THE LORD SAID to Moses, 23“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24“‘ “The LORD bless you
and keep you;
25the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
26the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.” ’
27“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Original Meaning
A BLESSING DESERVES the best. So God himself gives his priests the words to “bless” (Piel of brk) his people, that is, to put his name on them by invoking him as their deity so that he will bless them (v. 27). We have already encountered an occasion when words like these would have been appropriate: At the conclusion of the inauguration service, Aaron “lifted his hands toward the people and blessed [Piel of brk] them” (Lev. 9:22; cf. v. 23).
The blessing here is brief (Num. 6:24–26) but poetic,1 with three pairs of parallels (author’s translation):
May the LORD bless you
and guard you;
May the LORD make his face shine toward you
and be gracious to you;
May the LORD lift up his face toward you
and give you well-being.
Each pair begins with Yahweh as subject and wishes for him to have a favorable attitude: blessing, making his face shine, and lifting up his face. These ancient expressions of favor appear in other texts. For example, harvesters greeted Boaz: “The LORD bless you!” (Ruth 2:4). The second member of each pair wishes for Yahweh to do something positive for his people: guard, be gracious, and give well-being. To be gracious (Qal of ḥnn; Num. 6:25) is not merely to smile; it is to show favor in the form of beneficial action (cf. Gen. 33:5, 11; Judg. 21:22; 2 Sam. 12:22).
The language of verse 27 (“So they will put [Qal of śym] my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them”) is related to that of verse 26 (“and give [Qal of śym] you well-being”).2 Notice how verse 27 encapsulates the blessing by referring to the beginning and ending ideas, but in reverse (chiastic) order:
bless (v. 24a) | put = give (śym; v. 26b) |
put (śym; v. 27a) | bless (v. 27b) |
In this structural pattern, the Lord’s putting his name on the Israelites (v. 27a) is the functional equivalent of giving them well-being (v. 26b). Implied is reinforcement of the idea that through their connection with God, whose name represents his Presence and character (cf. Deut. 12:5, 11, 21; Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22), his people receive well-being.
Later biblical echoes of the priestly blessing and ideas expressed in it (2 Chron. 30:9; Ps. 4:6; 67:1; cf. 119:135) testify to its prominence and appeal. Citation of an abridged form of the priestly blessing on two small amulets of silver leaf found in the tomb chambers of a cave overlooking the Hinnom valley outside the ancient city of Jerusalem also indicates that Israelites have long found profound comfort in these cherished words. Discovered in 1979, the miniature scrolls with about twenty lines scratched into their surfaces had apparently been worn about the neck on cords through central holes. Dating to the end of the seventh century B.C. or the beginning of the sixth century, they are among the earliest quotations of any scriptural passage.3
Some texts outside the Bible contain phraseology resembling that of this priestly blessing, showing that elements related to its mode of expression were known and appreciated elsewhere in the ancient Near East:
Two Mesopotamian documents reveal a remarkable similarity of language and literary form. A ninth-century boundary stone inscription contains the following terms: “his countenance brightened . . . he turned his attention . . . with his bright gaze, shining countenance . . . he granted his servant.” A sixth-century document reads: “turned her countenance toward me; with her shining face she (the goddess Gula) faithfully looked at me and actually caused (him, the god Marduk) to show mercy.” The latter passage is particularly striking in indicating, as does the Priestly Blessing, that the turning and bestowing of a shining face results in a bestowal of mercy. Of more direct relevance is the eighth-century Hebrew inscription written in paint on a large jar at Kuntillet ʿAjurd in the upper Sinai containing the words “the Lord bless you and keep you and be with you.”4
Bridging Contexts
OLD TESTAMENT “LORD’S PRAYER.” The priestly blessing at the end of Numbers 6 is a prayer. If it were to be uttered by God, it would be a divine decree (see, e.g., Gen. 17:16, 20), but it is to be recited by human beings. If it had the Lord as direct object of the verb “bless” (Piel of brk), it would be a prayer of praise (see Ps. 115:18; 134:2). However, “with man as the direct object and the Deity as the expressed or implied subject, the prayer is a request for blessing (e.g., Ps. 115:12–13, 15; 118:26; 134:3).”5 Compare the prayer with which Joseph greeted his beloved brother Benjamin, after being separated from him for many years: “God be gracious to you, my son” (Gen. 43:29).
The three requests in the middle of the “Lord’s Prayer,” which Christ taught his followers, chiastically parallel the three requests of the Numbers 6 prayer, which the Lord taught his priests:
guard (Num. 6:24) | give daily bread (Matt. 6:11) |
be gracious (Num. 6:25) | forgive debts (Matt. 6:12) |
give well-being (Num. 6:26) | lead not into temptation, but deliver (Matt. 6:13) |
The correspondence between guarding (Num. 6:24) and delivering (rather than leading into temptation, Matt. 6:13) is obvious. Divine graciousness (Qal of ḥnn; Num. 6:25) is related to forgiveness (Matt. 6:12) in the sense of God’s compassion for sinners (Ex. 33:19; 2 Sam. 12:22; 2 Kings 13:23; Ps. 41:4). For example, when David repented from his adultery with Bathsheba, he prayed: “Have mercy [Qal of ḥnn] on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions” (Ps. 51:1).
“Well-being” (Num. 6:26) translates the familiar Hebrew word šalom, which is usually rendered “peace,” but its basic meaning has to do with completeness (Jer. 13:19) and total welfare (Gen. 29:6; 37:14; 43:27). As acknowledged by the “bread of the Presence/Face” placed on the golden table in the outer sanctum of the Israelite sanctuary (see comments on Lev. 24:5–9; cf. God’s “face” in Num. 6:25–26), a fundamental component of well-being is the daily sustenance of food, represented by bread (Matt. 6:11; cf. Sir. 29:21), the ordinary food of the Israelites (e.g., Ex. 16:3; Num. 21:5; Deut. 8:3; Ps. 104:15). The Hebrew word for “bread” (leḥem) can refer to food in general, including meat (Judg. 13:15–16; Lev. 21:6) and honey (1 Sam. 14:24–28).
Contemporary Significance
PRAYERS THAT ARE REAL. The priestly blessing provides special assurance because its requests are formulated by the divine Giver himself. This implies an invitation like the one later extended by Jesus: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7; cf. vv. 8–11). Hebrews 4:14–16 also invites Christians to ask as they approach God’s throne through their sympathetic High Priest in heaven to receive mercy and grace in time of need (see also 10:19–22).
So why don’t we ask more? If our prayers are real to God, are they real to us? Do we “mumble sleepy clichés in a vague mist of unreality, as unsure of the results as we are unclear about what we are doing?”6 Or do we have confidence that our praises and petitions to God, feeble and unfocused as they are, have been successfully transmitted to him with the aid of his Spirit (Rom. 8:26)?
Here are some suggestions for bringing a stronger sense of reality into your prayer life. (1) Regularly pray at a church or other place of corporate worship, just as the priestly blessing was a prayer to be offered at the sanctuary and later the temple, which was a “house of prayer” (Isa. 56:7; Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17). When God’s people prayed at the sanctuary, whether corporately (as in Num. 6:22–27) or individually (1 Sam. 1:9–11 [Hannah]; 1 Kings 8:22–53 [Solomon]; 2 Kings 19:14–15 [Hezekiah]), his Presence in the cloud over his earthly residence (Ex. 40:34–38) was within earshot of their voices. This gave them confidence that when they were away from the sanctuary, they could pray horizontally toward that place and their praises and petitions would go ballistic from there up to God’s heavenly dwelling place (cf. 1 Kings 8:27, 30; Dan. 6:10—even after the temple was destroyed).
Today we have no sacred structure over which the Shekinah hovers in a glory cloud. Nevertheless, our churches are dedicated to God as houses of prayer, and our prayers go up to heaven like incense (Rev. 5:8; cf. 8:4), linking heaven and earth, as the Lord’s Prayer says: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
(2) Treat prayers as transactions. For the Israelites, the sanctuary was a big help in overcoming virtual unreality because God had an earthly address at which to receive their tangible gifts and token debt payments. Through ritual transactions, they could go through steps of approaching and interacting with him. Sacrifices were visible prayers (cf. Isa. 56:7).7
God no longer maintains an earthly address in the sense that his visible Presence resides at an earthly meeting place. Yet what we lose in tangible expression, we gain in universal access. We can accomplish all of our interactions and transactions with God by means of prayer that ascends directly to his throne of grace in heaven through the way of access that Christ has opened (Heb. 4:14–16; cf. Rom. 5:1–2; Eph. 2:17–18; Heb. 6:19–20).
How can our prayers, which are communications that transfer information across the boundary to the unseen world, take the place of tangible sacrificial gifts to God, which were transactions that transferred value? Linguistic theorists have recognized a category of “performative” speech that does something in addition to communicating information. For example, the solemn words “I do” in the context of a marriage vow create a new covenant relationship by transferring something of value, namely, the person uttering the words, to another person. The communication accomplishes a relational transaction of breathtaking significance.
A person who accepts God as Lord and says “I do” to him begins a relationship through a transaction that Paul would call a “living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1). Once the covenant with God is established, it can be maintained through prayer every day, just as the daily sacrifices at the sanctuary reaffirmed the Israelites’ connection with God (Num. 28:1–8). Prayer can also carry out other transactions, such as expressing devotion to God, thanking him for blessings, making promises, and receiving forgiveness.
(3) Accompany prayers with tangible offerings (money, material gifts, service, etc.) to God. Such offerings can be tied to specific prayer transactions. For example, a gift of money can be placed in the church offering plate as a token of thanks for a particular blessing or to express repentance for a sin.
In the process of making prayers real in this way, we should remember that anything given to God comes from him and purchases nothing. Tangible tokens have value only insofar as they express sincere inner attitudes, and the only gift that provides salvation is God’s gift to us of his Son. We who have no “money” are invited to “come, buy and eat . . . without money and without cost” (Isa. 55:1). It is a transaction, a transfer of infinite value bought at a staggering, blood-drenched cost, but the price to us is free.8