bless(ed)

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The Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic that is translated into English as “(to) bless” or “blessed” is translated into a wide variety of possibilities.

The Hebrew term barak (and the Aramaic term berak) also (and originally) means “kneel” (a meaning which the word has retained — see Gen. 24:11) and can be used for God blessing people (or things), people blessing each other, or people blessing God. While English Bible translators have not seen a stumbling block in always using the same term (“bless” in its various forms), other languages need to make distinctions (see below).

In Bari, spoken in South Sudan, the connection between blessing and knees/legs is still apparent. For Genesis 30:30 (in English: “the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned”), Bari uses a common expression that says (much like the Hebrew), ‘… blessed you to my feet.'” (Source: P. Guillebaud in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 189ff. .)

Other examples for the translation of “bless” when God is the one who blesses include (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):

  • “think well of” (San Blas Kuna)
  • “speak good to” (Amganad Ifugao)
  • “make happy” (Pohnpeian)
  • “cause-to-live-as-a-chief” (Zulu)
  • “sprinkle with a propitious (lit. cool) face” (a poetic expression occurring in the priests’ language) (Toraja Sa’dan) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • “give good things” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • “ask good” (Yakan) (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • “praise, say good things” (Central Yupik) (source: Robert Bascom)
  • “greatly love” (Candoshi-Shapra) (source: John C. Tuggy)
  • “showing a good heart” (Kutu) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • “good luck — have — good fortune — have” (verbatim) ꓶꓼ ꓙꓳ ꓫꓱꓹ ꓙꓳ — ɯa dzho shes zho (Lisu). This construction follows a traditional four-couplet construct in oral Lisu poetry that is usually in the form ABAC or ABCB. (Source: Arrington 2020, p. 58)

In Tagbanwa a phrase is used for both the blessing done by people and God that back-translates to “caused to be pierced by words causing grace/favor” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).

Ixcatlán Mazatec had to select a separate term when relating “to people ‘blessing’ God” (or things of God): “praise(d)” or “give thanks for” (in 1 Cor. 10:16) (“as it is humans doing the ‘blessing’ and people do not bless the things of God or God himself the way God blesses people” — source: Robert Bascom). Eastern Bru and Kui also use “praise” for this a God-directed blessing (source: Bru back translation and Helen Evans in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) and Uma uses “appropriate/worthy to be worshipped” (source: Uma back translation).

When related to someone who is blessing someone else, it is translated into Tsou as “speak good hopes for.” In Waiwai it is translated as “may God be good and kind to you now.” (Sources: Peng Kuo-Wei for Tsou and Robert Hawkins in The Bible Translator 1962, pp. 164ff. for Waiwai.)

Some languages associate an expression that originally means “spitting” or “saliva” with blessing. The Bantu language Koonzime, for instance, uses that expression for “blessing” in their translation coming from either God or man. Traditionally, the term was used in an application of blessing by an aged superior upon a younger inferior, often in relation to a desire for fertility, or in a ritualistic, but not actually performed spitting past the back of the hand. The spitting of saliva has the effect of giving that person “tenderness of face,” which can be translated as “blessedness.” (Source: Keith Beavon)

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the Danish Bibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “As for ‘blessing’, in the end we in most instances actually kept the word, after initially preferring the expression ‘giving life strength’. The backlash against dropping the word blessing was too hard. But we would often add a few words to help the reader understand what the word means in a given context — people often understand it to refer more to a spiritual connection with God, but in the Hebrew texts, it usually has to do with material things or good health or many children. So when e.g. in Isaiah 19:25 the Hebrew text says ‘God bless them’, we say ‘God bless them’ and we add: ‘and give them strength’. ‘And give them strength’ is not found in the overt Hebrew text, but we are again making explicit what we believe is the meaning so as to avoid misunderstanding.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

See also bless (food and drink), blessed (Christ in Mark 11:9), and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.

See also “Blessed by ‘The Blessing’ in the World’s Indigenous Languages” and Multilingual version of “The Blessing” based on Numbers 6:24-26 .

complete verse (Luke 1:42)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:42:

  • Noongar: “The Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth and she exclaimed, ‘God blessed you very much among all women and he blesses the child, the one you will bear!” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “She called loudly, she said to Maria: ‘You (sing.) are the one blessed by God more than all other women, and God blesses the child that you (sing.) are-pregnant-with.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “and she spoke in a loud voice to Mariyam, she said, ‘There is no woman in the world like you who is given abundant good/blessing by God. Likewise also the child that you will soon give birth to, abundant blessing/good is also given to him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for Elizabeth, because she was full of joy she spoke out loudly saying, ‘There is no woman who is your equal because you are very precious in the breath of God. And very precious also in his breath is that which you will give birth to.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “and she said loudly (lit. made-strong to say), ‘You (sing.) are indeed (appreciative particle) the most-fortunate of all women, and fortunate also is the baby you (sing.) will give-birth-to!” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then Elisabet spoke loudly, saying, ‘The grace/favor of God is really exceeding to you, much more than to other women. He will also show exceeding grace/favor to the one you are carrying-in-your-womb.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 1:42

Exegesis:

anephōnēsen kraugē megalē ‘she exclaimed with a loud cry,’ showing the strong feeling of Elizabeth.

anaphōneō ‘to cry out,’ ‘to shout.’

kraugē ‘screaming,’ ‘loud cry.’

kai eipen ‘and she said,’ identical action with anephōnēsen kraugē megalē and hence sometimes not rendered distinctly (cf. Revised Standard Version).

eulogēmenē su en gunaixin ‘blessed (are) you among women.’ The phrase may be understood as a wish or as a statement, preferably the latter, cf. Revised Standard Version. The construction with en is a Hebraistic periphrasis for the superlative (cf. An American Translation).

eulogeō ‘to praise,’ or, ‘to bless’ in the sense of calling God’s gracious power upon somebody, or of providing with benefits; the last meaning either in the active with God or Christ as subject or in the passive as here and in the next clause, and then indicating a person that has received God’s blessing.

karpos ‘offspring’; the phrase karpos tēs koilias is a Hebraism, cf. Gen. 30.2, and the reference may be to the embryo in her womb or the child she will bear in due time, preferably the latter. Hence the phrase should be taken as referring to the future, ‘blessed will be….’

Translation:

She exclaimed with a loud cry, usually will require adaptation, cf. “gave a great cry” (An American Translation), ‘shouted with-power’ (Apache), ‘making a high tone she loudly spoke’ (Marathi), ‘the sound of her mouth (lit. oral-cavity) cried and was loud’ (Tae’), or somewhat simplified, ‘loud her-words’ (Tboli, where ‘cry’ or ‘shout’ can be used only with reference to pain, fear, or anger); cf. also on “cried out with a loud voice” in 4.33.

Blessed are you among women, preferably, ‘blessed are you above (or more than) all women,’ ‘the most blessed of women you are.’ The clause form should be that of an exclamation expressing strong emotion. A shift may be necessary to the active voice, taking as agent ‘God,’ or a reference to the supernatural (Navajo); or to constructions such as, ‘you get/receive a (great) blessing’ (Kannada, Sranan Tongo, Batak Toba, Thai), “God’s blessing is on you” (New English Bible). The verb to bless has various uses. (1) Here, in 24.50f, and probably in 18.15, it is used, with God or Christ as agent, in the sense of ‘to provide a person with benefits,’ ‘to confer prosperity or happiness on a person’; as such it has been rendered e.g. ‘to bestow favour upon,’ ‘to favour’ (for which see on vv. 28, 30), ‘to think well of’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘to speak good to’ (Amganad Ifugao), ‘to make happy’ (Pohnpeian), ‘to-cause-to-live-as-a-chief’ (Zulu), ‘to sprinkle with a propitious (lit. cool) face,’ a poetic expression occurring in the priests’ language (Toraja-Sa’dan). When the participle is used in an exclamatory phrase, as is the case here, its meaning comes close to that of Gr. makarios ‘happy,’ for which see on v. 45. (2) With man as agent and God or Christ as object the verb means ‘to praise’ (see 1.64; 2.28; 24.53), and has been rendered e.g. ‘cast the (praised person’s) name abroad’ (Ngäbere); cf. also on “praising” in 2.13. With this meaning too the participle is used in an exclamatory phrase (see 1.68; 13.35; 19.38). (3) With man as agent, again, the verb can be used in the sense of ‘to invoke divine care and favour for a person’ (see 2.34; 6.28), and has been rendered e.g. ‘request happiness/peace/well-being for’ (cf. Toraja-Sa’dan, Balinese). Finally (4), with Jesus as agent, the verb can have the meaning of ‘to say/call a blessing over something,’ ‘to invoke divine power on, or to consecrate, something (by word)’ (see 9.16; 24.30). Possible renderings of the verb in this sense are, ‘to arrange well in the heart’ (Piro), ‘to speak good over’ (Ngäbere), ‘to say sweet things concerning’ (Yucateco), ‘to put one’s mind on it to the father’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘to request strength for’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘to request merta for’ (Balinese, the term merta, etym. related to skr. amṛta ‘nectar/water-of-life,’ referring to a vital force, e.g. the sprouting force of rice). — Women (passim), always referring to adult females, usually ones who are, or have been married.

You … your again may require a decision about honorifics. Marathi here has the familiar pronoun used to juniors; Balinese uses ‘younger sister’ (which is in accordance with family relationship and age), but combines this with honorific terms, thus trying also to express Elizabeth’s respect for the mother of her Lord.

The fruit of your womb, or, ‘that-which-will-be-born out-of your-womb’ (Navajo), ‘the blossom (literary for, offspring) from your womb’ (Uab Meto), ‘the one who will be born from you’ (Southern Subanen), ‘the child you will give birth to,’ or simply, ‘your child’ (An American Translation, Phillips). Taken as a reference to the still unborn child the rendering of the phrase may be identical to that of ‘babe in the womb’ (v. 41) or synonymous to it.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.