HEBREW WORD STUDY – (GOD) KNEELING – BARAK  –  ברכ  

Genesis  25:11:  “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.”

As I approach the anniversary of my father’s passing, I’m reflecting on his graveside service.  My father was a military veteran and entitled to a military presentation of the flag of the United States.  At the ceremony, the honor guard carried the folded flag to my mother who was sitting at the graveside and knelt down before her to present the flag.  As I reflected on the ceremony this morning I felt a prompting to examine Genesis 25:11 where I read that God blessed Isaac, Abraham’s son after Abraham died. 

You see the word for blessed in Hebrew is barak which comes from a Semitic root בכ and is a loan word for the Akkadian meaning to kneel. Every modern English translations say that God blessed Isaac.  We often interpret the word bless to mean to someone happy.  In a certain context that is true.  Yet, I was reading in the Jewish Talmud this morning in Sotah 14a that barak in Genesis 25:11 means to comfort. Looking at this and the Semitic root of barak, I believe a more accurate rendering of Genesis 25:11 is: “God knelt before Isaac and comforted him.”

But soft, taking this word barak to its Semitic root creates a more beautiful picture of the nature of God’s love. I was reading on the internet the proper flag presentation protocol.  It reads: “Stand facing the flag recipient and hold the folded flag waist high with the straight edge facing the recipient. Lean toward the flag recipient and solemnly present the flag to the recipient.”  The protocol says to “stand and lean” it does not say to kneel.  Yet when I looked at all the images on the internet of a flag presentation most of the members of the honor guard presenting the flag are kneeling before the recipient, still holding the flag waist high (It seems the Marines always kneel – just saying).  This appeared to be done as the recipient is seated. However, there were pictures where the recipient was standing and the soldier presenting the flag was kneeling. There is nothing in the protocols that I read that required the presenter to kneel.

I asked someone at our local VFW about this and she said that it is at the discretion of the presenter whether to kneel or not.  I said the protocols instructed the presenter to stand not kneel.  The VFW rep just shrugged and said: “Who will argue such a broken protocol?”  She is right, to see a highly decorated warrior in dress uniform kneel before the loved one of a deceased veteran is a very moving site and conveys a deep respect for the fallen warrior. What is even more moving is that this presenter is actually voluntarily breaking protocol by kneeling, but who would dare condemn him or her.  To break the protocol in this context shows an even greater sign of respect.

To the ancient Semitic mindset when you say that God barak Isaac the picture in their mind would be that God came to Isaac, knelt before him and comforted him. Such a picture breaks with all the protocol we assign to God. God kneeling before us?  Hey, He is God and if He wants to break protocol to kneel before you as you grieve, who is going to condemn Him? Besides who can convey a more loving picture that the almighty God of the universe kneeling before His grieving child to offer comfort.

That is why I render Genesis  25:11:  “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God knelt before  his son Isaac and comforted him.”