Blessings and a Bended Knee

Waldmark, 14 April 2008

In Hebrew the root for the word blessing, which is the word knee, was discussed on the Ancient Hebrew forum. The consensus amongst the participants was that blessings imply a bended knee but this seemed strange to me.

Whenever I consider someone proclaiming or saying a blessing, I always form a mental image of that person standing upright, whereas I associate kneeling, or being on knees, with putting oneself in a subordinate position. I have difficulty with the premise that to utter a blessing, a person has to kneel. This Ipistle addresses the Hebrew word ‘barak’ (to bless) and its literal meaning of knee or to kneel.

Exposition of Ancient Hebrew Research Center

Jeff Benner’s Ancient Hebrew Research Center is a good place to start this study:

‘The Hebrew verb barak means to bless as seen in Genesis 12:2 but can also mean kneel as seen in Genesis 24:11. A related Hebrew word is berakah meaning a blessing or a gift or present. From this we can see the concrete meaning behind barak in the sense of a blessing. It is to bring a gift to another while kneeling out of respect. The extended meaning of this word is to do or give something of value to another. God “blesses” us by providing for our needs and we in turn “bless” God by giving him of ourselves as his servants.’

Two possible inferences

We notice two things in this word study: it offers an explanation of the meaning of the Hebrew words as such, and provides a conclusion as to what the meaning implies. I submit to the author’s (the Ancient Hebrew Forum owner) authority on the meaning of the words. But the conclusion that bringing a gift is always done kneeling does not necessarily follow. It is a possible inference, deriving from analysing the individual words, but not the necessary conclusion. For instance, I would offer that blessings, or bringing gifts, might involve or might require a bended knee, without, however, specifying whether the giver or the receiver is the one to kneel.

Concept of hierarchy

I think that the bended knee is an expression of accepting a hierarchy. An example. If I approach a King, I kneel. If the King approaches me, its’ still me who’s kneeling, not the King. Now if I were to bring a gift to the King, I would bend my knee and offer my gift in a kneeling position. If the King would give me a gift, I would approach the King and kneel before him (offering respect and submitting to hierarchy) to accept the gift, and it’s still me on a bended knee, not the King. The words blessing and kneeling may be related, but that fact alone doesn’t lead me to conclude that when the King offers me a gift, he should be the one to kneel. If a King would kneel before me, that would upturn the existing hierarchy. And if a King would kneel because that’s how a gift should be presented, it would imply that bringing a gift upsets hierarchy. I cannot, therefore, agree with the conclusion on the exposition about the Aaronic Blessing that “May the LORD bless you and …” should be interpreted as “May the LORD come to you on bended knee and …”

>God’s blessing

When God blesses us, we bend our knees to receive the blessing. Blessings involve bended knees, but do not turn the hierarchy between God and us upside down. I think that blessings and (bended) knees are closely related in the Hebrew language and that, as a consequence, we can infer that (bending) the knee is an essential attribute of the act of blessing. It is not, however, an indisputed fact that the giver of a blessing is by definition the person who should kneel.

Two functions of kneeling

We have seen that kneeling is part of the concept of blessing. But kneeling is, at the same time, also an expression of accepting or respecting a hierarchy. It follows that who must kneel, the giver or the receiver of blessings, depends on the existing hierarchy between the two. If this were not the case, in other words, if the giver of a blessing would always be the person who must kneel, while kneeling is always an expression of submission, then blessings would upset the hierarchy. It would mean that if a King would offer me a gift, kneeling before me, he would submit to me. This is unthinkable and not supported anywhere in Scriptures.

Commanding a blessing

A final thought. In Leviticus 25:21 we read “Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.” And in Deuteronomy 28:8 “The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” In both these verses, the blessing is commanded by God. I find it very difficult to reconcile God commanding a blessing with the notion of God kneeling down. When God commands, the people kneel. By definition. When God commands a blessing, the people still kneel. So blessings involve kneeling, but an existing hierarchy decides who is the one to kneel in the exchange.

Notes

Benner, Jeff. Ancient Hebrew Research Center. Ancient Hebrew Word Meanings