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misled Delilah as she probed for the secret of his strength, telling her to “bind” him with
bowstrings (Judg. 16:7) and new ropes (Judg. 16:11), none of which could hold him.
Used in an abstract sense,
refers to those who are spiritually “bound” (Ps. 146:7;
Isa. 49:9; 61:1) or a man who is emotionally “captivated” by a woman’s hair (Song of
Sol. 7:5). Strangely, the figurative use of the term in the sense of obligation or “binding”
to a vow or an oath is found only in Num. 30, but it is used there a number of times (vv.
3, 5-6, 8-9, 11- 12). This section also illustrates how such “binding” is variously rendered
in the English versions: “bind” (
RSV
,
KJV
,
NAB
); “promises” (
TEV
); “puts himself under a
binding obligation” (
NEB
,
NASB
); “takes a formal pledge under oath” (
JB
).
TO BLESS
A. Verb.
(
, 1288), “to kneel, bless, be blessed, curse.” The root of this word is
found in other Semitic languages which, like Hebrew, use it most frequently with a deity
as subject. There are also parallels to this word in Egyptian.
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occurs about 330 times in the Bible, first in Gen. 1:22: “And God blessed
them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, …” God’s first word to man is introduced in the
same way: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply
…” (v. 28). Thus the whole creation is shown to depend upon God for its continued
existence and function (cf. Ps. 104:27-30).
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is used again of man in Gen. 5:2, at the
beginning of the history of believing men, and again after the Flood in Gen. 9:1: “And
God blessed Noah and his sons.…” The central element of God’s covenant with Abram
is: “I will bless thee … and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee
… and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3). This “blessing” on
the nations is repeated in Gen. 18:18; 22:18; and 28:14 (cf. Gen. 26:4; Jer. 4:2). In all of
these instances, God’s blessing goes out to the nations through Abraham or his seed. The
Septuagint translates all of these occurrences of
in the passive, as do the
KJV
,
NASB
, and
NIV
. Paul quotes the Septuagint’s rendering of Gen. 22:18 in Gal. 3:8.
The covenant promise called the nations to seek the “blessing” (cf. Isa. 2:2-4), but
made it plain that the initiative in blessing rests with God, and that Abraham and his seed
were the instruments of it. God, either directly or through His representatives, is the
subject of this verb over 100 times. The Levitical benediction is based on this order: “On
this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel … the Lord bless thee … and they shall put
my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them” (Num. 6:23- 27).
The passive form of
is used in pronouncing God’s “blessing on men,” as
through Melchizedek: “Blessed be Abram of the most high God …” (Gen. 14:19).
“Blessed be the Lord God of Shem …” (Gen. 9:26) is an expression of praise. “Blessed
be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand” (Gen. 14:20) is
mingled praise and thanksgiving.
A common form of greeting was, “Blessed be thou of the Lord” (1 Sam. 15:13; cf.
Ruth 2:4); “Saul went out to meet [Samuel], that he might salute him” (1 Sam. 13:10;
“greet,”
NASB
and
NIV
).
The simple form of the verb is used in 2 Chron. 6:13: “He … kneeled down.…” Six
times the verb is used to denote profanity, as in Job 1:5: “It may be that my sons have
sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.”