Reference: Bless
Easton
(1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Ge 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps 45:2; 104:24,35).
(2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps 103:1-2; 145:1-2).
(3.) A man blesses himself when he invokes God's blessing (Isa 65:16), or rejoices in God's goodness to him (De 29:19; Ps 49:18).
(4.) One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare (Ge 24:60; 31:55; 1Sa 2:20). Sometimes blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case of Noah, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses (Ge 9:26-27; 27:28-29,40; 48:15-20; 49:1-28; De 33). The priests were divinely authorized to bless the people (De 10:8; Nu 6:22-27). We have many examples of apostolic benediction (2Co 13:14; Eph 6:23-24; 2Th 3:16,18; Heb 13:20-21; 1Pe 5:10-11).
(5.) Among the Jews in their thank-offerings the master of the feast took a cup of wine in his hand, and after having blessed God for it and for other mercies then enjoyed, handed it to his guests, who all partook of it. Ps 116:13 refers to this custom. It is also alluded to in 1Co 10:16, where the apostle speaks of the "cup of blessing."
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and God blessed them, saying, "Grow and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowls multiply upon the earth."
And he said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Shem, and Canaan be his servant. God increase Japheth that he may dwell in the tents of Shem. And Canaan be their servant."
and the LORD hath blessed my master out of measure that he is become great and hath given him sheep, oxen, silver and gold, menservants, maidservants, camels and asses.
And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, "Thou art our sister, grow into thousand thousands, and thy seed possess the gates of their enemies."
God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine. People be thy servants, and nations bow unto thee. Be lord over thy brethren, and thy mother's children stoop unto thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee."
And with thy sword shalt thou live and shalt be thy brother's servant; But the time will come, when thou shalt get the mastery, and loose his yoke from off thy neck."
And early in the morning Laban rose up and kissed his children and his daughters, and blessed them and departed and went unto his place again.
And he blessed Joseph saying, "God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, and the God which hath fed me all my life long unto this day; And the angel which hath delivered me from all evil, bless these lads: that they may be called after my name, and after my father Abraham and Isaac, and that they may grow and multiply upon the earth." read more. When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. And he lift up his father's hand, to have removed it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head, and said unto his father, "Not so my father, for this is the eldest. Put thy righthand upon his head." And his father would not, but said, "I know it well my son, I know it well. He shall be also a people and shall be great. But of a truth his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall be full of people." And he blessed them, saying, "At the example of these, the Israelites shall bless and say, 'God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.'" Thus set he Ephraim before Manasseh.
And Jacob called for his sons and said, "Come together, that I may tell you what shall happen you in the last days. Gather you together and hear ye sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father. read more. "Reuben, thou art mine eldest son, my might and the beginning of my strength, chief in receiving and chief in power. As unstable as water wast thou: thou shalt therefore not be the chiefest, for thou wentest up upon thy father's bed, and then defiledest thou my couch with going up. The brethren Simeon and Levi, wicked instruments are their weapons. Into their secrets come not my soul, and unto their congregation be my honour not coupled: for in their wrath they slew a man, and in their self will they houghed an ox. Cursed be their wrath for it was strong, and their fierceness for it was cruel. I will therefore divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. "Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee, and thine hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies, and thy father's children shall stoop unto thee. Judah is a lion's whelp. From spoil, my son, thou art come on high: he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler from between his legs, until Shiloh come, unto whom the people shall hearken. He shall bind his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the vine branch, and shall wash his garment in wine and his mantle in the blood of grapes: his eyes are roudier than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. "Zebulon shall dwell in the haven of the sea and in the port of ships, and shall reach unto Sidon. Issachar is a strong ass, he couched him down between two borders, and saw that rest was good and the land that it was pleasant, and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, and an adder in the path, and bite the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. After thy saving look I, LORD. Gad, men of war shall invade him. And he shall turn them to flight. Of Asher cometh fat bread, and he shall give pleasures for a king. Naphtali is a swift hind, and giveth goodly words. "That flourishing child, Joseph; that flourishing child, and goodly unto the eye! The daughters come forth to bear rule; The shooters have envied him and chide with him and hated him, and yet his bow bode fast, and his arms and his hands were strong, by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob: out of him shall come a herdsman, a stone in Israel. Thy father's God shall help thee, and the almighty shall bless thee with blessings from heaven above, and with blessings of the water that lieth under, and with blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of thy father were strong: even as the blessings of my elders, after the desire of the highest in the world. And these blessings shall fall on the head of Joseph, and on the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. "Benjamin is a ravishing wolf. In the morning he shall devour his prey, and at night he shall divide his spoil." All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is that which their father spake unto them when he blessed them, every man with a several blessing.
And the LORD talked with Moses, saying, "Speak unto Aaron and his sons, saying, 'Of this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them: read more. The LORD bless thee and keep thee. The LORD make his face shine upon thee and be merciful unto thee. The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. For ye shall put my name upon the children of Israel, that I may bless them.'"
And the same season the LORD separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD and to stand before the LORD, and to minister unto him and to bless in his name unto this day.
so that when he heareth the words of this curse, he bless himself in his heart saying, 'I shall have peace; I will therefore work after the lust of mine own heart, that the drunken may perish with the thirsty.'
And the LORD made Job richer than he was before: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand asses.
Thou art the fairest among the children of men; full of grace are thy lips, because God hath blessed thee for ever.
For while he lived, he counted himself a happy man; and so long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee.
{Of David} Praise the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! Right wisely hast thou made them all; yea, the earth is full of thy riches.
As for the sinners, they shall be consumed out of the earth, and the ungodly shall come to an end. But praise thou the LORD, O my soul: Praise the everlasting! Hallelujah!
I will receive the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
{A Praise of David} I will magnify thee, O God my king; I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I give thanks unto thee, and praise thy name for ever and ever.
Whoso rejoiceth upon earth, shall rejoice in the true God: And whoso sweareth upon earth, shall swear in the true God. For the old enmity shall be forgotten, and taken away out of my sight.
Is not the cup of blessing which we bless, partaking of the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break, partaking of the body of Christ?
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the holy ghost, be with you all. Amen. {The end of the Second Epistle unto the Corinthians, Sent from Philippi, a city in Macedonia, by Titus and Luke}
Peace be with the brethren, and love with faith from God the father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them which love our Lord Jesus Christ in pureness. Amen. {Sent from Rome unto the Ephesians by Tychicus.}
The God of peace that brought again from death our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting testament, make you perfect in all good works, to do his will, working in you that which is pleasant in his sight through Iesus Christ: To whom be praise for ever while the world endureth. Amen.
Watsons
BLESS, BLESSING. There are three points of view in which the acts of blessing may be considered. The first is, when men are said to bless God, as in Ps 103:1-2. We are then not to suppose that the divine Being, who is over all, and, in himself, blessed for evermore, is capable of receiving any augmentation of his happiness, from all the creatures which he has made: such a supposition, as it would imply something of imperfection in the divine nature, must ever be rejected with abhorrence; and, therefore, when the creatures bless the adorable Creator, they only ascribe to him that praise, and dominion, and honour, and glory, and blessing, which it is equally the duty and joy of his creatures to reader. But when God is said to bless his people, Ge 1:22; Eph 1:3;
the meaning is, that he confers benefits upon them, either temporal or spiritual, and so communicates to them some portion of that blessedness which, in infinite fulness, dwells in himself, Jas 1:17; Ps 104:24,28; Lu 11:9-13. In the third place men are said to bless their fellow creatures. From the time that God entered into covenant with Abraham, and promised extraordinary blessings to his posterity, it appears to have been customary for the father of each family, in the direct line, or line of promise, previous to his death, to call his children around him, and to inform them, according to the knowledge which it pleased God then to give him, how, and in what manner, the divine blessing conferred upon Abraham was to descend among them. Upon these occasions, the patriarchs enjoyed a divine illumination; and under its influence, their benediction was deemed a prophetic oracle, foretelling events with the utmost certainty, and extending to the remotest period of time. Thus Jacob blessed his sons, Genesis xlix; and Moses, the children of Israel, Deuteronomy 33. When Melchizedeck blessed Abraham, the act of benediction included in it not merely the pronouncing solemn good wishes, but also a petitionary address to God that he would be pleased to ratify the benediction by his concurrence with what was prayed for. Thus Moses instructed Aaron, and his descendants, to bless the congregation, "In this wise shall ye bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; the Lord make his face to shine upon thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace," Nu 4:23. David says, "I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord," Ps 116:13. This phrase appears to be taken from the practice of the Jews in their thank-offerings, in which a feast was made of the remainder of their sacrifices, and the offerers, together with the priests, did eat and drink before the Lord; when, among other rites, the master of the feast took a cup of wine in his hand and solemnly blessed God for it, and for the mercies which were then acknowledged, and gave it to all the guests, every one of whom drank in his turn. To this custom it is supposed our blessed Lord alludes in the institution of the cup, which also is called, 1Co 10:16, "the cup of blessing." At the family feasts also, and especially that of the passover, both wine and bread were in this solemn and religious manner distributed, and God was blessed, and his mercies acknowledged. They blessed God for their present refreshment, for their deliverance out of Egypt, for the covenant of circumcision, and for the law given by Moses; and prayed that God would be merciful to his people Israel, that he would send the Prophet Elijah, and that he would render them worthy of the kingdom of the Messiah. See also 1Ch 16:2-3. In the Mosaic law, the manner of blessing is appointed by the lifting up of hands. Our Lord lifted up his hands, and blessed his disciples. It is probable that this action was constantly used on such occasions. The palm of the hand held up was precatory; and the palm turned outward or downward was benedictory. See BENEDICTION and See LORD'S SUPPER.
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and God blessed them, saying, "Grow and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowls multiply upon the earth."
from thirty years and above, until fifty, all that are able to go forth in war - for to do service in the tabernacle of witness.
And when David had made an end of offering of burnt offerings and of peace offerings, he blessed the people with the name of the LORD. And he dealt all Israel both man and woman a cracknel of bread, a piece of flesh and a mess of sops.
{Of David} Praise the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! Right wisely hast thou made them all; yea, the earth is full of thy riches.
When thou givest it them, they gather it; when thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
I will receive the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh shall it be opened. read more. If the son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father: will he give him a stone? Or if he ask fish, will he for a fish, give him a serpent? Or if he ask an egg: will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then which are evil, can give good gifts unto your children: How much more shall the father of heaven give a holy spirit to them, that desire it of him?"
Is not the cup of blessing which we bless, partaking of the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break, partaking of the body of Christ?
Blessed be God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which hath blessed us with all manner of spiritual blessings in heavenly things by Christ,
Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above and cometh down from the father of light, with whom is no variableness, neither is he changed unto darkness.