Biblical Definition Of

BLESSING

Consistently the Bible refers to the gifts that God gives, whether material or spiritual, as blessings (Gen 9:1; Lev 25:21; Num 6:22-26; Ps 115:12-15; Prov 10:22; Eph 1:3; Heb 6:7). Often it contrasts God’s blessings with his cursings or punishments (Deut 11:26-28; 27:12-13; 30:19).

Even in ordinary human relationships, to desire blessing or cursing for another person meant to desire benefits or calamities for that person (Gen 27:12; Num 22:6; Rom 12:14; Jas 3:10-11). A blessing in this sense was not a mere expression of good wishes, but an announcement that people believed carried with it the power to make the wishes come true (Gen 27:27-29,33; 49:1,28; Num 24:10; 2 Sam 7:29). (For a similar idea, but with opposite results,.)

People gave blessings on important occasions, most notably at births, marriages and farewells (Gen 14:18-19; 24:60; Ruth 4:14-15; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 2:33-35; 24:50). Usually the person of higher status blessed the one of lower status (Heb 7:7; cf. Gen 14:18-20).

The blessing that people in Israelite families wanted most was the prophetic announcement by which the head of the family passed on favours to his children (Gen 27:36-41; 48:8-22; 49:1-28; Deut 33:1-29; Heb 11:20-21; 12:17). Probably the most striking example of a blessing carrying with it the power of certain fulfilment was God’s blessing to Abraham that promised him a people and a land (Gen 12:1-3; 26:24).

Since a blessing expressed the desire for a person’s well-being, it was also used as a formal greeting, even from an inferior to a superior (Gen 47:7-10). A blessing could therefore become an expression of praise, and in this sense grateful people can bless God (Ps 28:6; 31:21; 41:13; Dan 2:19-20; Mark 11:9- 10; Lk 1:68; Rom 1:25; Eph 1:3). A thanksgiving to God such as before eating a meal is sometimes called a blessing (Mark 6:41; 8:7; 14:22; 1 Cor 10:16).

There is another word sometimes translated ‘blessed’ that refers to the happiness or well-being of a person. It is usually used to denote the contented state of the person who lives uprightly according to God’s principles and who, as a result, enjoys God’s favour (Ps 1:1; 32:1; 41:1; Prov 3:13; Matt 11:6; 16:17; Luke 1:45; 12:37; Rom 4:6-9; James 1:12; Rev 16:15). When people enter God’s kingdom and live under the kingly rule of Christ, they experience the sort of deep seated joy that Christ himself experienced. Such joy is a foretaste of the greater blessedness that will be theirs when they are with Christ in the day of his kingdom’s final glory (Matt 5:2-11; 25:34; John 15:11).