Concluding from previous post:
What is blessing and who is blessed?
Again we need to remember that the New Testament, as we know it, has been translated from Hebrew/Aramaic/Latin/Greek and finally into the English language; and not discounting all the additional translations into every known language of the nations.
For the purpose of this post, we are looking at the most ancient meanings, not what we think or perceive it to mean.
In the New Testament, there are two primary Greek words translated as blessing and they shed some light on the Scriptural meaning.
The first is Makarios, which carries the same meaning as the Hebrew word esher.
The other is Eulogeo, which is used:
to give a good report or
say a good word;
it is more similar to the meaning of barak.
We bless God for all the blessings He gives us in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), and we are to bless those who mistreat us, because we were called to receive a blessing from God (1 Peter 3:9).
In the Greek translation where the word is
Makarios
Strong’s Greek: 3107:
μακάριος (makarios) — blessed, happy
According to the Key-Word Study Bible:
The Greek word translated blessed in these passages is makarioi
which means: to be fully satisfied.
It refers to those receiving God’s favor, regardless of the circumstances.
makarios: blessed, happy
3107 Strongs – Greek
Original Word: μακάριος, α, ον
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: makarios
Phonetic Spelling: (mak-ar’-ee-os)
Definition: blessed, happy
Usage: happy, blessed, to be envied.
3107 makários
(from mak-, become long, large) –
properly, when God extends His benefits
(the advantages He confers); blessed.
3107 /makários blessed:
describes a believer in: enviable fortunate position from receiving God’s provisions (favor) – which (literally) extend (make long, large) His grace (benefits).
This happens with receiving (obeying) the Lord’s directions and commandments in birthings of faith.
Hence, faith (4102 /pístis)
and 3107 (makários)
are closely associated.
(Rom. 4:5-7,14:22,23; Rev. 14:12,13).
The Greek word for blessed used in the Beatitudes
is makarios (plural: makaroioi).
This word has been used, mostly taken from the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.
In ancient Greek times, makarios referred to the gods. The blessed ones were the gods.
Makarios carries the meaning of happiness that we just looked at.
The Beatitudes of Matthew 5 and Luke 6 describe: the happy state of those who find their purpose and fulfillment in God.
In the Psalms, the best life is available for those who love and fear God and order their lives according to His Word.
Romans 4:6-8 ties this happy blessing to those whose sins are forgiven, for they know the relationship to God has been restored.
Strictly speaking, there is no Greek meaning of the word blessed.
The word blessed comes from a German word ‘bletsian’ meaning ‘blood’! –
the reference being back to Old Testament sacrifices….
The English-speaking church chose to use the word bless as a translation for the Greek eulogeitos; this Greek word actually gives us the English word ‘eulogy‘. ‘eu‘ means ‘good‘ and ‘logy‘ means word – hence the meaning of eulogy is literally ‘a good word‘.
This Greek word eulogeitos was chosen by the New Testament writers as the nearest equivalent word they had for the contextual meaning for the Old Testament Hebrew word barak, which as already mentioned in Part 1/last post; literally means to kneel.
eujlogevw – Eulogeo – (yoo-log-eh’-o);
Word Origin: Greek, Verb, Strongs #: 2127
to praise,
celebrate with praises
to invoke blessings
to consecrate a thing with solemn prayers
to ask God’s blessing on a thing
pray God to bless it to one’s use
pronounce a consecratory blessing on
of God to cause to prosper,
to make happy,
to bestow blessings on,
favored of God, blessed.
KJV Word Usage and Count bless 43x
praise
makavrioß
Makarios – (mak-ar’-ee-os);
Adjective, Strong #: 3107
blessed, happy
KJV Word Usage and Count:
blessed 44x – happy 5 happier
makavrioß – Makarios – (mak-ar’-ee-os);
Adjective, Strongs #: 3107
Eulogeo focuses more on good words or the good report that others give of someone and also describes the blessing that we say over our food.
(Matthew 26:26).
This word is where we get our English word eulogy, in which we speak well of one who has passed away.
Having looked it up in Strongs and Lexicon this is what they all said:
ευλογημένος – Evlogimenos means blessed. Makarios does too.
The correct translation is ευλογημένος (evlogimenos).
Makarios is sometimes used but it means more that that…as in
happy, having a peaceful soul
rather than simply blessed.
In the Vulgate, each of these blessings begins with the word beati, which translates to happy, rich, or blessed (plural adjective).
The corresponding word in the original Greek is μακάριοι (makarioi), with the same meanings.
Thus Blessed are the poor in spirit
appears in Latin as:
beati pauperes spiritu.
The word blessed that was used by Jesus/Yeshua in the Sermon on the Mount also called, the Beatitudes, with which we are probably most familiar.
Here the word is derived from the Greek word makarios which translates into happy or blissful. There are around 5 Hebrew and 2 Greek words that are interpreted as happy in the Bible.
The word happy in the English language is often thought of as Fortunate or lucky, cheerful, contented, characterized by or indicative of pleasure. (Random House College Dictionary).
The way happy is portrayed in the Bible is much more meaningful.
As an example, the Bible doesn’t just present happiness to be an event or occurrence that results from luck or a brief feeling of elation. (There is no such thing as luck, coincidence or chance, in Hebrew thought, as everything is planned by God’s providence.)
The Bible states that happiness can be there, despite experiencing a correction from God or enduring hardships while on the path to virtue. (Job 5:17; I Pet. 3:14, 4:14)
We should think more in terms of JOY as in the Joy of the Lord.
The joy of the Lord is your strength
(Nehemiah 8:10)
The first Lord means my lord of men or of God; a title spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence. LORD, in all caps later in the verse, refers to the root of our joy, which strengthens us. It is the Hebrew word Yehovah (YHWH).
This Joy, is a spiritual force because, God’s Strength and Joy are in Heaven.
David writes,
Strength and joy are in his place (1Chr. 16:27)
When David said that, he was probably thinking about the tabernacle – due to the fact that the ark of the covenant had been stolen, and David brought it back to Jerusalem.
The joy of the Lord is our strength, and is brought to fullness when we accept His provision of righteousness by grace that reunites us so we can enjoy His presence.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Rom. 14:17).
One Hebrew phrase is: to be at rest, safe.
(Matt 11:28-30). 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
If we read carefully Jesus/Yeshua was
only talking with His disciples,
NOT
the multitudes or the huge crowds following Him.
We may not have realized that He was quoting the Bible/Old Testament scriptures (Tenach/Torah/Prophets etc.) These verses read like a spiritual checklist…. References added..
See verse 1: His DISCIPLES came to Him
2. and He opened his mouth and taught THEM saying
BLESSED
are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
(Here poor in spirit is a Hebrew idiom for Repentant) Is.61:1
BLESSED
are they that mourn for they shall be comforted
(mourn can be interpreted as prayer/intercession)
Is.61:2,3
BLESSED
are the meek for they shall inherit the earth
(meek, also translated humble. Heb:ANAV.) Ps.37:11; when used collectively, it refers to a faithful minority/ a group remaining godly through all their trials, not giving in to the temptations of the world. 1Kings19:18 remnant referred to by God.
Around 24 verses refer to the remnant but are not so obvious because the Hebrew word ANAV has been translated into different words such as POOR/MEEK & LOWLY as well as HUMBLE. e.g.’s. Is 29:19, 61:1; Zeph. 2:3; Ps. 25:9, 37:11, 76:10; Prov. 3:34.
Humble and Meek used to mean the same but todays modern understanding of humble denotes a lack of pride but not a lack of confidence; while meek means low self esteem and lacking confidence.
BLESSED
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness
Righteousness is ACTION it’s DOING!
Hosea 10:12; Matt.6:33; John 6:53.
Being not just a hearer but a doer – the perfect will of God – This is hungering to DO His perfect will. We are made righteous by faith and grace but as righteousness is action, we don’t just sit by and wait for our redemption, we work out our salvation by following Jesus/Yeshua and doing what He did and what He told us to do.
Hebrew root is Ts D K – Tsadik; and the Gk. verb is Dikaio: both mean to do right, to be just. They are verbs that require action by the subject of the verb. When we are made righteous by our faith, our behavior and lifestyle has to change. If it doesn’t 1John 2:3 applies. Righteousness and holiness are the foundation of relationships for all of humanity. Each of us has a relationship with God, with other people, even with animals who have souls. We are to do right, to be just in every endeavor, and we are to keep ourselves pure; this is our minimum standard! To go beyond that is Ts dakah – Hebrew translates as acts of loving kindness and doing unto others as we would have them do unto us – often called the golden rule.
No one can be perfect while in this earthly body but we can daily work towards being more like Jesus/Yeshua wants us to be. God knows our hearts and sees our faith and the Blood of the Lamb.
BLESSED
are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
Also meaning those who forgive – literally this says to be merciful – which is a Hebrew idiom meaning to be forgiving – 2Sam.22:26; Matt.6:12-15; Mark 11:25. Also to be forgiving of self and walking in repentance – having all sins forgiven.
Those who are forgiving will be forgiven – this action is repeated in the ‘Lords Prayer’.
BLESSED
are the pure in heart
for they shall see God.
2 Sam.22:27; Ps.24:3,4
BLESSED
are the peacemakers
for they shall be called the children of God
Ps.37:37; Is 32:17
BLESSED
are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are those who press on for the sake of righteousness – this means to walk in all the promises of God.
Prov. 21:21; Matt 11:12.
BLESSED
are you when men revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of things against you falsely for my sake
Rather than a fleeting happiness dependent on current circumstances, the blessedness that Yeshua/Jesus spoke of is: deep, abiding, unshakable joy –
rooted in the assurance of God’s blessing,
both in the present and in the future.
The book of Matthew was written in Hebrew, so we can refer to the places where Blessing – Blessed – Bless is recorded.
Matt. 5:3-11
In the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12,
is where Jesus/Yeshua lists
what it means to be blessed..
However this list is certainly not the first thing that comes to mind when we think of being blessed, or when we pray for others to be blessed.
Remember all those childhood prayers, God Bless Mother, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, etc., we had no idea what we were saying!
Because we were actually saying,
Let them be
poor in spirit,
mourning,
meek,
hungering and thirsting for righteousness,
merciful,
pure,
peacemakers,
and persecuted! etc …
So how could such things lead to happiness?
It seems like they lead more to the opposite of happiness??
However, the Beatitudes tell us one thing clearly… and that is, we can never be happy when we live self-centered lives. We may be fooled into thinking we’re happy for a while, but eventually it will fold in on us because true happiness can be found only in a relationship with our Creator.
Only the One who made us, knows what will truly make us happy and give us satisfaction in life.
We have to get to the end of ourselves and to the beginning of God, if we are to gain any lasting contentment in life, and that can happen only through divine revelation and transformation through God’s Word and His Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
This is the
pearl of great value
(Matthew 13:46),
worth selling everything to gain it,
and ultimately, it’s the secret to true satisfaction.
What was Yeshua/Jesus’ purpose in saying such things?
Did He want to make sure we were miserable while here on Earth so we would long for heaven, or was it because He knew what would really make us happy?
This of course is in spiritual terms and not just for here and now but for our eternal home.
While trials are not blessings in themselves, they are channels for them and what if the trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest times the loneliest nights, are our mercies in disguise? What if our blessings come through rain drops?
There shall be showers of blessing, this is the promise of love sent from the Savior above and this idea of blessing is also firmly established in Scripture.
One translation of the New Testament (ESV) has 112 references with the words bless, blessing, or blessed, none of which connects blessing to material prosperity.
Sometimes saying we’re blessed can be a subtle way of boasting while trying to sound humble. We sometimes attribute it to such circumstances as e.g:
College scholarship? Blessed.
Unexpected raise? Blessed.
Wonderful family? Blessed.
As Christians/Believers in Jesus/Yeshua, we use that term too, of course. We pray God will bless our family. We attribute our undeserved gifts to God’s blessings. We talk about ministries being blessed, etc., etc.
For believers, is the blessed life synonymous with the successful life? Is it really the Christian version of the good life? A loving marriage, obedient children, a vibrant ministry, a healthy body, a successful career, trusted friends, financial abundance — if these are the characteristics of a blessed life, then having all of them should translate into an extraordinarily blessed life.
But does it? If someone had all those things, would they be extraordinarily blessed? Maybe by the worlds standards.
Rather than turning to God, they might feel self-sufficient and proud, perhaps a bit smug and self-righteous. After all, their hard work would be yielding good fruit.
Moreover, they wouldn’t need to cry out to God for deliverance; everything would already be perfect. They wouldn’t need to trust God; they could trust in themselves. They wouldn’t need God to fill them; they would already be satisfied?
What is blessing, then?
Scripture shows that blessing is:
anything God gives that makes us fully satisfied in Him.
Blessing is:
anything that draws us closer to Jesus/Yeshua.
Blessing is:
anything that helps us relinquish the temporal and hold on more tightly to the eternal; and often it is the struggles and trials, the aching disappointments and the unfulfilled longings that best enable us to do that.
Pain and loss transform us.
While they sometimes unravel us, they can also push us to a deeper life with God than we ever thought possible and they make us rest in Him alone.
It is Not what we can do or achieve for Him, nor is it what He can do or achieve for us.
During times of pain and loss, we long for His Presence; they are the important and often critical times when we long to know that God is for us, and with us, and in us. Good health, great families, financial wealth, are all wonderful gifts we can thank God for, however, they are not His greatest blessings.
Why?
because they may make us delight in His gifts
but not
in Him for Himself.
God’s greatest blessing always rests in God Himself.
When we have that, we are truly blessed.
He, Himself, IS the blessing.
As noted earlier there are other Hebrew words for blessing are: ashrei/asre and esher, which is also translated as happiness.
Here we see the Hebrew word translated as ASHREY
ASHREY is a Sanskrit word which means:
a shelter.
In Hebrew it’s a prayer which translates into ~
Happy are they who dwell in Your house, they will praise You always..
and so we make a shelter out of love for everyone who believes in consciously living the WAY Father intended us to.
Some commentators note that ashrei/ashrey is a pun on ashur, meaning to strive forward… Ha’ish (the man) represents the ideal man of God who is not ensnared by the ways of the wickedness that surrounds him. The WAY forward is the Torah-perspective.
ba’atzat resha’im – is the counsel of the wicked.
In modern Hebrew אשרי
means: happy or praiseworthy
Ashrei ha’am shekakhah lo, ashrei ha’am she’Adonai elohav
Happy is the people for whom it is so, happy is the people for whom Adonai is their God תְּהִלָּה לְדָוִד
Strong’s Hebrew: 835.
אַשְׁרֵי (esher) —
happiness, blessedness.
Original Word: אֶשֶׁר.
Transliteration: esher.
Ashrei (Hebrew : אַשְׁרֵי)
is a prayer that is recited at least three times daily in Jewish prayers, twice during Shacharit (morning service) and once during Mincha (afternoon service).
Ashrei yoshvei veitekha, ode yehalelukha selah.
Happy are those who dwell in Your house, may they always praise You, selah!
אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם שֶׁכָּכָה לּוֹ, אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם שֶׁיהוה אֱלֹהָיו.
Ashrei ha’am shekakhah lo, ashrei ha’am she’Adonai elohav
It is composed of different passages from the Book of Psalms, primarily psalm 145.
The prayer, praises God for being both mighty and a protector who takes care of the righteous.
Strong’s Hebrew: 833.
אָשַׁר (ashar) —
to go straight, go on.
Ashar meaning: to go straight on, advance. to lead on (causative) to set right, righten, to pronounce happy, call blessed. (Pual) to be advanced, be led on. to be made happy, be blessed.
In the paleo pictographs the letters can also mean:
fire on the head or the chief fire:
Alef – shin = fire
Alef – an ox, strength, leader, first.
Shin/sheen – a tooth, to consume, to destroy.
Resh/Reysh – the head person, the highest.
alef sheen resh
alef shin = fire ish
Reysh = head highest chief
This may seem confusing however in light of
Proverbs 25:21-22 (NKJV)
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
22 For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the Lord will reward you.
Romans 12:20-21 (NKJV)
Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
To us, this doesn’t sound like forgiveness, but like taking vengeance and we have interpreted it as heaping fires of justice or judgment or condemnation or vengeance on the heads of our enemies.
This is primarily because our generations are so far removed from the lives and the lifestyle of those generations these words were speaking to. In the Bible lands almost everything is carried on the head—water jugs, baskets of fruit, vegetables, fish or any other article. Those carrying the burden rarely touch it with the hands, and they walk through crowded streets and lanes with perfect ease.
In many homes the only fire they have is kept in a brazier which they use for simple cooking as well as for warmth.
They plan to always keep it burning. If it should go out, some member of the family will take the brazier to a neighbor’s house to borrow fire. Then she will lift that brazier to her head and start for home. If her neighbor is a generous woman, she will heap the brazier full of coals.
To feed an enemy and give him drink was like heaping the empty brazier with live coals, — which meant food, warmth, and almost life itself to the person or home needing it and was a symbol of finest generosity.
Giving a person coals in a pan to carry home on his head was a neighborly, kind act; it made friends, not enemies. Proverbs 25:22 instructs us to give our enemy so many burning coals they have to carry them the way burdens are carried in the Middle East: in a container on the head.
If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for by doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Aramaic Bible in Plain English “And if your enemy hungers, feed him, and if he thirsts, give him a drink, and if you do these things to him you will heap coals of fire on his skull.”
So the act of heaping coals of fire to an enemy was to show a love that is usually reserved to those who are our neighbors or kindred. It is a way to show a kindness reserved for those you love and trust, even when not deserving of it.
Blessed, happy, content, full of His joy.
Here are some of those who are blessed:
Matt 5 & 6, 13:16, 20:29, 24:46
Matt. 11:6 Blessed is whoever would not be caused to fall away because of Me.
Luke 11:28, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” 14:14, 42:43 Gk. Fulasso: means to guard, protect and to take care not to violate!
Luke 12:37, 38, 43 Blessed are those servants the Lord finds ALERT!
John 13:17
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven Rom.4:7
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial Jam.1:12
1Pet 4:14
Rev. 14:13, 16:15,19;9, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. . . . Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb also 20:6, 22:6-7, 22:14
Blessed are…
Those who watch!
There is no hint of material prosperity or perfect circumstances in any New Testament reference.
On the contrary, blessing is typically connected with either those who are dead, in poverty and trial or the spiritual benefits of being joined by faith to Jesus/Yeshua.
Ephesians 1:3 blesses God for all the blessings that He gives us in Christ, and 1 Peter 3:9 instructs us to bless those who mistreat us, because we were called to receive a blessing from God.
Bringing these threads together, we see that:
a blessing is a statement of good will and happiness that is said about another, as well as the condition that fulfills those good words.
God’s original design in creation was for His creatures, including mankind, to experience spiritual prosperity, peace, and fulfillment, but that design was destroyed when sin entered the world.
Statements of blessing are a wish for God to restore His favor on others or a declaration of His inherent goodness.
The ultimate blessing that God has given is the new life and forgiveness that comes through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach.
The material blessings we enjoy from day to day are temporary, but the spiritual blessings available to us in Messiah transcend both here in time and eternity, as well as both material and immaterial things.
As the Psalmist said, “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God” (Psalm 146:5).
A final thought
Those who receive a
blesSING – SING
of them in praise to the Lord who gave them!
We are blessed, We are blessed, every day of our lives we are blessed. When we wake up in the morning, when we lay our heads to rest; we are blessed, we are blessed!
Let us rejoice and be glad and declare…
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places… (Ephesians 1:3)
No matter what we do or don’t receive in this temporal form, we have been given every blessing through the complete work of Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach – His righteousness, resources and privilege.
In ourselves we are too small to bless the Lord!
However, we can think of how great He is;
and how wonderful the God of the universe is;
and tell Him while
humbling ourselves in a kneeling position of surrender!!
Baruk atta adonai eloheinu melehck haolam..
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe!
Shalom shalom mishpachah/family and cheverim/friends!
Don’t leave this page…until you are BLESSED!
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily and
that coals of fire are heaped on your heads!!!