The Benediction over bread, which is recited before the meal begins, and which may have been kno«-n to our Lord, runs : ' Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who bringeth forth bread from the earth.' The corresponding one said before drinking wine is : ' Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, wlio Greatest the fruit of the vine ' (ef. Lk 22'*).
Xote. — The Benediction (thanksgiving) over wine was especi- ally associated with the hallowing of the Sabbath and festival days embodied in the ceremonies of Kiddush (' Sanctification *) and Habdaldh ('Separation' or 'Distinction'). For a full de- scription of these observances see the Jeieish Bmnjc. s.vv. * Kiddush ' and ' Habdalah ' ; and for a possible connexion with the Gospels reference may be made to an article bv the present writer in the Joum. o/ Thaol. SItidies (iii. [I902)'p. 357ff.) on ' The Jewish Antecedents of the Eucharist.' Though thanks- giving is an essential, and indeed the most prominent, element in consecration or sanctification, the ideas must be kept distinct. Cf. Bp. of Salisbury, op. cit. p. 135 f..
The more important Benedictions in this con- nexion are reserved for the recitation that follows the meal. Of these there are now four (see Smgei-'s Praijer-Book, p. 286). The first ('Blessed art 'Thou, 0 Lord . . . wlio givest food unto all ') is ascribed by the Talmud {Ber. 486) to Moses ; the second ('for the land and for the food') to Joshua, who led Israel into the land ; the third (' Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who in Thy compas- sion rebuildest Jerusalem') to king Solomon; the fourth ('Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God . . . who art kind and dealest kindly with all ') to the Rabbis of Jamnia in the 2nd cent. .\.D.§
The act of thanksgiving a.fter the meal is not explicitly alluded to in the Gospels. That the custom is an ancient one, however, appears from the fact that, by the time of the com- pilation of the Slishna, rules as to its ordering had been fully developed (cf. Ber. vii.). It constitutes a sort of service, with responses (which vary according to the number, etc., of those
• Schechter, Studies in Judati
group of ( of which
t The I •Eigh
undoubtedly pre-Christian. It is notable that here
of petition accompanies that of praise and thanksgiving (for text of these in English see Singer's Heb.-Eng. Prauer^Jhuk, pp. 44-54).
t A very large number of these short Benedictions, expressive of thankful recognition of God's goodness and providence as shown in various ways, has been developed. For a full emiuiera- tion see Jeicieh Encyc. s.v. 'Benedictions,' or the I'rayer-
§ Cf. Jewish Encyc. iii. 9.
present). Details and text of prayers can be read in Singer, pp. 27S-285.
Another ancient form of Benediction (with responses), which, however, is not alluded to in the Gospels, is that oflfered before and after the reading of Scripture (for the modern forms cf. Singer, p. 147 8.). This has a Biblical basis in the practice of Ezra mentioned in Neh 86, and was doubtless well known in the time of Jesus.
Enough has been said above to make it clear that the set form of Benediction, based as it is upon Biblical precedents, had been developed by tlie NT period. The first tractate of the Mishna (compiled in its present form, probably from earlier collections, at end of 2nd cent. A.D.) deals with the various forms of the Berakhah (hence its name Berakhoth = ' Blessings '), and embodies the earliest Rabbinical tradition on the subject. According to the Talmud (Bcr. ZZa), the recognized Benedic- tions were formulated hy the ' men of the Great Synagogue.' Later the rule was deduced that a Benediction, to be regular, must contain the name of God and the attribute of God's kingship (Ber. 406).
4. Usage in the Gospels. — The Jewish concep- tion of ' blessing' (cf. §§ 1 and 3) is reflected in the Gospel narratives in its piu-est and most elevated form. The central thought of God as the sole object of praise, of God's favour as the highest form of felicity (cf. Lk 1=*), the duty of rendering thanks to Him as the Great Giver and Father, are strikingly enforced, especially in some of the say- ings of Jesus. The Gospel usage may best be illustrated by an analysis of the passages in whicli the terms enumerated above (§ 2) respectively occur. These may be grouped as follows : —
(a) Passages involving the use of evXoyelf, 'to bless,' and its derivatives :
(1) With a personal object expressed, ^^z. : —
(A) God: Lkl"2=8 24«.
The term occurs
God, Ilk 1461 (cf. the regul
One,' 'Blessed be He'), and once in a liturgical ascription of
praise, Lk 1** (opening line of the Be)t€dictits).
(B) Man : in the sense of ' to invoke blessings on,' Lk 6=*; esp. at solemn parting or farewell, Lk 2« 24™'- (cf. the Rabbinical parallel tiuoted above) ; of solemn blessing of children, Mk 10"^ (better reading KarevXdyu), cf. Mt 19", and the Jewisli illustration already cited.
JVofe.— Here it may be remarked that the blessing was im- parted either by the imposition of hands, in the case of one or a smaU number (cf. Gn 48'' '9, lit 1915, Hk iol6); or, in other cases, with upUfted hands (Lv 9», Lk ■24W ; cf. Sir 5020).