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.

Blessed - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BLESS'ED, pp. Made happy or prosperous; extolled; pronounced happy.

BLESS'ED, a. Happy; prosperous in worldly affairs; enjoying spiritual happiness and the favor of God; enjoying heavenly felicity.

Blessed-Thistle. A plant of the genus Cnicus, sometimes used in decoctions, for a bitter.

Blessing - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BLESS'ING, ppr. Making happy; wishing happiness to; praising or extolling; consecrating by prayer.

BLESS'ING,n. Benediction; a wish of happiness pronounced; a prayer imploring happiness upon another.

1. A solemn prophetic benediction, in which happiness is desired, invoked or foretold.

This is the blessing wherewith Moses--blessed the children of Israel. Deu 33.

2. Any means of happiness; a gift,benefit or advantage;that which promotes temporal prosperity and welfare, or secures immortal felicity. A just and pious magistrate is a public blessing. The divine favor is the greatest blessing.

3. Among the Jews,a present; a gift; either because it was attended with kind wishes for the welfare of the giver, or because it was the means of increasing happiness.

Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee. Gen 33.

(barakh): This word is found more frequently in the Old Testament than in the New Testament, and is used in different relations.

(1) It is first met in Ge 1:22 at the introduction of animal life upon the earth, where it is written, "And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply," etc. The context furnishes the key to its meaning, which is the bestowal of good, and in this particular place the pleasure and power of increase in kind. Thus it is generally employed in both Testaments, the context always determining the character of the bestowal; for instance (where man is the recipient), whether the good is temporal or spiritual, or both.

Occasionally, however, a different turn is given to it as in Ge 2:3 the King James Version, where it is written, "And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it." Here the good consists in the setting apart and consecrating of that day for His use.

(2) In the foregoing instances the Creator is regarded as the source of blessing and the creature the recipient, but the order is sometimes reversed, and the creature (man) is the source and the Creator the recipient. In Ge 24:48, for example, Abraham's servant says, "I bowed my head, and worshipped Yahweh, and blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham," where the word evidently means to worship God, to exalt and praise Him.

(3) There is a third use where men only are considered. In Ge 24:60, her relatives "blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands" (the King James Version "millions"), where the word expresses the wish or hope for the bestowal of the good designated. There are also instances where such a blessing of man by man may be taken in the prophetic sense, as when Isaac blessed Jacob (Ge 27:4,27), putting himself as it were in God's place, and with a sense of the Divine concurrence, pronouncing the good named. Here the word becomes in part a prayer for, and in part a prediction of, the good intended. Balaam's utterances are simply prophetic of Israel's destiny (Nu 23:9,10,11,23 margin, Nu 23:24).

Although these illustrations are from the Old Testament the word is used scarcely differently in the New Testament; "The blessing of bread, of which we read in the Gospels, is equivalent to giving thanks for it, the thought being that good received gratefully comes as a blessing"; compare Mt 14:19 and Mt 15:36 with 1Co 11:24 (Adeney, HDB, I, 307).

See also BENEDICTION.

James M. Gray

bles'-ed (barukh): Where God is referred to, this word has the sense of "praise," as in 1Sa 25:32, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel." But where man is in mind it is used in the sense of "happy" or "favored," and most frequently so in the Psalms and the Gospels, as for example, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked" (Ps 1:1); "Blessed art thou among women" (Lu 1:42); "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Mt 5:3).

See BEATITUDES.

(berakhah; eulogia): Sometimes means the form of words used in invoking the bestowal of good, as in De 33:1; Jos 8:34; and Jas 3:10. Sometimes it means the good or the benefit itself which has been conferred, as in Ge 27:36, "Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?" and Pr 10:22, "The blessing of Yahweh, it maketh rich." "The cup of blessing" (to poterion tes eulogias, a special use of the word in 1Co 10:16), means the cup for which we bless God, or which represents to us so much blessin g from God.

James M. Gray

Definition

To “bless” someone or something means to cause good and beneficial things to happen to the person or thing that is being blessed.

• Blessing someone also means expressing a desire for positive and beneficial things to happen to that person.
• In Bible times, a father would often pronounce a formal blessing on his children.
• When people “bless” God or express a desire that God be blessed, this means they are praising him.
• The term “bless” is sometimes used for consecrating food before it is eaten, or for thanking and praising God for the food.

Translation Suggestions

• To “bless” could also be translated as to “provide abundantly for” or to “be very kind and favorable toward.”
• “God has brought great blessing to” could be translated as “God has given many good things to” or “God has provided abundantly for” or “God has caused many good things to happen to”.
• “He is blessed” could be translated as “he will greatly benefit” or “he will experience good things” or “God will cause him to flourish.”
• “Blessed is the person who” could be translated as “How good it is for the person who.”
• Expressions like “blessed be the Lord” could be translated as “May the Lord be praised” or “Praise the Lord” or “I praise the Lord.”
• In the context of blessing food, this could be translated as “thanked God for the food” or “praised God for giving them food” or “consecrated the food by praising God for it.”

(See also: praise)

Bible References

• 1 Corinthians 10:16
• Acts 13:34
• Ephesians 1:3
• Genesis 14:20
• Isaiah 44:3
• James 1:25
• Luke 6:20
• Matthew 26:26
• Nehemiah 9:5
• Romans 4:9

Examples from the Bible stories

• __1:7 God saw that it was good and he blessed__ them.
• __1:15 God made Adam and Eve in his own image. He blessed__ them and told them, “Have many children and grandchildren and fill the earth.”
• __1:16 So God rested from all he had been doing. He blessed__ the seventh day and made it holy, because on this day he rested from his work.
• __4:4 “I will make your name great. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All families on earth will be blessed__ because of you.”
• __4:7 Melchizedek blessed Abram and said, “May God Most High who owns heaven and earth bless__ Abram.”
• __7:3 Isaac wanted to give his blessing__ to Esau.
• __8:5 Even in prison, Joseph remained faithful to God, and God blessed__ him.

Word Data

• Strong’s: H0833, H0835, H1288, H1289, H1293, G17570, G21270, G21280, G21290, G31060, G31070, G31080, G60500