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Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Blessing - ברך


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.


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