 16):
May the God
before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked
The God who has
been my shepherd all my life to this day
The messenger
who redeemed my from every calamity
Bless these lads
And may he
proclaim my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, in them
And may they
increase to a multitude in the land.
Jacob pronounced the blessing
with his right hand on Ephraim's head, indicating that he would receive the
blessing of the first born. Joseph
objected because Ephraim was the younger of the two. Jacob responded:
He (Manasseh) will
also become a people, and he also will become great; but his younger brother
will be greater than he, and his seed will become the fullness of nations.
Did this happen? Ephraim became the dominant people of
the northern kingdom, which was known as Israel, so the people of Ephraim were
greater in significance than those of Manasseh. After the captivity of Israel, the people essentially
disappeared from history. The
significance of the last clause about Ephraim is debated, but it is possible
that, though unrecognized, his descendants are a significant portion of the
population in many nations. (On
this basis some have asserted that some part or all of the European nations
contain substantial portions of Ephraimites.)
Blessings for the 12 Tribes
Prior to his death Jacob called
his sons together and pronounced a prophetic oracle over them (Gen 49). Gen 49:1 indicates that Jacob was
foretelling the future destiny of the 12 tribes, making them prophetic oracles;
but Heb 11:20, 21 states that there is some range of commonality between a
"blessing" and a prophetic oracle. Moses also "blessed" the tribes of Israel just
before he died, but there are some significant differences between the
blessings of Jacob and those of Moses.
These two "blessings" are set side-by-side to make the
differences obvious.
|
Reuben (Gen 49:3,4)
|
Reuben (Dt 33:6)
|
|
Reuben,
you are my first-born;
My
might and the beginning of my strength,
Preeminent
in dignity, and preeminent in power.
Uncontrolled
as water, you shall not have preeminence,
Because
you went up to your father's bed;
Then
you defiled it – he went up to my couch.
|
May
Reuben live and not die,
But
may his men be a few
|
|
Simeon and Levi (Gen 49:5-7)
|
Levi (Dt 33:8-11)
|
|
Simeon
and Levi are brothers;
Their
swords are implements of violence.
Let
my soul not enter into their council;
Let
my glory not be united with their assembly;
Because
in their anger they slew men,
And
in their self-will they lamed oxen.
Cursed
be their anger, for it is fierce;
And
their wrath, for it is cruel.
I
will disperse them in Jacob
And
scatter them in Jacob.
|
Your
thummim and your Urim are for your covenant-faithful men,
Whom
he proved at Massah,
And
they contended over the water of Meribah.
Those
who said to his father and mother, "I do not perceive him,"
And
he did not consider his brothers, and he did not acknowledge his sons;
But
they kept your words and guarded your covenant.
They
will teach your judgments to Jacob, even your Torah to Israel.
They
will put smoke (of burnt offerings) before you, even whole offerings on your
altar.
Oh
YHWH, bless his worthy men and accept the work of his hands;
Shatter
the loins of those who rise against him and hate him that they not rise.
|
|
Judah (Gen 49:8-12)
|
Judah (Dt 33:7)
|
|
Judah,
your brothers shall praise you;
Your
hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your
father's sons shall bow down to you.
Judah
is a lion's whelp;
From
the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He
couches, he lies down as a lion,
And
as a lion, who dares to raise him up?
The
scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor
the ruler's staff from between his feet,
Until
Shiloh comes,
And
to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
He
ties his foal to the vine,
And
his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
He
washes his garments in wine,
And
his robes in the blood of grapes.
His
eyes are dull from wine,
But
his teeth are whiter than milk.
|
Hear,
oh YHWH, the voice of Yehudah and bring him to his people.
His
hands contended for him, so may you become one who helps against his
adversaries.
|
|
Zebulun (Gen 49:13)
|
Zebulun and Issachar (Dt 33:18,
19)
|
|
Zebulun
shall dwell at the seashore;
And
he shall be a haven for ships,
And
his flank shall be toward Sidon.
|
Rejoice,
oh Zebulun, in your going forth, and (rejoice), Issachar, in your tents.
My
mountains (SP) will call peoples there; they will present righteous
sacrifices, for they will draw out abundance from seas and hidden treasures
from sand.
|
|
Issachar (Gen 49:14, 15)
|
|
|
Issachar
is a strong donkey,
Lying
down between the sheepfolds.
When
he saw that the resting place was good
And
that the land was pleasant,
He
bowed his shoulders to bear burdens
And
became a conscripted laborer.
|
|
|
Dan (Gen 49:16 -18)
|
Dan (Dt 33:22)
|
|
Dan
shall judge his people
As
one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan
shall be like a serpent in the way,
A
horned snake in the path
That
bites the horse's heels
So
that the rider falls backwards.
For
your salvation I wait, oh YHWH.
|
Dan
is a lion's whelp,
He
springs forth from Bashan.
|
|
Gad (Gen 49:19)
|
Gad (Dt 33:20, 21)
|
|
As
for Gad, raiders shall raid him,
But
he shall raid at their heels.
|
Blessed
is he who enlarges Gad.
He
lies down like a lion, and he tears arm and also crown of the head.
He
perceived the first part for himself, for there is the hidden portion
prescribed. He came with leaders
of a people. He did the
righteousness of YHWH and his judgments with his people.
|
|
Asher (Gen 49:20)
|
Asher (Dt 33:24, 25)
|
|
As
for Asher, his food shall be rich,
And
he shall yield royal dainties.
|
More
blessed than sons is Asher; may he be favored by his brothers, and may he dip
his feet in oil.
|
|
Naphtali (Gen 49:21)
|
Naphtali (Dt 33:23)
|
|
Naphtali
is a doe let loose;
He
gives beautiful words.
|
Naphtali
is satisfied with favor and full of blessing from YHWH. He will possess the sea and the
south.
|
|
Joseph (Gen 49:22-26)
|
Joseph (Dt 33:13-17)
|
|
Joseph
is a fruitful son,
A
fruitful son by a spring
His
branches run over a wall.
The
archers bitterly attacked him
And
shot and harassed him;
But
his bow remained firm,
And
his arms were agile.
From
the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
From
there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,
From
the God of your father who helps you,
And
by the Almighty who blesses you
With
blessings from heaven above,
Blessings
from the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings
of the breasts and of the womb.
The
blessings of your father
Have
surpassed the blessings of my ancestors
Up
to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;
May
they be on the head of Joseph,
And
on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
|
Blessed
by YHWH is his land, with choice things of heaven, with dew, and with the
deep lying below;
And
from choice produce from the sun and with choice yield of months;
And
with the top of the ancient mountains and the choice of the everlasting
hills;
And
with choice things of the earth and its fullness and favor of him who dwells
in the bush.
May
it come to the head of Joseph, even to the crown of him consecrated for his
brothers.
The
first-born of his ox – honor is his – and the horns of his head are horns of
a wild ox; with them he will push nations together to the ends of the earth;
And
they are the 10,000s of Ephraim and the 1000s of Manasseh.
|
|
Benjamin (Gen 49:27)
|
Benjamin (Dt 33:12)
|
|
Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the
prey,
And in the evening he divides
the spoil.
|
One beloved of YHWH will dwell
securely because of him, covering over him all the day;
He will abide between his
shoulders.
|
Several things are immediately
obvious with this side-by-side comparison:
·
Jacob's blessings are presented in the birth
order of his sons; those of Moses are not.
·
Simeon and Levi are addressed together in the
blessing of Jacob, but Simeon is omitted completely from that of Moses.
·
Zebulun and Issachar are addressed separately in
the blessing of Jacob, but they are addressed together in that of Moses.
·
Most of the blessings include symbolism that are
subject to various interpretations, but all of the blessings were intended to
foretell the destinies of the respective tribes. Interestingly, there is a significant shift in the predicted
destiny of certain tribes between the blessings of Jacob and those of Moses.
Reuben
Jacob's "blessing" for
Reuben reads more like a curse. He
was the first-born son, but he proved unworthy of this status, so the blessing
of the first-born went to Joseph and his two sons (the double share). The "blessing" of Moses
continues this theme, but it is not quite as harsh, though this text has been
rendered in two different ways:
·
May Reuben live and not die, and may his men not
be few. (NASB, LXX)
·
May Reuben live and not die, but his men will be
few. (MT, SP, Vg, etc.)
I can find no evidence of a
Hebrew text with the first reading, so I conclude that the second reading is
original. This is consistent with Jacob's
words. The tribe of Reuben was to
become insignificant in the life of the future nation, but it did not disappear
completely. This is essentially
borne out by the biblical text in that all references to Reuben disappear after
the book of Judges until Ezekiel 48:24 ff.
Simeon – Levi
Jacob's statement concerning
Simeon and Levi asserted that they would be scattered among the other
tribes. Moses omitted any blessing
for Simeon but turned that for Levi into a position of preeminence within the
tribes. Historically. Simeon
received a tribal allotment within that of Judah, and then they disappeared
from the text of the bible until Ezekiel 48:24 ff. The destiny of Levi was changed from this because of their
conspicuous faithfulness to YHWH during the Exodus. They were scattered throughout the land in specially
designated cities, and they became the teachers and priests of Israel.
Judah
Jacob's blessing for Judah
asserts that he would become the source of kings in Israel until a future
ultimate ruler (Shiloh) appears on the scene. This blessing is generally positive until the last verse,
which suggests that Judah would become self-satisfied and self-indulgent. Moses' blessing is somewhat obscure,
but it seems to address the destiny of the future ultimate king, Shiloh.
Asher, Issachar, Naphtali, Zebulun
These four tribes received
various blessings. They were all
relatively small and their inherited territories were in the north west of the land
from the Jordin rift to the coast.
All four tribes essentially disappeared from the text of scripture from the
end of Judges to Ezekiel 48.
Gad
The territory of Gad was east of
the Jordin river and between Reuben to the south and the territory of Manasseh
to the north. The blessing of
Jacob states that raiders would enter Gad, but he would raid them back. In point of fact, this region includes
significant passes through the eastern mountains of the Jordin rift, so raiders
from the east naturally passed through this way. The blessing of
Moses passes over this detail and apparently addresses ultimate destiny. Gad also mostly disappears from the
text from Judges to Ezekiel 48.
Dan
Jacob's blessing for Dan
indicates that he will produce a judge for Israel. This in fact happened with Samson. The territory of Dan was located at the center of the land
from the coastal plain to the coast.
This area was dominated by the Philistines, and after the death pf
Samson, the majority of the Danites migrated to the extreme north east of the
land. This location is now known
as the Golan heights, but then it was called Bashan. Significantly, the blessing of Moses identifies Bashan as
the location of Dan.
Joseph
Joseph receives the blessing of
the first-born from Jacob, Moses, and Ezekiel 48, but he did not receive
kingship over all the tribes. The
combined territory of Manasseh and Ephraim included all of Gilead east of the
Jordin and all of the central valley west of the Jordin to the coast. The tribal allotment of Ephraim was
roughly 1/4 that of Manasseh, but Ephraim proved to be the more dominant of the
two. Historically, the northern kingdom
was stronger and richer than the southern kingdom, but essentially all of the
Israelite kings were designated as evil in the eyes of YHWH. As a result, they did experience the
material blessings promised for a time, but they were the first to be expelled
from their land. Following their
exile, most of them became assimilated and lost realization of their identity. Ezekiel 48 promises a future
realization of the full blessings, but that remains unfulfilled to the present
time.
Benjamin
Benjamin was one of the smallest
tribes to enter the land, and his tribal allotment was a thin strip between
Judah in the south and Ephraim in the north with Jerusalem roughly on the
border between Judah and Benjamin.
A civil war between Benjamin and the rest of Israel is described in
Judges 20. Despite the small size
of Benjamin's army (26,700 against 400,000), they held out for three
consecutive days. According to the
numbers in the text, Israel lost over 44,000 men, but Benjamin lost all but 600
men. After this Saul of Benjamin
became the first king of all Israel, and he reigned at least 20 years. All this makes some sense of Jacob's
description "Benjamin is a ravaging wolf. However, Moses' description presents Benjamin as being in a
position of ultimate blessing from YHWH.
This can only be a reference to the future events anticipated in Ezekiel
48.
Meaning of ברך
According to Hebrews 7:7, the
lesser receives a blessing from the greater individual. Now the root significance of the root ברך indicates a position of submission before one who is
acknowledged as superior. The
nature of that superiority depends on circumstance. So king, priest, prophet are all superior in position to
essentially every other person in the society. A teacher is superior to his students, and the owner of a
house is superior in position to a guest.
But YHWH is superior to all mere humans.
The vast majority of blessings in
the Hebrew bible are stated using either the qal passive participle ברוך or various forms of the piel stem. Among the more common blessing formulas
is ברוך אתה ....
Such a statement either asserts that one is blessed or wishes one to be
blessed, but the one making the statement has no intrinsic power to make the
blessing effective. The use of the
piel stem is different. It is a
transitive form and implies that the one making the statement has some capacity
to transmit the blessing enunciated.
·
Men bless God. This seems to be a contradiction to the assertion that the
greater blesses the lesser. However,
in usage this constitutes a form of worship by means of words or conduct. If we view God as heavenly father of
the human race, then as a father he is blessed when the words and conduct of
his children are consistent with his will and character.
·
God blesses men. This includes divine proclamation of
future destiny for a people as well as granting temporal blessings. God has both the position and power to
ensure that such enunciations will be realized in time.
·
Men bless men. This usage may take two forms: (1) A person of superior
status may enunciate a blessing for a subordinate and effect the substance of
that blessing. This includes the
case of proclaiming future destiny, except mere men have no power to ensure
that their statement of destiny will be realized as stated. (2) A man may invoke a prayer requesting YHWH to extend a
blessing or proclamation of destiny to another.
The point where biblical usage
departs from the current concept of "blessing" is that
the uttered words may affect the destiny of the individual or groups of
individuals addressed. This was
clearly the case with the specific blessings listed above. Isaac, Jacob, and Moses all clearly
intended their words to be an enunciation of destiny. That destiny may take a long time to be realized, and it may
be somewhat altered as the result of the covenant loyalty (or lack thereof) by
the individuals affected.
