What are the different types of blessings?
There are many different types of blessings in the Bible.
Here is the Hebrew word grouping for the English word “bless”:
In the New Testament, the Greek words translated “bless” look like this:
What do I need to know about blessings?
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Our blessings can be cursed by God if we don’t honor Him.
Take a look at Malachi 2.2 where God tells the Israelites that He will curse their blessings if “you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name.” Hence, God himself can reverse blessings and turn them into curses.
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Blessings are sometimes associated with economic wealth.
Take a look at Proverbs 10.22 where Solomon writes, “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.” This verse indicates that some will be blessed by God with an exceptional ability to produce wealth and it won’t appear that they have worked hard for it. It will look as if the wealth has just fallen into their lap.
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Blessings are stronger than curses, and we should never curse those who have been blessed by God.
When we look at the story of Balak and Balaam in Numbers 23-24, it is clear that he didn’t want to curse those who had been blessed by God because he feared God and knew that God would take vengeance against him for the curses.
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There are more references to blessings than there are to curses in the Bible.
Just compare the curses matrix to the blessings matrix below.
So, what follows here is a matrix / summary of biblical blessings—all of which we can bring onto ourselves through careful obedience of God’s laws:
| Action | Who | Blessing | Reference |
| God’s unmerited initiative | God Himself | Increase, be fruitful and multiply | Many, such as Genesis 1.22; 1.28; 5.2; 9.1; 12.2; 12.3; 14.9; 17.16; 24.35 |
| Bless another at joyful occasions such as weddings | Friends and family | General increase; children overcome their enemies | Genesis 24.60 |
| Normal effort at work produces abundance out of proportion to the effort | God Himself | Abundant outcomes for our work effort | Genesis 26.12 |
| Father blessing his son or daughter; grandfather blessing his grandchildren | Father or grandfather | Material abundance, status, power, God’s protection | Genesis 27.25-29; 48.15-16 |
| Being blessed through association with one who is walking with God | God Himself | General blessing | Genesis 30.27; 39.5 |
| Bless before departing from another | Either party may bless the other | General blessing | Exodus 12.32; Genesis 32.26-29 |
| Bless the Sabbath | God Himself | Make the day holy | Exodus 20.11 |
| Worshipping God | God Himself | Our food and water are blessed; sickness is removed | Exodus 23.25 |
| A job well done | The manager | General blessing | Exodus 39.43 |
| Give generously | The giver | Giver’s work is blessed | Deuteronomy 15.6 |
| Give proportionally to our blessings from God | The giver | Giver’s work is blessed | Deuteronomy 15.6-10; 16.17 |
| We lend to a brother or sister without charging interest | The lender | Lender’s work is blessed | Deuteronomy 16.20 |
| Give some of our produce to the poor | Giver | Giver’s work is blessed | Deuteronomy 24.19 |
| Obedience to God | The one who obeys | Blessed in all geographies: children, work, finances | Deuteronomy 28.2-12 |
| Enlarging God’s domain
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The one who works hard at furthering the kingdom of God | General blessing | Deuteronomy 33.20 |
| Called to fulfill a special service to the Lord | The family serving God | General blessing | 2 Samuel 2.12 |
| When God disciplines us | The one being disciplined | General blessing | Job 5.17; Psalm 94.12 |
| When our sins are forgiven | The one who sinned | General blessing | Psalm 32.1 |
| When we take refuge in the Lord | The one taking refuge | General blessing | Psalm 34.8 |
| When we trust the Lord | The one trusting in God | General blessing | Psalm 40.4; Proverbs 16.20; Jeremiah 17.7 |
| When we proclaim the Lord publically | The one proclaiming God | General blessing | Psalm 89.15 |
| When we do what is right | The one doing the right thing | General blessing | Psalm 106.3 |
| When we fear the Lord | The one fearing the Lord | General blessing | Psalm 128.1 |
| When we find wisdom and gain understanding | The one who seeks and finds wisdom and understanding | General blessing | Proverbs 3.13 |
| When we listen daily to the Lord | The one who listens | General blessing | Proverbs 8.34 |
| When we are kind to the needy | The one being kind | General blessing | Proverbs 14.21; 22.9 |
| When we convict the guilty | The one convicting the guilty | Rich blessing | Proverbs 24.25 |
| When we wait for the Lord | The one waiting | General blessing | Isaiah 30.18 |
| When we bring in the whole tithe into the storehouse | The one tithing | Overflowing blessing | Malachi 3.10 |
| When we are poor in spirit | The disciple of Christ | We have the Kingdom of Heaven | Matthew 5.3 |
| When we mourn | The disciple of Christ | We will be comforted | Matthew 5.4 |
| When we are meek | The disciple of Christ | We will inherit the earth | Matthew 5.5 |
| When we hunger and thirst for righteousness | The disciple of Christ | We will be filled or satisfied | Matthew 5.6 |
| When we are merciful | The disciple of Christ | We will be shown mercy | Matthew 5.7 |
| When we are pure in heart | The disciple of Christ | We will see God | Matthew 5.8 |
| When we are peacemakers | The disciple of Christ | We will be called “Children of God” | Matthew 5.9 |
| When we are persecuted for our righteousness | The disciple of Christ | We will have the kingdom of heave | Matthew 5.10 |
| When we are insulted, persecuted and falsely charged because of our relationship with Christ | The disciple of Christ | General blessing | Matthew 5.11 |
| When we do not stumble on account of Christ | The disciple of Christ | General blessing | Matthew 11.6 |
| When we hear the Word of God and obey it | The disciple of Christ | General blessing | Luke 11.28 |
| When our sins are forgiven and covered | The disciple of Christ | General blessing | Romans 4.7 |
| When we rely on faith | The one being faithful | General blessing | Galatians 3.9 |
| Position in Christ | The disciple of Christ | Blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm | Ephesians 1.3 |
| When we persevere under trial | The one persevering | Receive the crown of life | James 1.12 |
| When we continue in obedience | The one obeying | Blessed in what we do | James 1.25 |
| When we suffer for what is right | The one suffering | General blessing | 1 Peter 3.14 |
