What Is The Meaning Of "Bless"?

[Cold Steel]

It's a word we and our other Christian brethren use repeatedly.

In our prayers, we ask that God "bless" this person or that. The prophet Joseph also used the term, as did all early and modern general authorities. We also find terms related to cursing, such as preaching another gospel (even one delivered by an "angel") (Gal. 1: 8 and of adding to or deleting from a book of scripture (one in Deut. and one in Rev., I don't have the citations, but you know the ones I mean).

But when we ask God to BLESS someone, what, exactly, are we asking Him to do? We then give and receive BLESSINGS where the term is used repeatedly, and often the person giving the blessing uses the term in promising that someone will be blessed in certain pursuits.

So what does it mean? When you ask the Lord to BLESS someone, what do you expect the Lord to do, specifically? And when you ask the Lord for his blessings to be upon someone, again, what specifically do you expect? It seems like such a general term that I wonder if the Lord wonders what we mean when we say it.

And when an author of a book talks about this person or that being ACCURSED if they do something like accepting another gospel or adding to or deleting from certain scriptural books?

Thank you...and may God bless!

.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Cold Steel

[Calm]

I see it as asking the Lord to be with the individual (much like the sacrament prayers) and help him or her in whatever way is appropriate, but primarily sending comfort and strength so the individual can do or endure what is necessary. In a way, we are 'sustaining' the Lord's work in men by asking him to perform it for certain individuals.

Edited July 19, 2012 by calmoriah

[JeremyOrbe-Smith]

There have been uncountable books written on the subject and endless debates. Personally, I like how Etymology Online succinctly puts it:

Bless: Old English bletsian, bledsian, Northumbrian bloedsian, meaning "to consecrate, make holy, give thanks," from Proto-Germanic *blodison, "hallow with blood, mark with blood," from *blotham "blood". This word was chosen in Old English Bibles to translate Latin benedicere and Greek eulogein, both of which have a ground sense of "to speak well of, to praise," but were used in Scripture to translate Hebrew brk "to bend (the knee), worship, praise." Meaning shifted in late Old English toward "pronounce or make happy," by resemblance to the unrelated "bliss".

In short, a Blessing is not a magical spell being cast so that all things work in our favor. When something goes right,it is by obedience to that law upon which the Blessing is predicated.

So I see it as a term of judgment, signifying that our Heavenly Parents are proud of us. I don't think it's a physical thing; I think it has to do with the flaming Sword of Truth (not a physical sword; merely a vivid image) that will destroy the lies we tell ourselves in order to keep from taking part in the At-One-Ment of all Uncreated Intelligences. The Blessing is just a culturally-defined symbol -- like the Olive Oil -- of the Word, the Gospel, the Good Story. It is a Good-Speaking, a ritual.

Edited July 19, 2012 by JeremyOrbe-Smith

[CV75]

But when we ask God to BLESS someone, what, exactly, are we asking Him to do?

You have a couple of great answers above. We are asking Him to hear that we want what He wants and what the other person wants, ultimatley for teh purpsoe of all being united in our mutual faith.

[David T]

In other languages like spanish, the word for "Bless" is 'bendecir', which means, literally, to "Speak Good To" - (we still use a form of that in the word 'benediction' (The Speaking of Good' - The Blessing) It is the direct opposite of the word for Curse, which is "Maldecir", or "To Speak Bad To".

When asking to bless, we are asking God to 'speak good towards'.

[Nofear]

When on my mission, our mission president's wife fed some tainted ice cream to a couple of zone conferences giving many elders food poisoning (thankfully it was discovered before my own zone conference). In all cases I have no doubt but that the elders "blessed" the ice cream.

Doesn't answer what it means to "bless", but I largely agree with the above response and simply thought the anecdote was amusing.

[Buzzard]

FWIW, in French the verb "blesser" means to injure. More than a few rookie Elders prayed to injure the food, instead of using the right word-"Benir".

[Robert F. Smith]

In other languages like spanish, the word for "Bless" is 'bendecir', which means, literally, to "Speak Good To" - (we still use a form of that in the word 'benediction' (The Speaking of Good' - The Blessing) It is the direct opposite of the word for Curse, which is "Maldecir", or "To Speak Bad To".

When asking to bless, we are asking God to 'speak good towards'.

Jewish practice is to bless God after the meal for his giving of the food, and the Yiddish term is bentchen, which is derived from Latin benediction, which is the traditional term we use for the final prayer..

Blessing (and cursing) is a ritual and an integral part of covenant-making. We can see an important instance of this in Gen 32 where Jacob demands a blessing from the person with whom he was wrestling through the night. Blessings carry real power and may be accompanied by anointing with consecrated oil, etc. The sick have been healed and the dead have been raised through such power.

President Barack Obama carries the Arabic term in his very name, "Blessed," which is the same term in Hebrew.

[tyler90az]

In prayer it means, ask for something in a holy manner.

Is it possible people can receive blessings according to our obedience?

Maybe the law a blessing is pedicated on is a law we can fulfill and then the person we desire to be blessed will be. That law could be a worthy person asking for the blessing in prayer. I do not doubt for a second that we can bless other people through our prayers. That if we remain worthy our prayers have a great effect.

[Freedom]

In my opinion it doesn't mean anything at all without context. The same goes for the word 'saved'. Nobody has ever been able provide a definition for the word 'saved' as used in the bible. As with all words, it requires context. If I were to say I am going to help you, you might be a bit nervous - help you what? Help pull your teeth out? Help you fall off a cliff? Help you paint your house with a paintball gun? Context is everything.

[brianwhite159]

Giving some good wishes for someone.

[KevinG]

Drawing on the power of Heaven to protect, guide, strengthen or heal.