Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3
When God called Abram (later renamed Abraham), one of the key pillars of that calling was Abram being blessed. What does it mean to be blessed?
Blessed
The Hebrew word for bless is בָּרַךְ (barak). A blessing (noun) is a berakah. A blessing formula begins in the imperative baruk (“Blessed is/are…”). These various forms occur about 400 times in the Hebrew Bible.
Blessing envelops multiple facets of our lives. Part of it can be financial (Deuteronomy 28:3-6). It can be offspring (Psalm 128:3-4). God blesses with peace (Psalm 29:11). It can be the little things in our lives, too.
Receiving a blessing in the ancient world was very important. When Isaac thought he was on his deathbed, he summoned his oldest son Esau to bestow on him a blessing (Genesis 27). His youngest son Jacob, however, snuck in and stole the blessing. When Esau realized what had happened, he hated his deceptive brother. These are more than words. The blessing holds great weight as the patriarch passes on the leadership of the family to the next generation.
Blessings appear to be a common greeting. When Boaz was out in his field and greeted his harvesters, they responded, “May the LORD bless you” (Ruth 2:4). David sent messengers to bless (most translations say “greet”) Nabal’s workers (1 Samuel 25:14).
God commanded the priests to bless the people in the name of the LORD (Numbers 6:22-27, see also Deuteronomy 21:5, 2 Chronicles 30:27). The ultimate blessing is God in our lives, bringing us inner peace (shalom), even when the world around us is in turmoil.
Blessing God
While it makes sense that God blesses people and people bless others, we also see people blessing God. How can that be? God is the source of all blessing, so how can we lowly humans bless him? For instance, look at Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek:
19 And [Melchizedek] blessed him and said,
Genesis 14:19-20 (ESV)
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
We see three instances of the word barak here, first as the summary action that Mechizedek performed, then two baruk statements: one for Abraham and the other for God. The NIV obscures the parallelism by translating the second of these as “praise” even though it’s the same word. [1] (There is a separate word, halal, which means praise, which you may recognize from the word hallelujah – “praise the Lord”)
I think this functions in a similar way as a lesser person blessing a greater one. What can you give a God who creates everything? We can give him credit and worship him. In fact, barak is translated elsewhere as “to kneel” (Psalm 95:6), as in bowing down in worship. We respond to God’s blessing by blessing him back with praise, lowering ourselves to lift him up.
Acknowledging God’s Blessings
Jews commonly bless God every day. These are basically formulaic prayers to thank God and acknowledge him as the source of all blessing. They typically start, “Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the universe, who…” and continue to address the specific situation at hand. It is done in the moment, immediately acknowledging him. This ranges from large to small. Even mundane actions such as using the bathroom have a blessing. [2]
We see this idea at work when Abraham’s servant seeks a wife for Isaac. When he finds Rebecca and realizes his prayer was answered, he gives the LORD the credit: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master” (Genesis 24:27).
When Jesus fed the crowds, it begins by saying he blessed and he broke (Matthew 14:19). Some translations insert an object in that sentence, saying he blessed the food. This misunderstands how blessings work. Before meals, they bless God for the food. Jesus probably prayed something like, “Blessed is he who brings forth bread from the earth”.
To Ponder…
How has God blessed you, even just today? How are you a blessing to others?
Do you bless God and acknowledge how he has blessed you, both privately and publicly? Does God get the credit? Do you give God a good reputation by your life? Consider adopting the habit of blessing God for all the big and small things he gives you throughout your day.
[1] See Psalm 103:1-3 as another example. While the first two verses say to bless the LORD (NIV: “praise”) and verse 3 says “May the LORD bless you”.
[2] See https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/115465?lang=bi for the full blessing