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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God blessed them and said: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
He also said: Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth. And may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.
Jehovah has greatly blessed my master and made him a rich man. He has given him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, silver, gold, male and female slaves, camels, and donkeys.
They gave Rebecca their blessing in these words: May you, sister, become the mother of millions! May your descendants conquer the cities of their enemies!
May God give you of 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. Blessed be those who bless you.
You will live by your sword. You will serve your brother. Soon you will become restless and break his yoke from your neck.
Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban left and went back home.
Jacob blessed Joseph. He said: May God, in whose presence my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac walked, may this God who has been my shepherd all my life to this very day, May the being who rescued me from all evil bless these boys! May they be called by my name and by the names of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac. May they have many children on the earth. read more. Joseph saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim's head. Joseph did not like it. So he took his father's hand in order to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's. He said to his father: That is not right, Father! This is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head. His father refused and said: I know, Son, I know! Manasseh, too, will become a nation. He, too, will be important. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be more important than he. His descendants will become many nations. That day he blessed them. He said: Because of you, Israel will speak this blessing: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!' In this way Israel put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
Jacob called for his sons. He said: Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the future. Come together and listen, sons of Jacob. Listen to your father Israel. read more. Reuben, you are my firstborn; you are my strength and the first child of my manhood. You are the proudest and strongest of all my sons. You are like a raging flood. But you will not be the most important, for you slept with my concubine. You dishonored your father's bed. Simeon and Levi are brothers. They use their weapons to commit violence. I will not join in their secret talks. I will not take part in their meetings. They killed people in anger. They crippled bulls for sport. A curse is on their anger, because it is so fierce. And a curse is on their fury, because it is so cruel. I will scatter them throughout the land of Israel. I will disperse them among its people. Judah, your brothers will praise you. You hold your enemies by the neck. Your brothers will bow down before you. Judah is like a lion, killing his victim and returning to his den. He is like a lion stretching out and lying down. No one dares disturb him. The royal scepter shall not depart from Judah. His descendants will always rule. Nations will bring him tribute and bow in obedience before him. This, until Shiloh comes and all will obey him. He will tie his donkey to a grapevine, his colt to the best vine. He will wash his clothes in wine, his garments in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine. His teeth are whiter than milk. Zebulun will live by the coast. He will have ships by the coast. His border will go as far as Sidon. Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags. When he sees that his resting place is good and that the land is pleasant, he will bend his back to the burden and will become a slave laborer. Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan will be a snake on a road, a viper on a path that bites a horse's heels so that its rider falls backwards. I wait with hope for your salvation, O Jehovah. Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders. He will strike back at their heels. Asher's food will be rich. He will provide delicacies fit for a king. Naphtali is a deer set free with beautiful fawns (words). Joseph is a fruitful tree, a fruitful tree by a spring, with branches climbing over a wall. Archers provoked him, shot at him, and harassed him. His bow stayed steady! His arms remained limber because of the help of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, because of the God of your father who helps you, because of the Almighty who blesses you from the heavens above, blessings from the deep springs below the ground, blessings from breasts and womb. The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the oldest mountains and the riches of the ancient hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the prince among his brothers. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning and evening he destroys his enemies. These are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is how Jacob blessed each of them.
Jehovah said to Moses: Tell Aaron and his sons: 'This is how you will bless the Israelites. Say to them: read more. Jehovah will bless you and watch over you.' Jehovah will smile on you and be kind to you. Jehovah will look on you with favor and give you peace! Whenever they use my name to bless the Israelites, I will bless them.'
Jehovah then set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the covenant of Jehovah. They were to stand before Jehovah to serve and pronounce blessings in his name until this day.
Be sure there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him. He would go stubbornly on his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike.
Jehovah blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.
You are the most handsome of men. You are an eloquent speaker. God has blessed you forever.
Even though he blesses himself while he is alive. (People will praise you when you do well for yourself.)
([Psalm of David]) Bless Jehovah with all my being. With all that I am I praise his holy name! With all my heart I praise Jehovah! Do not forget how kind he has been.
O Jehovah, how many are your works! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your possessions.
Let sinners be consumed from the world. Let the wicked no longer exist. Bless Jehovah with all my being! Praise Jehovah!
I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of Jehovah.
([Psalm of David]) I will praise you, my God and King! I will consecrate your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you. I will praise your name forever and ever.
Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of (amen, so be it) truth; he who takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.
The cup of blessing we bless, is it not the sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is it not the sharing of the body of Christ?
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the intimate sharing of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an incorruptible (sincere) (principled) (unending) love.
Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect (mature) in every good thing. May you do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. 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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God blessed them and said: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
Register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are qualified to serve at the tent of meeting.
When David finished sacrificing burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah. He also distributed to every person in Israel, both men and women, a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake.
([Psalm of David]) Bless Jehovah with all my being. With all that I am I praise his holy name! With all my heart I praise Jehovah! Do not forget how kind he has been.
O Jehovah, how many are your works! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your possessions.
You give it to them, and they gather it up. You open your hand, and they are satisfied with many blessings.
I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of Jehovah.
I say to you: Ask and it will be given you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. Every one who asks receives. Everyone who seeks will find. It will be opened to everyone who knocks. read more. What father would give his son a stone when he asked for a loaf? What father would give a serpent when his son asked for a fish? If he asked for an egg would he give a scorpion? If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
The cup of blessing we bless, is it not the sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is it not the sharing of the body of Christ?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places through Christ.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. It comes down from the Father of lights (truth and spiritual purity), with whom there is no variation. He does not change like shifting shadows.