H1293 H1293
Blessing: divine favor, benediction, or promised good bestowed on someone; rarely a concrete gift or peace offering.
The feminine noun berakhah is one of the Hebrew Bible's great theological keywords, appearing 69 times to name the good that flows from God to humanity and from parents to children. At its heart stands the patriarchal blessing — Isaac's contested benediction over Jacob and Esau (Gen 27:12-41), Jacob's prophetic blessings over his twelve sons (Gen 49:28), and Moses' final blessings over the tribes (Deut 33:1). But berakhah is no mere formula; it carries real force, as Esau's anguished cry reveals: 'Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me too!' (Gen 27:38). The word extends readily to divine favor — 'I will make you a blessing' (Gen 12:2) and 'the blessing of the LORD makes rich' (Prov 10:22). Spanish bendicion, French benediction, and German Segen all share the Latin-rooted sense of 'speaking good over someone,' while Arabic baraka preserves the exact Semitic cognate. One isolated occurrence in Isaiah 36:16, where the Rabshakeh offers Judah a 'blessing' meaning a peace deal or gift, stretches the word toward its tangible, transactional edge.
Senses
1. blessing, benediction, favor — Blessing, benediction, or divine favor — the act or content of speaking good over someone, whether from God to humans or between persons, including patriarchal blessings, covenantal promises of prosperity, and liturgical benedictions. This overwhelmingly dominant sense (68 occurrences) spans from God's foundational promise to Abraham — 'I will make you a blessing' (Gen 12:2) — through the patriarchal contest over Isaac's blessing (Gen 27:12-41), Moses' farewell blessings (Deut 33:1), the Deuteronomic choice between blessing and curse (Deut 11:26-29; 30:1, 19), the wisdom tradition's 'blessing of the LORD' (Prov 10:22), and prophetic promises like 'I will send you a blessing' (Mal 3:10). Spanish bendicion, French benediction, German Segen, and Arabic بركة form a remarkably stable cross-linguistic equivalence. The word carries performative force: to pronounce berakhah is to enact the good it names. 68×
AR["بَرَكةً","بَرَكَةً","بَرَكَةٌ","بَرَكَةٍ"]·ben["আশীর্বাদ","আশীর্বাদ।","আশীর্বাদের"]·DE["Segen","[ברכה]","ein-Segen","ein-segnend","einen-Segen","segnend"]·EN["a-blessing","blessing","generous"]·FR["[ברכה]","bénédiction","dans-bénédiction","un-bénédiction","une-bénédiction"]·heb["ברכה"]·HI["अअशिरवअद","अशिश","आशीर्वाद","आशीष","आशीष-का","और-देगा","धन्यवाद","बरकत","सुलह"]·ID["berkat","berkat,","berkat;"]·IT["[ברכה]","benedicendo","benedizione","un-benedicendo","un-benedizione"]·jav["berkah","berkahing."]·KO["복-을","복-의","복과","복을","복의","복이","복이라","찬양과","축복","축복-을","축복을","축복이","축복이다"]·PT["bênção","uma-bênção"]·RU["благословение","благословением","благословения"]·ES["bendición","bendición;"]·SW["amani","baraka","ya-ukarimu","za-baraka"]·TR["armagan","barış","bereket","bereketin","bereketlerin","cömertlik"]·urd["برکت","برکت-کی","صلح"]
2. gift, peace offering — A concrete gift or peace offering — a tangible token of goodwill extended as a diplomatic overture, where the abstract concept of 'blessing' materializes into something given or exchanged. Only one clear occurrence in this corpus: the Assyrian Rabshakeh's taunt to Jerusalem, 'make a blessing with me and come out to me' (Isa 36:16), where berakhah functions as an offer of terms — surrender and receive gifts of vine and fig tree. Spanish renders this as paz ('peace'), marking the shift from spiritual benediction to political transaction. The extension from spoken blessing to material gift is natural in a culture where blessings and gifts were intertwined (cf. Jacob's 'blessing' sent ahead to Esau in Gen 33:11, using the same word), but the Rabshakeh's usage strips away the theological resonance and reduces berakhah to a bargaining chip. 1×
AR["بَرَكَةً"]·ben["বরকত"]·DE["Segen"]·EN["and-come-out"]·FR["bénédiction"]·heb["ברכה"]·HI["सन्धि"]·ID["perjanjian-damai"]·IT["benedizione"]·jav["lan-medal-priksa"]·KO["화일을"]·PT["bênção"]·RU["благословение"]·ES["paz"]·SW["baraka"]·TR["baris"]·urd["صلح"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)H7121 1. call, summon, name (575×)H6680 1. command, order, charge (483×)H6030b 1. answer, respond, reply (289×)G2980 1. speak, talk (277×)H5046 1. Hifil: to tell, report (237×)G0611 1. answer or respond verbally (232×)H1288 1. Piel: bless, invoke blessing (227×)H7650 1. swear, take an oath (Niphal) (154×)H3789 1. Qal passive participle: written, recorded (112×)H1984b 1. praise, laud (Piel) (111×)H7592 1. ask, inquire, question (96×)H3034 1. give thanks, praise (Hifil) (94×)G1321 1. teach, instruct actively (92×)H3789 2. Qal active: write, compose (89×)G1125 1. to write, compose (a letter or document) (84×)H5046 2. Hifil: to declare, proclaim (79×)H7892a 1. song, musical composition (78×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. בִּרָכָה n.f. blessing (Arabic بَرَكَةٌ; Ethiopic በረከት Aramaic בִּרְכָּא, ܒܘܪܟܬܳܐ; NH as Heb.)—ב׳ Gn 12:2 + 39 times; cstr. בִּרְכַּת Gn 28:4 + 9 times; sf. בִּרְכָתוֹ Gn 49:28 + 7 times; pl. בְּרָכוֹת ψ 21:7 + 4 times; cstr. בִּרְכוֹת, בִּרְכֹת Gn 49:25 + 5 times; sf. בִּרְכוֹתֵיכֶם Mal 2:2;— 1. blessing: a. of parent Gn 27:12–41; 49:28 (JE), of Moses Dt 33:1. b. of God Ex 32:29 (E) Lv…