KJV Dictionary Definition: bless

bless

BLESS, v.t. pret. and ppr. blessed or blest.

1. To pronounce a wish of happiness to one; to express a wish or desire of happiness.

And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Gen.28.

2. To make happy; to make successful; to prosper in temporal concerns; as, we are blest with peace and plenty.

The Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thou doest. Deut. 15.

3. To make happy in a future life.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Rev.14.

4. To set apart or consecrate to holy purposes; to make and pronounce holy.

And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Gen.2

5. To consecrate by prayer; to invoke a blessing upon.

And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven he blessed them. Luke 9.

6. To praise; to glorify, for benefits received.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Ps.103.

7. To praise; to magnify; to extol, for excellencies. Ps.104.

8. To esteem or account happy; with the reciprocal pronoun.

The nations shall bless themselves in him. Jer.4.

9. To pronounce a solemn prophetical benediction upon. Gen.27. Deut. 33.

10. In this line of Spenser, it may signify to throw, for this is nearly the primary sense.

His sparkling blade about his head he blest.

Johnson supposes the word to signify to wave or brandish, and to have received this sense from the old rite of blessing a field, by directing the hands to all parts of it.

Bless in Spenser for bliss, may be so written, not for rhyme merely, but because bless and bliss are from the same root.

blessed

BLESS'ED, pp. Made happy or prosperous; extolled; pronounced happy.

BLESS'ED, a. Happy; prosperous in worldly affairs; enjoying spiritual happiness and the favor of God; enjoying heavenly felicity.

Blessed-Thistle. A plant of the genus Cnicus, sometimes used in decoctions, for a bitter.

blessing

BLESS'ING, ppr. Making happy; wishing happiness to; praising or extolling; consecrating by prayer.

BLESS'ING,n. Benediction; a wish of happiness pronounced; a prayer imploring happiness upon another.

1. A solemn prophetic benediction, in which happiness is desired, invoked or foretold.

This is the blessing wherewith Moses--blessed the children of Israel. Deut.33.

2. Any means of happiness; a gift,benefit or advantage;that which promotes temporal prosperity and welfare, or secures immortal felicity. A just and pious magistrate is a public blessing. The divine favor is the greatest blessing.

3. Among the Jews,a present; a gift; either because it was attended with kind wishes for the welfare of the giver, or because it was the means of increasing happiness.

Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee. Gen.33.

Definitions from Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.
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