The words bless, blessed, and blessing can be used as best wishes or even to curse someone. Depending on context, bless takes on many meanings than what you think it may indicate. This lesson will help you identify the context of what bless means. For this study I will use KJV and my cepher.
1. bless: to kneel, to curse
H1288 בָּרַךְ bârak, baw-rak'; a primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason):—× abundantly, × altogether, × at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, × greatly, × indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, × still, thank.
Strong's Number H1288 matches the Hebrew בָּרַךְ (barak), which occurs 331 times in 289 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the KJV Page 1 / 6 (Gen 1:22–Gen 32:26)
Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (KJV)
Joshua 24:8-11 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
11 And you went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.
2. bless: blessed
H1263 בָּרוּךְ Bârûwk, baw-rook'; passive participle from H1288; blessed; Baruk, the name of three Israelites:—Baruch.
Jeremiah 36:4-6 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord:
6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
Did you know that there are missing Scriptures that Baruk wrote? Baruk Ri'shon (1 Baruk) and Baruk Sheniy (2 Baruk) are not always mentioned in the apocrypha either.
Let us take a look at some verses. You should read these if you have not, these scriptures help fill in blanks.
1 Baruk 1-3 And these are the words of the cepher, which Baruk the son of Meriyahu, the son of Ma'aseyahu, the son of Cedekyahu, the son of Acadyahu, the son of Qelkyahu, wrote in Babel, In the fifth year, and the seventh day of the month, what time as the Kasdiym (Chaldees) took Yerushalayim, and burnt it with fire. And Baruk did read the words of his cepher in the hearing of Yekonyahu (Jechonias) the son of Yahuyaqiym (Joacim) king of Yahudah( Judah) and in the ears of all the people that came to hear the cepher, (cepher)
3. bless: prosperity, benediction, pool
H1293 בְּרָכָה Bᵉrâkâh, ber-aw-kaw'; from H1288; benediction; by implication prosperity:—blessing, liberal, pool, present.
Strong's Number H1293 matches the Hebrew בְּרָכָה (Bĕrakah), which occurs 69 times in 64 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the KJV
Leviticus 25:21-22 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.
Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
4. bless: happy, guide, be honest, go
H833 אָשַׁר ʼâshar, aw-shar'; or אָשֵׁר ʼâshêr; a primitive root; to be straight (used in the widest sense, especially to be level, right, happy); figuratively, to go forward, be honest, prosper:—(call, be) bless(-ed, happy), go, guide, lead, relieve.
Strong's Number H833 matches the Hebrew אָשַׁר ('ashar), which occurs 17 times in 15 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the KJV
Proverbs 4:14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
Malachi 3:11-12 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.
5. blessed: well off, fortunate, happier
G3107 μακάριος makários, mak-ar'-ee-os; a prolonged form of the poetical μάκαρ mákar (meaning the same); supremely blest; by extension, fortunate, well off:—blessed, happy(X -ier).
Strong's Number G3107 matches the Greek μακάριος (makarios), which occurs 50 times in 49 verses in the Greek concordance of the KJV
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 5:3-5 Blessed are the poor in ruach(spirit): for theirs is the Kingdom of Yahuah. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be conforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (cepher)
6. bless: to confer a benefit on
Acts 3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
Galations 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
G1722 ἐν en, en; a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between G1519 and G1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:—about, after, against, + almost, × altogether, among, × as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+ all means), for (… sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to, -wardly), × mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, × outwardly, one, × quickly, × shortly, (speedi-)ly, ×that, × there(-in, -on), through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while, with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different) preposition.
Strong's Number G1722 matches the Greek ἐν (en), which occurs 2,799 times in 2,127 verses in the Greek concordance of the KJV
Mittithyahu (Matthew) 1:18 Now the birth of YAHUSHA HAMASHIACH was on this wise: When as his mother Miryam was espoused to Yocheph, before they came together, she was found with child of the RUACH HAQODESH (Holy Spirit)
G2127 †εὐλογέω eulogéō, yoo-log-eh'-o; from a compound of G2095 and G3056; to speak well of, i.e. (religiously) to bless (thank or invoke a benediction upon, prosper):—bless, praise.
Strong's Number G2127 matches the Greek εὐλογέω (eulogeō), which occurs 44 times in 41 verses in the Greek concordance of the KJV
Mittithyahu 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
7. bless: call blessed, count happy
G3106 μακαρίζω makarízō, mak-ar-id'-zo; from G3107; to beatify, i.e. pronounce (or esteem) fortunate:—call blessed, count happy.
Strong's Number G3106 matches the Greek μακαρίζω (makarizō), which occurs 3 times in 2 verses in the Greek concordance of the KJV
Luqas 1:46-48 And Miryam said, My soul magnifies eth-YAHUAH, And my ruach has rejoiced in YAH my Saviour. For he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
YA'AQOV (James) 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Iyov (Job), and have seen the result of YAHUAH in the life of Iyov; that YAHUAH is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
8. bless: accepted, acceptable
G1184 δεκτός dektós, dek-tos'; from G1209; approved; (figuratively) propitious:—accepted(-table).
Strong's Number G1184 matches the Greek δεκτός (dektos), which occurs 5 times in 5 verses in the Greek concordance of the KJV
Qorintiym Sheniy (2 Corinthians) 6:1-2 WE then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive no the grace of YAHUAH in vain. (For he says, I have heard you in time accepted, and in the day of yeshu'ah have I helped you: behold, now is the day of yeshu'ah (salvation).
Knowing word origins and their meanings help understand Scripture in the context it was meant to be written in. So much has been lost to translation, so many times words have been redefined that the message needing to be received is not always understandable. When in doubt, check it out, seek clarification and Yahuah will ensure you get it.
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