Blessing God

[alon]

Hebrew prayers typically start “Blessed are You O Lord our God… .” In saying this, we are actually blessing God. But how do we bless the Almighty?

Well, we can’t in English. Obviously I am taking some liberties here; but the English word “bless” falls far short of the Hebrew it was translated from- “baruch” בָּרוּך.

bless (blĕs) tr.v. blessed or blest (blĕst), bless·ing, bless·es
1. To make holy by religious rite; sanctify.
2. To make the sign of the cross over so as to sanctify.
3. To invoke divine favor upon.
4. To honor as holy; glorify: Bless the Lord.
5. To confer well-being or prosperity on.
6. To endow, as with talent.
Idiom: bless you- Used to wish good health to a person who has just sneezed.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. (Dictionary Online)

In English to bless someone or something is to confer, grant or give them something, or to ask God to endow them with a blessing. The thing is, all we have that God could possibly want is us. This brings us to the Hebrew term- “b’racha,” blessing. The root of this word is “b’rech,” ררבָּ “knee.” Thus when we bless God in Hebrew prayer, we are literally or figuratively on our knee before our Sovereign God. We are giving ourselves, pledging all we are and all we own to Him.

But think for a minute; what happens when that same Elohim who created everything, including us, blesses us? God then kneels, and reaches down to us with the palm of His hand open to give. He may bestow health, prosper our efforts, or just give us a warm feeling that we know He is God. But as He humbled Himself when He came to us, so He humbly reaches down to us, kneeling as we kneel before Him.

Now words have power and they have meaning. So when we say we bless God in English it is easy to misconstrue what is going on. The only power we have in the whole thing is to submit or to withhold ourselves from Him. And in submitting, the idea may be conveyed we can take back what we gave (us). This is a dangerous concept. I prefer the picture we have in the Hebrew blessing:

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, …
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe …

Dan C

[Elizabeth]

I love that idea. We bless G-d, or not, in what we do with our life. From how we wake up in the morning to each interaction we have with people. The Hebrew definition is expansive enough to cover that without elevating the self.

In repentance, I always come back to knowing who I am and who He is. That image of kneeling and Him bending down caused that to come to mind. I find so much freedom in that concept. You immediately know what you are expected to do, and what you can do and can't do. What you can do is from Him, and all you can't do belongs to Him.

Anyway, If I can keep that in my heart and mind, I find so much more opportunity to engage in life in a more blessed way. G-d is the source of all blessing, and people just get the blessing to participate and see Him in each other.

Anyway, love the concept and how well it says what we feel. I also now know what I am hearing in the prayers. Thanks for the post.

[jimmie]

Jan 5, 2016 18:44:33 GMT -8 alon said:

This brings us to the Hebrew term- “b’racha,” blessing. The root of this word is “b’rech,” ררבָּ “knee.”
Dan C

This is where the English expression "Break a Knee" comes from. The "ch" makes the "k" sound. There is a fancy name for those types of saying but it escapes me.