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 blesseth them, saying, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and the fowl let multiply in the earth:'
And he saith: 'Blessed of Jehovah my God is Shem, And Canaan is servant to him. God doth give beauty to Japheth, And he dwelleth in tents of Shem, And Canaan is servant to him.'
and Jehovah hath blessed my lord exceedingly, and he is great; and He giveth to him flock, and herd, and silver, and gold, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and camels, and asses;
and they bless Rebekah, and say to her, 'Thou art our sister; become thou thousands of myriads, and thy seed doth possess the gate of those hating it.'
and God doth give to thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of corn and wine; peoples serve thee, and nations bow themselves to thee, be thou mighty over thy brethren, and the sons of thy mother bow themselves to thee; those who curse thee are cursed, and those who bless thee are blessed.'
and by thy sword dost thou live, and thy brother dost thou serve; and it hath come to pass when thou rulest, that thou hast broken his yoke from off thy neck.'
and Laban riseth early in the morning, and kisseth his sons and his daughters, and blesseth them; and Laban goeth on, and turneth back to his place.
And he blesseth Joseph, and saith, 'God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked habitually: God who is feeding me from my being unto this day: the Messenger who is redeeming me from all evil doth bless the youths, and my name is called upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and they increase into a multitude in the midst of the land.' read more. And Joseph seeth that his father setteth his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and it is wrong in his eyes, and he supporteth the hand of his father to turn it aside from off the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasseh; and Joseph saith unto his father, 'Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; set thy right hand on his head.' And his father refuseth, and saith, 'I have known, my son, I have known; he also becometh a people, and he also is great, and yet, his young brother is greater than he, and his seed is the fulness of the nations;' and he blesseth them in that day, saying, 'By thee doth Israel bless, saying, God set thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh;' and he setteth Ephraim before Manasseh.
And Jacob calleth unto his sons and saith, 'Be gathered together, and I declare to you that which doth happen with you in the latter end of the days. 'Be assembled, and hear, sons of Jacob, And hearken unto Israel your father. read more. Reuben! my first-born thou, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength; Unstable as water, thou art not abundant; For thou hast gone up thy father's bed; Then thou hast polluted: My couch he went up! Simeon and Levi are brethren! Instruments of violence -- their espousals! Into their secret, come not, O my soul! Unto their assembly be not united, O mine honour; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will eradicated a prince. Cursed is their anger, for it is fierce, And their wrath, for it is sharp; I divide them in Jacob, And I scatter them in Israel. Judah! thou -- thy brethren praise thee! Thy hand is on the neck of thine enemies, Sons of thy father bow themselves to thee. A lion's whelp is Judah, For prey, my son, thou hast gone up; He hath bent, he hath crouched as a lion, And as a lioness; who causeth him to arise? The sceptre turneth not aside from Judah, And a lawgiver from between his feet, Till his Seed come; And his is the obedience of peoples. Binding to the vine his ass, And to the choice vine the colt of his ass, He hath washed in wine his clothing, And in the blood of grapes his covering; Red are eyes with wine, And white are teeth with milk! Zebulun at a haven of the seas doth dwell, And he is for a haven of ships; And his side is unto Zidon. Issacher is a strong ass, Crouching between the two folds; And he seeth rest that it is good, And the land that it is pleasant, And he inclineth his shoulder to bear, And is to tribute a servant. Dan doth judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel; Dan is a serpent by the way, An adder by the path, Which is biting the horse's heels, And its rider falleth backward. For Thy salvation I have waited, Jehovah! Gad! a troop assaulteth him, But he assaulteth last. Out of Asher his bread is fat; And he giveth dainties of a king. Naphtali is a hind sent away, Who is giving beauteous young ones. Joseph is a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step over the wall; And embitter him -- yea, they have striven, Yea, hate him do archers; And his bow abideth in strength, And strengthened are the arms of his hands By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, Whence is a shepherd, a son of Israel. By the God of thy father who helpeth thee, And the Mighty One who blesseth thee, Blessings of the heavens from above, Blessings of the deep lying under, Blessings of breasts and womb; -- Thy father's blessings have been mighty Above the blessings of my progenitors, Unto the limit of the heights age-during They are for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the one Separate from his brethren. Benjamin! a wolf teareth; In the morning he eateth prey, And at evening he apportioneth spoil.' All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is that which their father hath spoken unto them, and he blesseth them; each according to his blessing he hath blessed them.
And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, saying, Thus ye do bless the sons of Israel, saying to them, read more. 'Jehovah bless thee and keep thee; 'Jehovah cause His face to shine upon thee, and favour thee; Jehovah lift up His countenance upon thee, and appoint for thee -- peace. And they have put My name upon the sons of Israel, and I -- I do bless them.'
'At that time hath Jehovah separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah, to serve Him, and to bless in His name, unto this day,
'And it hath been, in his hearing the words of this oath, and he hath blessed himself in his heart, saying, I have peace, though in the stubbornness of my heart I go on, in order to end the fulness with the thirst.
And Jehovah hath blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning, and he hath fourteen thousand of a flock, and six thousand camels, and a thousand pairs of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
Thou hast been beautified above the sons of men, Grace hath been poured into thy lips, Therefore hath God blessed thee to the age.
For his soul in his life he blesseth, (And they praise thee when thou dost well for thyself.)
By David. Bless, O my soul, Jehovah, And all my inward parts -- His Holy Name. Bless, O my soul, Jehovah, And forget not all His benefits,
How many have been Thy works, O Jehovah, All of them in wisdom Thou hast made, Full is the earth of thy possessions.
Consumed are sinners from the earth, And the wicked are no more. Bless, O my soul, Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah!
The cup of salvation I lift up, And in the name of Jehovah I call.
Praise by David. I exalt Thee, my God, O king, And bless Thy name to the age and for ever. Every day do I bless Thee, And praise Thy name to the age and for ever.
So that he who is blessing himself in the earth, Doth bless himself In the God of faithfulness, And he who is swearing in the earth, Doth swear by the God of faithfulness, Because the former distresses have been forgotten, And because they have been hid from Mine eyes.
The cup of the blessing that we bless -- is it not the fellowship of the blood of the Christ? the bread that we break -- is it not the fellowship of the body of the Christ?
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, is with you all! Amen.
Peace to the brethren, and love, with faith, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ! The grace with all those loving our Lord Jesus Christ -- undecayingly! Amen.
And the God of the peace, who did bring up out of the dead the great shepherd of the sheep -- in the blood of an age-during covenant -- our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory -- to the ages of the ages! 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 blesseth them, saying, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and the fowl let multiply in the earth:'
from a son of thirty years and upward, till a son of fifty years thou dost number them, every one who is going in to serve the host, to do the service in the tent of meeting.
and David ceaseth from offering the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings, and blesseth the people in the name of Jehovah, and giveth a portion to every man of Israel, both man and woman: to each a cake of bread, and a measure of wine, and a grape-cake.
By David. Bless, O my soul, Jehovah, And all my inward parts -- His Holy Name. Bless, O my soul, Jehovah, And forget not all His benefits,
How many have been Thy works, O Jehovah, All of them in wisdom Thou hast made, Full is the earth of thy possessions.
Thou dost give to them -- they gather, Thou dost open Thy hand -- they are satisfied with good.
The cup of salvation I lift up, And in the name of Jehovah I call.
and I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you; for every one who is asking doth receive; and he who is seeking doth find; and to him who is knocking it shall be opened. read more. And of which of you -- the father -- if the son shall ask a loaf, a stone will he present to him? and if a fish, will he instead of a fish, a serpent present to him? and if he may ask an egg, will he present to him a scorpion? If, then, ye, being evil, have known good gifts to be giving to your children, how much more shall the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!'
The cup of the blessing that we bless -- is it not the fellowship of the blood of the Christ? the bread that we break -- is it not the fellowship of the body of the Christ?
Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who did bless us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
every good giving, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variation, or shadow of turning;