The Only True Response

Blessed are You, Lord; teach me Your statutes.  Psalm 119:12  NASB

Blessed – Hebrew uses two words translated “blessed.”  The one that applies to us, the one used in verses like Psalm 1:1, is ʾāšār.  The second word, bārûk, is found in this verse.  The difference between the two isn’t obvious in English, but it’s quite important.

There are two verbs in Hebrew meaning “to bless.” One is bārak and the other ʾāšar. Can any differences between them be tabulated? For one thing bārak is used by God when he “blesses” somebody. But there is no instance where ʾāšar is ever on God’s lips. When one “blesses” God the verb is bārak, never ʾāšar. One suggestion to explain this sharp distinction, i.e, that ʾāšar is reserved for man, is that ʾāšar is a word of envious desire, “to be envied with desire is the man who trusts in the Lord.” God is not man and therefore there are no grounds for aspiring to his state even in a wishful way. Similarly God does not envy man, never desires something man is or has, which he does not have, but would like to have. Therefore God never pronounces man “blessed” (ʾašrê) (Janzen). It should also be pointed out that when bārak is used the initiative comes from God. God can bestow his blessing even when man doesn’t deserve it. On the other hand, to be blessed (ʾašrê), man has to do something. Finally, bārak is a benediction, ʾāšar more of a congratulation. The former is rendered by eulogētos in the LXX and the latter by makarios.

To be “blessed” (ʾašrê), man has to do something. Usually this is something positive. A “blessed” man, for example, is one who trusts in God without equivocation: Ps 2:12; 34:8 [H 9]; 40:4 [H 5]; 84:5 [H 6]; 84:12 [H 13]; 146:5; Prov 16:20. A “blessed” man is one who comes under the authority of God’s revelation: his Torah, Ps 119:1; 1:2; Prov 29:18; his word, Prov 16:20; his commandment, Ps 112:1; his testimony, Ps 119:2; his way, Ps 128:1; Prov 8:32. The man who is beneficent to the poor is blessed (Ps 41:1 [H 2]); Prov 14:21). Note the negative approach of Ps 1, “blessed is the man who does not.” He isolates himself and shuns the company of certain people, the ungodly. The psalm ends by noting that it is precisely these ungodly who will in the end be isolated. They will not stand in the judgment. They will be conspicuous by their absence for they will perish.^[1]

Note Harrison’s comment about the translation into Greek.  Bārak is rendered as eulogētos while ʾāšar is makarios.  All the Beatitudes begin with makarios reminding us that the Beatitudes are not divine grants.  They are something earned; something that requires human effort.  This is not the case here.  Here we have an acknowledgment of gratitude to God. This is the one true response that we can give God.  We can offer Him our praise.  Remember the insight that God never pronounces man “blessed” with the term ʾašrê.  God bestows blessing without the necessity of human effort.  His favor is unmerited grace.  In reply, we return to God what He freely gives by responding with the same word.  You and I may find happiness (ʾašrê ) through our efforts, but all of that ultimately depends on God’s benevolence, and for that we sing, “Blessed are You.”

Topical Index: ʾašrê, makarios, eulogētos, bārak, blessed, Psalm 1:1, Psalm 119:12

^[1] Hamilton, V. P. (1999). 183 אָשַׁר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 80). Moody Press.