¹ tn Heb “look, indeed thus will the man, the fearer of the Lord, be blessed.”

¹ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).

³ tn Heb “and he did not delight in a blessing and it is far from him.”

¹ tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.

² tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.

¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is a (shortened) jussive form, indicating this is a prayer of blessing.

¹ tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.

² tn Heb “blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord does not impute wrongdoing.”

¹ tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”

² tn Or “blessed” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The same expression occurs in the following verse.

¹ tn Heb “Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh as an inheritance.”

⁴ tn Heb “as Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded to bless the people, Israel, formerly.”

¹ tn The words “the blessing” are supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.

¹ tn Heb “will bless the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

² tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”

¹ tn The Hebrew text simply has “I have received [to] bless.” The infinitive is the object of the verb, telling what he received. Balaam was not actually commanded to bless, but was given the word of blessing so that he was given a divine decree that would bless Israel.

² tn The LXX reads “and I will bless” to make the verb conform with the speaker, Yahweh.

² tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.

² sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed—if they are not welcomed with peace, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.

³ sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.