The Lord bless you

 

To bless is to ask God to look favourably on someone, to bestow some kind of goodness or benefit upon them. This Blessing is one that God Himself wanted to bless His people with.

The Hebrew  "Barakh"  means to kneel, to show respect (and is translated as bless). To uncover its original meaning, we examining other words related to this verb. One related word is the berekh meaning “knee.” Another related Hebrew word is berakhah meaning a gift or present. From this we can see the meaning behind "barakh". It is to bring a gift to another while kneeling out of respect. The extended meaning of this word is to do or give something of value to another. God “respects” us by providing for our needs and we in turn “respect” God by giving  Him of ourselves as His servants.​

​​​​​​

and keep you

​

The Hebrew  means to “guard,” “protect” or “watch over.”  It is used in Psalm 121:7-8, “The LORD will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."   We are guarded every moment of every day by His omnipotent power, so we need not be fearful, anxious or apprehensive. 

In the Hebrew language there is a concrete image we find in the shepherd, who creates a coral of thorns bushes to keep the flock safe.  The shepherd would then guard over the flock and the corral would be a hedge of protection around them. The Hebrew word for a thorn is shamiyr  derived from the verb shamar, which means to “guard” and “protect” and is the word used in the Aaronic blessing.

​

​​​

The Lord make his face shine upon you

​

The concept this communicates is profound. The word for face can also mean “countenance” or “presence.” 

Think of how a person’s face “lights up” when they see a loved one. We could translate it, “may God smile at you.” It communicates God’s affection and pleasure.   It conveys intimacy, yet also this light and radiance can be reflected through us to others, like Moses whose face was radiant following an encounter with God. (Exodus 34:29)

 

“Give light” or “shine” is equated with bringing about order as light illuminates or reveals what has been dark.

​The face reflects many different moods, emotions, and thoughts of a person. The Hebrew word for “face,” is written plural reflecting this idea of multiple faces of each person. This word can also mean “presence” or the “wholeness of being” of an individual.

​

and be gracious to you

​

The Hebrew  word “grace”  denotes God’s desire to forgive and to show favour to the undeserving.  Used  in the Old Testament - it reveals His eternal plan to woo and restore.

The Hebrew verb translated as gracious in the Aaronic blessing is the verb hhanan and is often paralleled with other Hebrew words meaning healing, help, being lifted up, finding refuge, strength and rescue. From a concrete Hebraic perspective this verb means to “provide protection.” Where does one run to for protection? The camp, which in Hebrew is hanah, a word related to hhanan)

​

 

The Lord turn his face toward you

​

An expression that describes God giving his full and complete attention to our prayers, listening deeply to our concerns in order to take action on that person's behalf.   When someone calls your name, we turn our head and face towards the voice to see and give attention to who has called us.

​

​

and give you peace

​​

The Hebrew word shalom is broader than  ‘peace’ which tends to mean absence of conflict. Shalom includes health, safety, prosperity, well-being and wholeness. This phrase describes God supplying our physical and material needs as well as our emotional and spiritual needs.

​