Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 6:24
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
Verse 24. The Lord bless thee] There are three forms of blessing here, any or all of which the priests might use on any occasion. The following is a verbal translation: –
1. May Jehovah bless thee and preserve thee!
2. May Jehovah cause his faces to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee!
3. May Jehovah lift up his faces upon thee, and may be put prosperity unto thee!
This is a very comprehensive and excellent prayer, and may be paraphrased thus: –
1. May God speak good unto thee, by giving thee his excellent promises! (See Clarke on Ge 2:3.) May he preserve thee in the possession of all the good thou hast, and from all the evil with which thou art threatened!
2. May the Holy Trinity illuminate thy heart, giving thee the true knowledge of thyself and of thy Maker; and may he show thee his graciousness in pardoning thy sins, and supporting thy soul!
3. May God give thee communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit, with a constant sense of his approbation; and grant thee prosperity in thy soul, and in all thy secular affairs!
This I suppose to be the spirit and design of this form of benediction. Others will doubtless interpret it after their manner. Several wise and learned men believe that the mystery of the Holy Trinity is not obscurely hinted at in it. God the FATHER blesses and keeps his followers. God the SON is gracious unto sinners in remitting their offences, which he died to blot out. God the HOLY SPIRIT takes of the things which are Christ’s, and shows them unto genuine Christians, and diffuses the peace of God in their hearts. In a word, Christ, the gift of the Father by the energy of the Holy Spirit, came to bless every one of us by turning us away from our iniquities.
1. EVERY genuine Christian is a true Nazarite. He is separated from the world, and dedicated solely to the service of God.
2. His life is a life of self-denial; he mortifies and keeps the flesh in obedience to the Spirit.
3. All this enters into the spirit of his baptismal vow; for in that he promises to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh-to keep God’s holy word and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of his life.
4. The person who is faithful has the blessing of God entailed upon him. Thus shall ye bless the children of Israel, &c., &c. See Clarke on Nu 6:5 and “Nu 6:7“.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Bless thee, i.e. bestow upon you all manner of blessings, temporal and spiritual. Compare Gen 12:2.
Keep thee, i.e. continue his blessings to thee, and preserve thee in and to the use of them; keep thee from sin and its bitter effects.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
The Lord bless thee,…. Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit; the word “Jehovah” being three times used, and a different accent put to each word, denoting three distinct persons and one Jehovah, according to De 6:4; who are each of them concerned in the blessing of the Lord’s people, the spiritual Israel of God; Jehovah the Father blesses with all spiritual blessings, with electing, adopting, justifying, and pardoning grace, with regenerating and calling, and persevering grace, and with eternal life: Jehovah the Son blesses particularly with redeeming grace, and has a concern in all the other blessings; the saints are blessed with them in him, they are all in his hands, they are procured by him, come through him, and are the gifts of his grace: and Jehovah the Spirit blesses as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification, as the spirit of faith, as a comforter, as the spirit of adoption, and as the earnest and sealer of the saints unto the day of redemption:
and keep thee; from, the evil of the world, from the evil one Satan, from the evil of sin, and the power, prevalence, and dominion of it, and from falling totally and finally by it, and keep in a state of grace unto everlasting salvation.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
24. The Lord bless thee. Blessing is an act of His genuine liberality, because the abundance of all good things is derived to us from His favor as their only source. It is next added, that He should “keep” the people, by which clause lie intimates that He is the sole defender of the Church, and protects it under His guardianship; but since the main advantage of God’s grace consists in our sense of it, the words, “and make His face shine on you,” are added; for nothing is more desirable for the consummation of our happiness, than that. we should behold the serene countenance of God; as it is said in Psa 4:6,
“There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.”
Thus then I interpret this clause, that the people may perceive and taste the sweetness of God’s goodness, which may cheer them like the brightness of the sun when it illumines the world in serene weather. But immediately afterwards the people are recalled to the First cause; viz., God’s gratuitous mercy, which alone reconciles Him to us, when we should be otherwise by our own deserts hated and detested by Him. What follows, “The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee,” is a common phrase of Scripture, meaning, May God remember His people; not that forgetfulness can occur in Him, but because we suppose that He has cast away His care of us, unless He actually gives proof of His anxiety for our welfare. Finally, it is added, may He “establish peace upon his people,” which others translate a little less literally, (197) “put thee into peace:” and since this word signifies not only rest and a tranquil state, but also all prosperity and success, I willingly embrace this latter sense, although even its proper signification is not disagreeable to me. (198)
(197) “Peace — this word generally signifieth all prosperity, and the perfect enjoying of all good things; it is opposed to war, Ecc 3:8; to discord and emnity, Eph 2:14; Luk 12:51; to tumult and confusion, 1Co 14:33; and to all adversity, Gen 43:27 Job 16:33 [ sic ]; and is therefore added for a conclusion of blessings, Psa 29:11, and Psa 125:4; 1Pe 5:14. This peace is obtained by Jesus Christ, Eph 2:14; Rom 5:1; and enjoyed by the Holy Ghost, Rom 8:6, and Rom 14:17.” — Ainsworth in loco.
(198) This latter sentence is much abbreviated in Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
24. Bless thee This priestly benediction touchingly individualizes the whole congregation by the use of the singular pronoun. “He calleth his own sheep by name.”
And keep thee The Targum adds, “from demons of the night, and things that cause terror, and from demons of the noon and of the morning, and from malignant spirits and phantoms.” The addition is quite human. The keeping power of God, exercised toward his children amid peril, is a source of wonderful comfort and confidence. The blended agency of God and the believer in this keeping is beautifully expressed by St. Peter “Kept by the power of God through faith” (1Pe 1:5) while the inheritance is also “reserved” or kept “in heaven for you.” In this keeping free agency is not violated. See Joh 17:12, note.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 6:24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
Ver. 24. The Lord bless thee. ] Here some observe the mystery of the holy Trinity. See it explained in 2Co 13:14 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The LORD = Jehovah the Father, the source of all blessing. Compare Eph 1:3. Heb 10:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
The Lord: Rth 2:4, Psa 134:3, 1Co 14:16, Eph 6:24, Phi 4:23, Rev 1:4, Rev 1:5
keep thee: Psa 91:11, Psa 121:4-7, Isa 27:3, Isa 42:6, Joh 17:11, Phi 4:7, 1Th 5:23, 1Pe 1:5, Jud 1:24
Reciprocal: Gen 47:7 – And Jacob Exo 20:24 – will bless thee 2Sa 7:29 – let it please thee to bless Psa 24:5 – receive Psa 29:11 – bless Psa 67:1 – God Isa 19:25 – the Lord Mat 28:19 – the name 2Pe 1:2 – Grace
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
GODS DESIRE FOR BELIEVERS
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee, etc.
Num 6:24-27
Here is the Gospel in its shining grace and fulness. Here is a God who seeks to bless. He is not, first of all, the great Judge executing vengeance upon iniquity, but the great Father, coming to be gracious. This is the Gospel, unknown to any nation that had not the Scriptures. They knew God as a Judge, and expected a judgment; but the thought of a God who was fatherly towards His children, pitiful and gracious, seeking them, not to punish their sins, but to bring them salvationthat was a new thought, and it is the Gospel. The other side of the Gospel is the reply of Gods children to His offer, gratefully accepting it. That is saving faith. It is not believing certain doctrines, but casting the whole soul upon the gracious God in loving trust. This is all God requires for the acceptance of His salvation.
I. The Lord bless thee and keep thee!To keep is to value, treasure, guard; it promises protection. The soul that trusts a merciful God will never be forsaken nor put to shame. However unworthy, ignorant, feeble or sinful, it will be protected.
II. The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee!Like the shining of the sun after rain, like the rising sun after a black night of fear or agony; such, in the experience of Gods people, is the shining of His face when the sinner beholds the atoning Saviour and accepts Gods offer of salvation. To him the Lord is gracious; that is, He feels and acts toward him in grace, not according to justice, but in outflowing, unmerited love, pardoning all his sins. That is the Gospel messagea loving Father, through an atoning Saviour, offers pardon to every soul that will accept it.
III. The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace!This seems to refer to the favourable attitude and expression of some superiority in authority, to whom a suppliant looks. The head is frankly and kindly lifted up, the eyes look with favour and kind consent into the eyes of the suppliant, and the suppliants heart is given peace.
Protection, pardon, peace; these are the three Gospel gifts to believers. So, says the record, shall they put My name upon the Children of Israel, and I will bless them. The love of God the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, are offered and promised to every soul that will accept them. Christianity is, therefore, first of all, not a system of doctrine, but an experience of soul. All our great teachers have begun with such experiences. As in the days of the early Church, when St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John spake that which they knew, so to-day missioners and evangelists are enabled for effective service by an experience of Gods blessing them, making His face to shine upon them, lifting up His countenance upon them, and their accepting His offers of protection, pardon, and peace. Every sinner needs such an experience, and every one may have it. There are no exceptions. And every believer needs to renew such experiences continually. They are the basis of true religion.
Illustration
(1) Our High Priest still speaks this benediction: what if we cannot see or hear? Is His intercession any the less real? And should we not bow believingly beneath those Hands of Blessing, and say Amen. Let it be? The blessing spoken there becomes actual here, according to the simple believingness of our response. So, morning by morning, let faith listen as He says, The Lord bless thee and keep thee, etc., ever answering with its confident, Yea, Lord, so shall it be. And, when our faith really cries Amen to His prayer, what is there in earth, or hell, or self, to hinder the answer! Then day by day let me listen to His praying, and respond with my believing Amen.
(2) The Gospel has revealed to us the TrinityFather, Son, and Spirit. And we are taught that we may count on keeping, because God is our Father; that we may count on grace, because Jesus is full of it; and we may count on peace, because the Holy Ghost brings us into communion with God. Jehovah bless thee and keep theethat is the function of the Father; Jehovah cause his face to shine upon thee and be gracious to theethat is the function of the Son; Jehovah lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peacethat is the function of the Holy Spirit. And it is in the Trinity, as revealed to us in its full radiance in the New Testament, that we get Gods answer to the dream and hope and passion of the Old Testament.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Num 6:24-26. The Lord bless thee Bestow upon you all manner of blessings, temporal and spiritual. Keep thee That is, continue his blessings to thee, and preserve thee in and to the use of them; keep thee from sin, and its bitter effects. Shine upon thee Alluding to the shining of the sun upon the earth, to enlighten, and warm, and renew the face of it. The Lord love thee, and make thee know that he loves thee. We cannot but be happy, if we have Gods love; and we cannot but be easy, if we know that we have it. Lift up his countenance That is, look upon thee with a cheerful and pleasant countenance, as one that is well pleased with thee and thy services. Peace Peace with God, with thy own conscience, and with all men; all prosperity is comprehended under this word.