Genesis 14:19

14:19 He blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by ¹  the Most High God,

Creator ²  of heaven and earth. ³ 

Genesis 20:7

20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed ⁴  he is a prophet ⁵  and he will pray for you; thus you will live. ⁶  But if you don’t give her back, ⁷  know that you will surely die ⁸  along with all who belong to you.”

Genesis 47:7

47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him ⁹  before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed ¹⁰  Pharaoh.

Genesis 47:10

47:10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. ¹¹ 

Numbers 6:23-27

6:23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way ¹²  you are to bless ¹³  the Israelites. Say ¹⁴  to them:

6:24 “The Lord bless you ¹⁵  and protect ¹⁶  you;

6:25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you,

and be gracious to you; ¹⁷ 

6:26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you ¹⁸ 

and give you peace.”’

6:27 So they will put my name ¹⁹  on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Joshua 22:6

22:6 Joshua rewarded ²⁰  them and sent them on their way; they returned to their homes. ²¹ 

Joshua 22:2

22:2 and told them: “You have carried out all the instructions of Moses the Lord’s servant, and you have obeyed all I have told you. ²² 

Joshua 6:18

6:18 But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for the Lord. If you take any of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster. ²³ 

Joshua 6:1

6:1 Now Jericho ²⁴  was shut tightly ²⁵  because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter. ²⁶ 

Joshua 8:1

Israel Conquers Ai

8:1 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! ²⁷  Take the whole army with you and march against Ai! ²⁸  See, I am handing over to you ²⁹  the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land.

Joshua 8:1-2

Israel Conquers Ai

8:1 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! ³⁰  Take the whole army with you and march against Ai! ³¹  See, I am handing over to you ³²  the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land. 8:2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho ³³  and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!”

Joshua 1:1

The Lord Commissions Joshua

1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

Joshua 1:18

1:18 Any man who rebels against what you say and does not obey all your commands will be executed. ³⁴  But ³⁵  be strong and brave!”

Joshua 1:1

The Lord Commissions Joshua

1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

Luke 24:50-51

Jesus’ Departure

24:50 Then ³⁶  Jesus ³⁷  led them out as far as Bethany, ³⁸  and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 24:51 Now ³⁹  during the blessing ⁴⁰  he departed ⁴¹  and was taken up into heaven. ⁴² 

Hebrews 7:7

7:7 Now without dispute the inferior is blessed by the superior,

[14:19]  ¹ tn The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.

[14:19]  ² tn Some translate “possessor of heaven and earth” (cf. NASB). But cognate evidence from Ugaritic indicates that there were two homonymic roots ָקנָה (qanah), one meaning “to create” (as in Gen 4:1) and the other “to obtain, to acquire, to possess.” While “possessor” would fit here, “creator” is the more likely due to the collocation with “heaven and earth.”

[14:19]  ³ tn The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.

[20:7]  ⁴ tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.

[20:7]  ⁵ sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.

[20:7]  ⁶ tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.

[20:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.

[20:7]  ⁸ tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.

[47:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “caused him to stand.”

[47:7]  ¹⁰ sn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “blessed” is difficult in this passage, because the content of Jacob’s blessing is not given. The expression could simply mean that he greeted Pharaoh, but that seems insufficient in this setting. Jacob probably praised Pharaoh, for the verb is used this way for praising God. It is also possible that he pronounced a formal prayer of blessing, asking God to reward Pharaoh for his kindness.

[47:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from before Pharaoh.”

[6:23]  ¹² tn Or “thus.”

[6:23]  ¹³ tn The Piel imperfect has the nuance of instruction. The particle “thus” explains that the following oracle is the form to use.

[6:23]  ¹⁴ tn Here is the only use of the verb אָמַר (’amar) as an infinitive absolute; it functions as a verb form, an imperative or an imperfect of instruction. Several commentators have attempted to emend the text to get around the difficulty, but such emendations are unnecessary.

[6:24]  ¹⁵ tn The short blessing uses the jussive throughout, here the Piel jussive with a pronominal suffix. While the jussive has quite a range of nuances, including wish, desire, prayer, or greeting, the jussives here are stronger. The formal subject of the verb is the Lord, and the speaker pronouncing the blessing is the priest, notably after emerging from the holy of holies where atonement has been made. The Lord says in this passage that when the priest says this, then the Lord will bless them. The jussive then is an oracle, not a wish or a prayer. It is a declaration of what the Lord imparts. It is as binding and sure as a patriarchal blessing which once said officially could not be taken back. The priest here is then pronouncing the word of the Lord, declaring to the congregation the outcome of the atonement.

[6:24]  ¹⁶ tn The verb “to keep” concerns the divine protection of the people; its basic meaning is “to exercise great care over,” “to guard,” or “to give attention to” (see TWOT 2:939). No doubt the priestly blessing informed the prayer and promise that makes up Ps 121, for the verb occurs six times in the eight verses. So in addition to the divine provision (“bless” basically means “enrich” in a number of ways) there is the assurance of divine protection.

[6:25]  ¹⁷ tn Whereas the first line of the blessing had three Hebrew words, the second has five, and the third has seven. In this second line and the following third, the blessing takes the form of an emblem followed by the truth. For the Lord to make his face shine on them would mean to be gracious to them. M. Noth rightly calls this image of the shining face “a figure of speech for benevolence and favour” (Numbers [OTL], 59); see, for example, Pss 4:7; 31:17; 44:4; 67:2; 80:4, 8, 20; 119:135; Dan 9:17). The image may have its inspiration in the theophanies. The picture is of divine favor – the beaming face of a parent for his beloved.

[6:26]  ¹⁸ tn The last line of the blessing also has first the image and then the parallel interpretation – for God to lift up his face is for God to give peace. The idea of the fallen face is one of anger (see Gen 4:6,7); and the idea of the hidden face is that of withholding support, favor, or peace (see Deut 31:18; Ps 30:8; Ps 44:25). If God lifts his face toward his people, it means he has given them peace – peace, prosperity, completeness, health, safety, general well-being, and the like.

[6:27]  ¹⁹ tn The idea of their putting the name of Yahweh on the people is somewhat problematic. The pronouncing of the name of Yahweh in this context over the people was taken to be the effectual means of blessings. “Putting the name on them” is an expression that emphasizes the truth that he is their God and they are his people or that having his name is having his blessing.

[22:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “blessed.” However, see v. 8, where rewards are given.

[22:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “and they went to their tents.”

[22:2]  ²² tn Heb “You have kept all which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, and you have listened to my voice, to all which I commanded you.”

[6:18]  ²³ tn Heb “Only you keep [away] from what is set apart [to the Lord] so that you might not, as you are setting [it] apart, take some of what is set apart [to the Lord] and make the camp of Israel set apart [to destruction by the Lord] and bring trouble on it.”

[6:1]  ²⁴ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[6:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “was shutting and shut up.” HALOT 2:743 paraphrases, “blocking [any way of access] and blocked [against any who would leave].”

[6:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “there was no one going out and there was no one coming in.”

[8:1]  ²⁷ tn Or perhaps “and don’t get discouraged!”

[8:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up against Ai!”

[8:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I have given into our hand.” The verbal form, a perfect, is probably best understood as a perfect of certitude, indicating the certainty of the action.

[8:1]  ³⁰ tn Or perhaps “and don’t get discouraged!”

[8:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up against Ai!”

[8:1]  ³² tn Heb “I have given into our hand.” The verbal form, a perfect, is probably best understood as a perfect of certitude, indicating the certainty of the action.

[8:2]  ³³ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[1:18]  ³⁴ tn Heb “any man who rebels against your mouth and does not listen to your words, to all which you command us, will be put to death.”

[1:18]  ³⁵ tn Or “Only.” Here and in v. 17 this word qualifies what precedes (see also v. 7).

[24:50]  ³⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:50]  ³⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:50]  ³⁸ sn Bethany was village on the Mount of Olives about 2 mi (3 km) from Jerusalem; see John 11:1, 18.

[24:51]  ³⁹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[24:51]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “while he blessed them.”

[24:51]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “he departed from them.”

[24:51]  ⁴² tc The reference to the ascension (“and was taken up into heaven”) is lacking in א* D it sy^s, but it is found in Ì⁷⁵ and the rest of the ms tradition. The authenticity of the statement here seems to be presupposed in Acts 1:2, for otherwise it is difficult to account for Luke’s reference to the ascension there. For a helpful discussion, see TCGNT 162-63.