WG: Blessing
Overview
The blessing concept in Hebrew Scripture revolves around divine favor spoken and bestowed, its opposite (cursing), and the praise response it elicits. Five words form the core cluster.
Word Group Members
| Strong's |
Word |
Transliteration |
POS |
Occurrences |
Role in Concept |
Library Entry |
| H1293 |
בְּרָכָה |
berakah |
f. noun |
64 |
The blessing itself (noun — benediction, gift, prosperity) |
H1293-brakah.md |
| H1288 |
בָּרַךְ |
barak |
verb |
289 |
The act of blessing (to kneel, to bless) |
H1288-barak.md |
| H7045 |
קְלָלָה |
qelalah |
f. noun |
33 |
The antithesis — curse, vilification |
H7045-qlalah.md |
| H8416 |
תְּהִלָּה |
tehillah |
f. noun |
57 |
The response — praise, laudation |
TODO(need H8416 study) |
| H5414 |
נָתַן |
nathan |
verb |
1814 |
The mechanism — "give" (blessing is given/set before) |
H5414-nathan.md |
Relationships
Shared Roots
- berakah (H1293) and barak (H1288) — both from root ב-ר-ך
Co-occurrence (appear in same verses)
| Word A |
Word B |
Shared Verses |
Typical Context |
| barak (H1288) |
nathan (H5414) |
35x |
"the LORD... blessed... gave" |
| berakah (H1293) |
nathan (H5414) |
15x |
"give thee the blessing" — blessing bestowed |
| berakah (H1293) |
barak (H1288) |
11x |
cognate pair "blessed... blessing" |
| berakah (H1293) |
qelalah (H7045) |
10x |
antithetic formula "blessing and curse" |
| qelalah (H7045) |
nathan (H5414) |
8x |
"set before you... a curse" |
| tehillah (H8416) |
nathan (H5414) |
7x |
"make thee high... in praise" |
| barak (H1288) |
tehillah (H8416) |
6x |
"bless the LORD... above all praise" |
LXX Overlaps
| Hebrew Words |
Shared Greek |
Notes |
| berakah + barak |
both → εὐλογία (G2129) / εὐλογέω (G2127) |
Same root in both languages |
| berakah + qelalah |
both appear with εὐλογία + κατάρα (G2671) |
Antithetic pair preserved in LXX |
| barak + tehillah |
both → εὐλογέω in praise/doxology contexts |
Greek conflates blessing and praise verbs |
Roles in the Concept
- Act: barak (בָּרַךְ) — the action of blessing
- Result: berakah (בְּרָכָה) — the blessing conferred
- Antithesis: qelalah (קְלָלָה) — curse; defines blessing by contrast
- Response: tehillah (תְּהִלָּה) — praise returned to the one who blesses
- Mechanism: nathan (נָתַן) — the giving/bestowing; blessing is set before, poured out, given
Key Passages Where Multiple Group Words Appear Together
- Deu 11:26 — [berakah + qelalah + nathan] "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse"
- Deu 11:29 — [berakah + qelalah + nathan] "thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal"
- Deu 28:8 — [berakah + barak + nathan] "The LORD shall command the blessing... in all that thou settest thine hand unto"
- Deu 30:1 — [berakah + qelalah + nathan] "when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse"
- Deu 30:19 — [berakah + qelalah + nathan] "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing"
- Neh 9:5 — [berakah + barak + tehillah] "Stand up and bless the LORD... exalted above all blessing and praise"
Generated from: gather_word_group_data.py, search_strongs.py
Last updated: 2026-04-30