Benediction ; by implication prosperity
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בְּרָכָה (berakah) is the Hebrew noun for blessing — the covenant favor of YHWH that speaks and conveys what he gives. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 69 occurrences and is grounded in the Abrahamic covenant: YHWH made Abraham a berakah (Gen 12:2), and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed.
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Full entry for בְּרָכָה (H1293) · Open the biblical lexicon
בְּרָכָה (berakah) is the Hebrew noun for blessing — the covenant favor of YHWH that speaks and conveys what he gives. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 69 occurrences and is grounded in the Abrahamic covenant: YHWH made Abraham a berakah (Gen 12:2), and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed.
The BSB source-word alignment has 69 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include a blessing (14), blessing (7), the blessing (7), The blessings (4), with blessings (4).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 12:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (16), Deuteronomy (12), Psalms (9), Proverbs (8).
בְּרָכָה (berakah) is the Hebrew noun for blessing — the covenant favor of YHWH that speaks and conveys what he gives. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 69 occurrences and is grounded in the Abrahamic covenant: YHWH made Abraham a berakah (Gen 12:2), and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. From that Abrahamic anchor, the berakah flows through the Mosaic covenant (Deut 28), the priestly blessing (Num 6), the prophetic promises, and the Psalms — and the NT shows it arriving fully in Christ.
Genesis 12:2 gives berakah its Abrahamic foundation: 'I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a berakah.' YHWH's purpose is not merely to bless Abraham but to make him a berakah — a blessing to others, a conduit of the divine favor to all families of the earth (v. 3: 'and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed'). The berakah is not private: it flows through the recipient to others.
Numbers 6:24-26 gives berakah its priestly form: 'YHWH bless (yevarekh) you and keep you; YHWH make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; YHWH lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (shalom).' This is the great priestly berakah — the official channel through which YHWH's blessing flows to his people. Three lines, six verbs, one source: YHWH himself places his name on his people through this blessing (v. 27, 'so shall they put my name on the people of Israel, and I will bless them').
Deuteronomy 28:2-3 gives berakah its covenant-obedience form: 'And all these berakot shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of YHWH your God. Blessed (baruk) shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.' The berakot of Deuteronomy 28 are comprehensive: city and field, fruit and livestock, basket and kneading bowl, going out and coming in (v. 3-6). The covenant berakah is not one category of blessing but the totality of flourishing in every domain of life.
Psalm 3:8 gives berakah its congregational use: 'Salvation belongs to YHWH; your berakah be on your people!' David's psalm in flight from Absalom ends with this request: not just personal salvation but the berakah on all of YHWH's people. The berakah is communal as well as individual — it belongs to the covenant people as a body.
Malachi 3:10 gives berakah its covenant-faithfulness promise: 'Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says YHWH of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a berakah until there is no more need.' The berakah is the response to covenant faithfulness — YHWH is the source, Israel's obedience is the channel, and the berakah flows according to his covenant purpose.
For the preacher, בְּרָכָה (berakah) gives the congregation the word for what YHWH's favor accomplishes: not just a wish or a feeling but an effective reality. The blessing YHWH pronounces is a berakah — it does what it says.
בְּרָכָה (berakah) is counted at about 69 occurrences in the local Hebrew index. Its theological center is the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 12:2, I will make you a berakah), the priestly blessing (Num 6:24-26), and the covenant blessings of Deuteronomy 28. It also appears in the Psalms as congregational berakah (Ps 3:8, 129:8), in Malachi as the reward of covenant faithfulness (Mal 3:10), and in prophetic promises of eschatological blessing.
The berakah is not merely verbal — it is effective: YHWH's blessing accomplishes what it pronounces.
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
The Abrahamic berakah-commission: 'I will bless you... so that you will be a berakah.' YHWH does not merely bless Abraham — he makes him a berakah, a channel of blessing to others. The purpose is explicitly universal: 'in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed' (v. 3). The berakah is not for Abraham's private enrichment but for his becoming the conduit of divine favor to the whole world.
This is the theological root of the NT's application of the Abrahamic berakah to Christ (Gal 3:14, 'in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles').
‘May the Lord bless you and keep you;
The priestly berakah: the official channel of YHWH's blessing to his people. Three paired verbs — bless/keep, shine/be gracious, lift/give peace — describe YHWH's covenant favor in three registers: protection, illumination, and shalom. The theological key is v. 27: 'so shall they put my name on the people of Israel, and I will bless them.' The priestly words are effective because they carry YHWH's own name — the berakah is not the priest's to give but YHWH's to place through the priestly mouth.
And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the Lord your God:
The covenant berakot: 'all these berakot shall come upon you and overtake you.' The image of berakot overtaking the obedient (natrag, to pursue and overtake — a verb used of armies in pursuit) is vivid: the covenant blessings do not merely await Israel's arrival; they pursue and catch the covenant-keeping community. The list (vv. 3-6) is comprehensive: city, field, offspring, land, basket, coming in, going out — YHWH's berakah covers every domain of life.
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.
The testable berakah: 'put me to the test... if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour down for you a berakah until there is no more need.' YHWH invites a test of his own faithfulness — a rare and striking move. The berakah of Malachi 3:10 is not metaphorical; it is agricultural, economic, and tangible. But the underlying covenant principle is theological: YHWH is the giver of all fruitfulness, and covenant faithfulness (here measured by the tithe) opens the channel of his berakah.
Salvation belongs to the Lord; may Your blessing be on Your people. Selah
The congregational berakah: 'your berakah be on your people.' David's psalm in personal crisis ends not with a request for his own vindication but for the berakah on all YHWH's people. The movement from individual (YHWH saves David, v. 7) to community (your berakah on your people, v. 8) is the pattern of the Psalter: personal confidence in YHWH expands into concern for the whole covenant people. The berakah is not hoarded by the individual but sought for the congregation.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Blessing as divine speech-act that conveys concrete benefit and prosperity, not merely words of goodwill
Blessing as divine speech-act that conveys concrete benefit and prosperity, not merely words of goodwill
benediction; by implication prosperity BDB: blessing Usage: blessing, liberal, pool, present.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 69 lexical occurrence verses.
The word identifies God as the ultimate source of true prosperity.Proverbs 10:22
Blessing represents God's approval and favor resting upon the righteous.Proverbs 10:6
The righteous bring life-giving influence that benefits others.Proverbs 11:11
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
בְּרָכָה (berakah) teaches the congregation that YHWH's blessing is effective, not merely expressive. When the priest pronounces the Aaronic blessing (Num 6:24-26), it is not a wish but a berakah: YHWH places his name on his people through those words. The preacher can help the congregation understand that the blessing pronounced in worship is not a formality — it is a real covenant act.
And Genesis 12:2's 'you will be a berakah' gives the congregation its missionary identity: they are not merely recipients of YHWH's blessing but are called to become conduits of it. As Abraham was made a berakah so that all families of the earth would be blessed through him, so the NT church is the community through which the Abrahamic berakah flows to the nations (Gal 3:14).
The congregation's call is not just to receive the berakah but to become a channel of blessing — to be so saturated with YHWH's covenant favor that it flows through them to the people around them. Malachi 3:10's testable berakah gives the congregation a provocation: YHWH invites them to test him in faithfulness and see if he will not pour out blessing without limit.
The berakah is real and covenant-grounded, and Malachi must be handled within its covenant setting.
Gen.12.2
בְּרָכָה (berakah) is the noun form of the verb בָּרַךְ (barak, H1288, to bless). The verbal root may connect etymologically to barak in the sense of kneeling (the posture of blessing and of worship: Ps 95:6, 'come, let us kneel before YHWH our Maker') — the berakah is what flows from the encounter with the one before whom one kneels. The noun berakah covers: (1) blessing as effective divine act (Gen 12:2), (2) blessing as the spoken word that carries divine authority (Num 6:24-26), (3) blessing as a present or gift (Gen 33:11, Jacob to Esau), and (4) berakah as a proper noun for a valley (2Chr 20:26, where Israel assembled to bless YHWH — the name memorializing the event).
In NT Greek, eulogia (G2129, blessing) is the primary translation of berakah: it appears in 2 Cor 9:5 (a generous gift, literally 'promised eulogia'), Eph 1:3 ('blessed with every spiritual eulogia in Christ'), and Rev 5:12-13 (the eschatological eulogia ascribed to the Lamb).
The NT's berakah-theology is concentrated in Galatians 3 and Ephesians 1. Galatians 3:8-9 makes explicit the Abrahamic-berakah connection: 'the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed. So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.'
The berakah of Genesis 12:2-3 arrives in Christ — and all who are in Christ by faith receive the blessing of Abraham. Galatians 3:13-14 adds the mechanism: 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law... so that in Christ Jesus the blessing (eulogia) of Abraham might come to the Gentiles.' Ephesians 1:3 is the NT's comprehensive berakah-statement: 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing (eulogia) in the heavenly places.'
The priestly Aaronic berakah (Num 6:24-26) is fulfilled in Hebrews 7:7 ('it is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior') and in Revelation 5:12-13 where blessing is ascribed to the Lamb: 'worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing (eulogia)!'