At last we get to part 2 (it has been a while) of releasing the Lord’s blessing and we will unpack the next verse. ‘The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you’ (Numbers 6:25). Refer to Releasing the Aaronic Blessing – part 1 for verse 24.
Here is the mechanical translation of verse 25.
He~will~make~LIGHT(Verb) (יָאֵר / ya’eyr) YHWH (יְהוָה / YHWH) FACE~s~him (פָּנָיו / pa’naw) TO~you(ms) (אֵלֶיךָ / ey’ley’kha) and~he~will~PROVIDE.PROTECTION(Verb)~you(ms) (וִיחֻנֶּךָּ / wi’hhu’ne’ka)
YHWH will make his face shine toward you and he will provide you with protection.
The Hebrew word for face is paniym ( פָּנִים ). The word paniym appears several times in the Old Testament in combination with God or the Lord. In most cases, the face of the Lord is a reference to God’s presence. For instance, when Moses asked God to assure him that he, God, would go with the people to the land of Canaan, God told Moses: ‘My face shall go before thee’ (Exodus 33:14 DRA). Most modern translations use the word ‘presence’ to translate the Hebrew word for face, but face is so much more than just His presence. Continue reading “Releasing the Aaronic Blessing – Part 2”