Bless

‘May the LORD bless you and keep you;

Numbers 6:24

Barak is to bless — to kneel before God in adoration, and to speak good over others with the weight of God behind it.

In the Bible

Barak runs in both directions: God blesses people with life, fruitfulness and protection, and people bless God in praise. The priestly blessing of Numbers 6 shows what it does — it puts God's name on His people, and He says He will then bless them Himself.

Where the word comes from

Barak's underlying sense is “to kneel,” and Hebrew berek, “knee,” is its close relation — so blessing God begins in a posture, and blessing a person carries the idea of bending down to bestow good on them. Strong's notes the same word could be used by euphemism for cursing, where scribes avoided writing the blasphemy directly.

What the original language adds

Modern “bless you” is a courtesy; Hebrew blessing is an act with content. When Isaac's blessing goes to the wrong son it cannot simply be recalled, because words spoken in God's name were understood to do something rather than merely wish something.

Did you know

Barak (H1288) appears 305 times in the Hebrew Bible, and its noun relative berek means “knee” — the posture the word comes from.

Why it matters

Blessing is how the Old Testament describes God's generosity flowing outward: through Abraham “all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” a promise the New Testament reads as fulfilled in Christ. That makes blessing missionary rather than private — given so that it can pass through.

Apply it

Speak a specific good over someone this week rather than a general well-wish — name what you are asking God to do for them. And begin your own prayers by blessing Him before asking anything.

Strong's definition

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)

Where it appears

• Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

  Genesis 1:22

• Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.”

  Exodus 12:32

• Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having made the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down.

  Leviticus 9:22

• “Tell Aaron and his sons: This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

  Numbers 6:23

• May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.

  Deuteronomy 1:11

• All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.

  Joshua 8:33