What Does Blessing Mean

What do you think of when you think of someone giving a blessing? You may picture the head of a family praying before mealtime, saying “the blessing.” Others may picture Jacob laying his hands on his grandchildren and prophesying.

In fact, the laying on of hands when blessing someone is a common action. That’s because it shows an intimate connection with them. When laying hands on someone and offering a blessing, you are showing your approval of them.

That’s why the following is said:

But what exactly is a blessing to begin with?

What It Means to Bless Someone

If you search for the definition of the word “bless,” you will find our common meaning in today’s language. This is not the historical or biblical meaning—it is the modern meaning.

The English definition of bless today is: “to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word, to speak well of: approve, or to confer prosperity or happiness upon.”

Does that sound familiar? Let’s place the word in context with how we normally use it:

“Before we eat dinner, I will pronounce words in a religious rite to invoke favor from God upon the food we are about to eat (say the blessing).”

Let’s see another example:

“They conferred prosperity on me, which made me happy (blessed me).”

This is how the word is often used today. But only one of the meanings in today’s definition is accurate—that is, to speak well of. Other uses of the word bless, such as to prosper someone or make them happy, are not the original meanings of the word.

In the Bible, the word bless is often translated from the Hebrew word barak. The meaning of that word is “to kneel, to be adored, to praise, or to salute.”

You can’t use those meanings in the modern-day examples and still make sense. That tells us we have forgotten what it really means to bless someone or to be given a blessing.

When God blessed them here, it means God adored and praised them. He spoke well of them. The words He used communicated His desire to see them continue and increase. Notice these words were a command, not a gift of prosperity. He told them to do these things—He didn’t just hand it to them.

What we see in this is that when God speaks well of you, good things often happen. But a blessing doesn’t automatically transfer prosperity itself. The blessing itself was praise. The result was their obedience, which brought prosperity.

That’s the difference we should remember: you can still be blessed even while not being prosperous.

If blessing someone meant we were somehow prospering them, then we would never be able to bless the Lord. We have nothing to give which isn’t His to begin with. But we can kneel before God and praise Him. This is the real meaning of the word bless. It means we are giving praise to another. When we praise someone, we are speaking highly of them. We are giving them honor.

Jesus makes it even more clear that being blessed doesn’t always mean you are in prosperity.

We can learn even more in the story of Jacob and Esau.

Blessing and Birthright

Many people know the story of how Jacob “stole” the blessing away from Esau. But when they think of the blessing, they often think it was the prophecy that Isaac gave to Jacob. They think the blessing was the inheritance. But knowing the real meaning of a blessing helps us understand this another way.

Isaac said he wanted to “bless” his son, Esau, “before the Lord.” This means Isaac wanted to praise and honor his son in front of God. It doesn’t mean Isaac was giving Esau wealth, power, or anything else.

Isaac praised Jacob before God and then he prayed for Jacob. When Isaac says, “God give thee,” it doesn’t mean Isaac is giving God an order. Rather, it means he is making a request. He is asking God to give these things to Jacob.

The blessing wasn’t the actual lands, people, wealth, and so on. The blessing was Isaac’s words of praise for Jacob that he spoke before God. While he praised Jacob, he also requested that God prosper Jacob.

But part of giving praise and honor to someone is wishing them well—that means you want good things to happen for them. A blessing is not just the praise of the lips; it is also the praise of the heart. Those who knew Isaac knew that God would honor his prayer since it wasn’t just lip service. It was a heartfelt prayer for the well-being of Jacob.

The prosperity wasn’t the blessing, but the prosperity came because of the blessing.

Isaac was basically saying that he had planned to praise Esau for the meal, but Jacob got there first and fed him. So the praise went to Jacob. Esau was caught in a fight for the praise and affections of his father.

“Bless me, even me also, O my father.” It’s as if he is saying, “Can’t you speak well of me just as much as of Jacob?” But Isaac couldn’t. You may be wondering why.

The birthright of Esau was to inherit everything that his father owned. Before he could inherit it, though, it all belonged to Isaac. So Jacob asked Esau to sell him his future inheritance. Who do you think is going to need to see the receipt?

Isaac knew his son Esau had rejected everything that Isaac was working to give him. This showed a certain amount of disrespect toward Isaac, his father. The one thing Isaac could praise Esau for was his cooking! That’s probably why he asked Esau to bring him food—he wanted to have a reason to speak well of him even after his disrespect.

Isaac said he had made Jacob the lord of Esau. This wasn’t just because of the blessing he had spoken over Jacob—it was because he already knew Jacob had bought the birthright, and God was going to honor it.

God’s Blessing and Prospering

In short, giving someone a blessing isn’t about the prayer, the property, or the prophecy. It’s about praising someone. You can praise someone in front of others, in private, or before God. But a blessing is simply speaking well of them.

With that said, sometimes speaking well and honoring someone isn’t done through words. Sometimes it is done through actions. For example, when someone wants to honor you, they may present you with an award. It serves as a token in place of the words. The award itself signifies that they honor and respect you.

When God prospers someone, it isn’t always because He has spoken well of them. But often, God will speak well of a person and then also prosper them as a wordless token of His favor upon them. What we need to remember, though, is that prosperity itself is not a sign God has spoken well of you.

There are also times God will speak well of someone and yet allow them to go through suffering. We see this in the book of Job. So, despite the cliché saying, “I’m too blessed to be stressed,” God can bless you and stress you at the same time!

Just as Isaac wanted to bless Esau, God wants to bless all of us. But only those following Jesus are worthy of His blessing. Though God will allow the wicked to prosper, He will not bless them. He will give them opportunity to become worthy of it, but He will not justify the guilty.

The favor of God is always better than prosperity. To bless is to speak well of—to express approval and honor before God. Prosperity may follow, but the true blessing is favor, not fortune.

Now, the word used for bless in Hebrew is also used for the word curse. Context is very important to know the difference. In our next study, we will speak on that subject as well.

Continue To Unit 5:4 – What Is a Curse OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 5 – The Laying on of Hands