[연구 논문]구약의 축복

[ARTICLES]The Blessing in the Old Testament

The purpose of this study is to investigate the meaning of the Blessing in the Old Testament. Despite of importance of the Blessing in the Old Testament Theology and especially in the Church, we do not have till now comprehensive works on the Blessing Theology in the Old Testament. The Blessing in the Old Testament is to be classified into three groups: 1) God blessing humans, 2) humans blessing other humans, 3) humans blessing/praising God. The first groupe("God blessing humans") includes the spiritual dimension and the physical(or material) dimension. Blessing in the Old Testament has been most frequently understood in terms of benefits conveyed-prosperity, power and above all fertility. However, the primary factor of blessing is the statement of relationship(Gemeinschaft) between God and humans. The physical dimension of God's blessing is a visible sign of his favor. This focus on the content of the benefit is viewed as secondary. The second group is the category of humans blessing other humans." This blessing never have a magical or self-fulfilling power. The majority of human blessings are optative. The optative blessings are always wishes or prayers for God to bless. Only God is pictured as the ultimate source of blessing. The third group represents humans blessing/praising God. "Humans blessing God" means the praise of God. The praise of God is portrayed as man's natural response to God's benefaction-in response to a specific act of God in the course of everyday life.