Genesis 27:4

27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then ¹  I will eat it so that I may bless you ²  before I die.”

Genesis 27:25-29

27:25 Isaac ³  said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. ⁴  Then I will bless you.” ⁵  So Jacob ⁶  brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac ⁷  drank. 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27:27 So Jacob ⁸  went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent ⁹  of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,

“Yes, ¹⁰  my son smells

like the scent of an open field

which the Lord has blessed.

27:28 May God give you

the dew of the sky ¹¹ 

and the richness ¹²  of the earth,

and plenty of grain and new wine.

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be ¹³  lord ¹⁴  over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. ¹⁵ 

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

Genesis 47:7

47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him ¹⁶  before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed ¹⁷  Pharaoh.

Genesis 47:10

47:10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. ¹⁸ 

Genesis 48:9-16

48:9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the ¹⁹  sons God has given me in this place.” His father ²⁰  said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” ²¹  48:10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing ²²  because of his age; he was not able to see well. So Joseph ²³  brought his sons ²⁴  near to him, and his father ²⁵  kissed them and embraced them. 48:11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected ²⁶  to see you ²⁷  again, but now God has allowed me to see your children ²⁸  too.”

48:12 So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees ²⁹  and bowed down with his face to the ground. 48:13 Joseph positioned them; ³⁰  he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father. ³¹  48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. ³²  Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked –

the God who has been my shepherd ³³ 

all my life long to this day,

48:16 the Angel ³⁴  who has protected me ³⁵ 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ³⁶ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

Genesis 49:28

49:28 These ³⁷  are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing. ³⁸ 

Numbers 6:23-27

6:23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way ³⁹  you are to bless ⁴⁰  the Israelites. Say ⁴¹  to them:

6:24 “The Lord bless you ⁴²  and protect ⁴³  you;

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

and be gracious to you; ⁴⁴ 

6:26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you ⁴⁵ 

and give you peace.”’

6:27 So they will put my name ⁴⁶  on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Mark 10:16

10:16 After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Hebrews 7:6-7

7:6 But Melchizedek ⁴⁷  who does not share their ancestry ⁴⁸  collected a tithe ⁴⁹  from Abraham and blessed ⁵⁰  the one who possessed the promise. 7:7 Now without dispute the inferior is blessed by the superior,

[27:4]  ¹ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

[27:4]  ² tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.

[27:25]  ³ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[27:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.

[27:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “see.”

[27:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”

[27:28]  ¹² tn Heb “and from the fatness.”

[27:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.

[27:29]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”

[27:29]  ¹⁵ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[47:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “caused him to stand.”

[47:7]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from before Pharaoh.”

[48:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my.”

[48:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:9]  ²¹ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the imperative.

[48:10]  ²² tn Heb “heavy.”

[48:10]  ²³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:11]  ²⁶ tn On the meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּלַל (palal) here, see E. A. Speiser, “The Stem pll in Hebrew,” JBL 82 (1963): 301-6. Speiser argues that this verb means “to estimate” as in Exod 21:22.

[48:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “your face.”

[48:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “offspring.”

[48:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and Joseph brought them out from with his knees.” The two boys had probably been standing by Israel’s knees when being adopted and blessed. The referent of the pronoun “his” (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and Joseph took the two of them.”

[48:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “and he brought near to him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” and “him” (Joseph and his father respectively) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:14]  ³² tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-concessive here.

[48:15]  ³³ tn Heb “shepherded me.” The verb has been translated as an English noun for stylistic reasons.

[48:16]  ³⁴ sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.

[48:16]  ³⁵ tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).

[48:16]  ³⁶ tn Or “be recalled through them.”

[49:28]  ³⁷ tn Heb “All these.”

[49:28]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and he blessed them, each of whom according to his blessing, he blessed them.”

[6:23]  ³⁹ tn Or “thus.”

[6:23]  ⁴⁰ tn The Piel imperfect has the nuance of instruction. The particle “thus” explains that the following oracle is the form to use.

[6:23]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ 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.

[7:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the one”; in the translation the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified for clarity.

[7:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “is not descended from them.”

[7:6]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “a tenth part.”

[7:6]  ⁵⁰ sn The verbs “collected…and blessed” emphasize the continuing effect of the past actions, i.e., Melchizedek’s importance.