Aramaic word · H1289

בְּרַךְ

barikh

to bless

Bərak, as a verb, means to kneel. It shares a root with berek, 'knee', and also with the verb 'bless', which Daniel uses in 2:19–20.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to bless, kneel

1a) (P'al)

1a1) kneeling (participle)

1a2) to be blessed

1b) (Pael) to bless, praise

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Daniel 6:10

Range of meaning

Bərak, as a verb, means to kneel. It shares a root with berek, 'knee', and also with the verb 'bless', which Daniel uses in 2:19–20.

Against the English

'Kneeled upon his knees' (KJV, WEB) keeps the sound-play. 'Got down on his knees' (BSB) keeps the meaning but not the echo.

Used elsewhere in the period

Kneeling for prayer appears in Solomon's prayer (1 Kings 8:54) and in Ezra 9:5. Standing was the more usual posture (1 Samuel 1:26; Mark 11:25), and the later central Jewish prayer is called the 'Amidah', the Standing. The Old Greek has Daniel 'falling on his face' instead.

From the study of Daniel 4:34

Range of meaning

In the intensive (Pael) form, 'to bless'. When God blesses people, he grants them life, fertility and success. When people bless God, they declare him blessed, praise him publicly and acknowledge his goodness and power. The simple form of the same consonants means 'to kneel' (Daniel 6:10, 'he knelt on his knees', barekh ʿal birkohi), and the noun berekh is 'knee'.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, ESV and NASB keep 'blessed'. BSB has 'praised' and moves the other verbs along ('honored and glorified'). NLT uses 'praised and worshiped'. Keeping 'bless' preserves the link to Daniel 2:19–20.

How it drifted

In everyday English, to 'bless' someone usually means to give them good things or favor. Readers can be puzzled about how a human could do that to God. Here it means to speak of God as blessed, an act of acknowledgment, not of giving.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Daniel 2:19–20 Daniel 'blessed the God of heaven'. In 3:28 Nebuchadnezzar says 'Blessed (berikh) be the God of Shadrach…'. The same usage runs through the Psalms ('Bless the LORD, O my soul', Psalm 103:1, in Hebrew).

From the study of Daniel 2:19

Range of meaning

In Aramaic as in Hebrew: to kneel (in its basic stem: Dan 6:10, 'he knelt on his knees'); in the intensive stem, to bless. When God blesses people he gives life, prosperity and favour. When people bless God, they speak praise and thanks to him and acknowledge him in public.

Against the English

BSB, KJV, ESV and WEB keep 'blessed'. NIV and NLT use 'praised', which is clearer for modern readers but hides the link with the traditional Jewish blessing form 'Blessed be…' in verse 20.

How it drifted

In modern English 'bless' mostly means giving something good to someone, or a casual 'bless you'. People are puzzled about how a human could 'give' something to God. In the biblical idiom, a human blessing God gives him nothing he lacks. It is speech that honours him and credits him.

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel 3:28 (Nebuchadnezzar: 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach…'); 4:34 ('I blessed the Most High'). The Hebrew equivalent bārûk YHWH, 'Blessed be the LORD', is the standard formula of praise (Gen 24:27; Ps 28:6). It is the root of the later Jewish berakhah prayers.

Where it appears

Daniel · 5

  1. Daniel 2:19 בָּרִ֖ךְ he blessed

    During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he blessed the God of heaven

    Here: 'He blessed'. When a person 'blesses' God, he speaks out loud and with gratitude about who God is and what he has done. The blessing that follows comes in verses 20–23.

  2. Daniel 2:20 מְבָרַ֔ךְ [be] blessed

    and declared: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.

    Here: 'Blessed' as a passive description: praised, declared worthy of honor. This is the Aramaic counterpart of the Hebrew temple and synagogue formula bārûk ('Blessed be…').

  3. Daniel 3:28 בְּרִ֤יךְ [be] blessed

    Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

    Here: A passive participle, "blessed (be / is)." It is the Aramaic form of the Jewish formula of praise, barukh, "Blessed be the LORD." It praises God and acknowledges his greatness; it does not hand God a blessing he lacks.

  4. Daniel 4:34 בָּרְכֵ֔ת I blessed

    But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

    Here: 'I blessed', meaning he declared God blessed: he praised him openly and acknowledged him. He now does what Daniel did in 2:19–20.

  5. Daniel 6:10 בָּרֵ֣ךְ [was] kneeling

    Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

    Here: A participle, 'was kneeling', from the same root as the word for 'knee' and for 'bless'. Here it plainly means kneel. The form suggests ongoing, habitual action.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.