Bless: 1. God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift
temporal or spiritual
(Genesis 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12)(Psalms 45:2; 104:24,35)
2. We bless God when we thank him for his mercies
(Psalms 103:1,2)
(145:1,2)
3. A man blesses himself when he invokes God's blessing
(Isaiah 65:16)
or rejoices in God's goodness to him
(Deuteronomy 29:19; Psalms 49:18)
4. One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers
prayer to God for his welfare
(Genesis 24:60; 31:55; 1 Samuel 2:20) Sometimes
blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case
of Noah, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses
(Genesis 9:26,27; 27:28,29,40)
(Genesis 48:15-20; 49:1-28; Deuteronomy 33:1)ff The priests were divinely
authorized to bless the people
(Deuteronomy 10:8; Numbers 6:22-27) We have many
examples of apostolic benediction
(2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 6:23,24)
(2 Thessalonians 3:16,18; Hebrews 13:20,21; 1 Peter 5:10,11)
5. Among the Jews in their thank-offerings the master of the feast
took a cup of wine in his hand, and after having blessed God for
it and for other mercies then enjoyed, handed it to his guests,
who all partook of it.
(Psalms 116:13) refers to this custom. It is
also alluded to in
(1 Corinthians 10:16) where the apostle speaks of the
"cup of blessing."
