Bless (barak, ashar)

beforHim · #1 17th August 2009, 04:31 PM

Upon studying, I looked up (in Hebrew, barak) bless (-es, -ed). Lexicons say it means things like to kneel, and/or to praise (you could praise without kneeling, and kneel without praising). I didn't get very far in studying, I'll admit, but I'm a bit confused.

How can God bless us- it says God blessed some creatures and us (in the creation account), and in Genesis 5, it says God blessed us. I'm sure it pops up in other places like this. I know God doesn't praise us, and the Hebrew word "ashar" is the one translated blessed/blessings/blesses when used in material possessions, or "I will bless your house", etc.

Just reading the Bible in various English translations shows that this simply means "to show favor", "to guarantee prosperity/to prosper", etc. But when the Hebrew is looked at, there are two different words, and the one I'm thinking of (barak) doesn't seem to mean this at all!

Hence, my question is, what does it mean when God "blesses" us, not in the "ashar" sense but in the "barak" sense? I posted this here, thinking maybe some sound hermeneutics could help me out. I also posted this same question at the theology and language forums.

chunkofcoal · #2 21st November 2009, 12:17 PM

When we bless ("barak") God we would kneel or bend our heads, like in this verse -

1Ch 29:20 And David said to all the congregation, Now bless (barak) the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed (barak) the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped (shachah - to bow down, depress, prostrate oneself) the LORD, and the king.

When God blesses (barak) us, it's like when a father bends his head to look down at his child.

I think about "asher" as being "happy". Like in this verse -

Gen 30:13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

Asher is also related to a word which means something like "straight and upright"

I hope this helps.