Bless

Bless - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

(1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 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 (Deut. 29:19; Ps. 49:18).

(4.) One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare (Gen. 24:60; 31:55; 1 Sam. 2:20). Sometimes blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case of Noah, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses (Gen. 9:26, 27; 27:28, 29, 40; 48:15-20; 49:1-28; Deut. 33). The priests were divinely authorized to bless the people (Deut. 10:8; Num. 6:22-27). We have many examples of apostolic benediction (2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 6:23, 24; 2 Thess. 3:16, 18; Heb. 13:20, 21; 1 Pet. 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 1 Cor. 10:16, where the apostle speaks of the "cup of blessing."

Bless - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BLESS, v.t. pret. and ppr. blessed or blest.

1. To pronounce a wish of happiness to one; to express a wish or desire of happiness.

And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Gen 28.

2. To make happy; to make successful; to prosper in temporal concerns; as, we are blest with peace and plenty.

The Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thou doest. Deu 15.

3. To make happy in a future life.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Rev 14.

4. To set apart or consecrate to holy purposes; to make and pronounce holy.

And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Gen 2

5. To consecrate by prayer; to invoke a blessing upon.

And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven he blessed them. Luke 9.

6. To praise; to glorify, for benefits received.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Psa 103.

7. To praise; to magnify; to extol, for excellencies. Psa 104.

8. To esteem or account happy; with the reciprocal pronoun.

The nations shall bless themselves in him. Jer 4.

9. To pronounce a solemn prophetical benediction upon. Gen 27. Deu 33.

10. In this line of Spenser, it may signify to throw, for this is nearly the primary sense.

His sparkling blade about his head he blest.

Johnson supposes the word to signify to wave or brandish, and to have received this sense from the old rite of blessing a field, by directing the hands to all parts of it.

Bless in Spenser for bliss, may be so written, not for rhyme merely, but because bless and bliss are from the same root.