From the Editors April 21, 2014 Issue

Infinite blessings

The Editors

Is there a more solicitous, tender, and widely used benediction from the Bible than the blessing God asked Moses to have his elder brother, Aaron (a prophet and priest), bestow upon the Israelites? “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Numbers 6:24–26).

This blessing comes at the end of the section in chapters five and six concerned with the holiness and well-being of the entire community.

In those days—and just as frequently today—such benedictions were one way of asking for divine favor to rest upon others. In recent years many religion writers have probed deeply into the role blessing plays in community life, including the prolific Dallas Willard, who has written that “blessing is the projection of good into the life of another. It isn’t just words.” And it always involves God, he adds, because only God is capable of bringing that about.

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