Genesis 12:3

Genesis 12:3

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

a. NLT: I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

b. NIV: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

c. YLT: And I bless those blessing thee, and him who is disesteeming thee I curse, and blessed in thee have been all families of the ground.'

d. Amplified Bible: And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves].

e. Septuagint: And I will bless those that bless thee, and curse those that curse thee, and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.

f. Stone Edition Torah/Wrintings;/Prophets: I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse;  and all the families of the earth shall be bless themselves by you.”

1. “And I will bless them that bless thee…”

a. And I will bless [1288 * barak] [Gesenius: to bless, kneel, to praise, salute, curse.] [Strong:  a primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason):--X abundantly, X altogether, X at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, X greatly, X indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, X still, thank.]

b. that bless thee [1288 * barak] [Gesenius: to bless, kneel, to praise, salute, curse.] [Strong:  a primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason):--X abundantly, X altogether, X at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, X greatly, X indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, X still, thank.]

2. “…and curse him that curseth thee…”

a. curse him  [779 * ‘arar][Gesenius: to curse, lay under a curse, put a curse on, to be made a curse, be cursed.] [Strong: a primitive root; to execrate:--X bitterly curse.]

1). The same Hebrew word is used over 60 times in the Old Testament, in particular, these verses.

a). Genesis 3:14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

b). Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

c). Numbers 24:9, 10   He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.

2). The Hebrew word for “curse” is used 63 times in the OT, it is translated “curse” 62 times and “bitterly” once. The Hebrew definition leaves me wanting a better explanation. What happens after a curse? If nothing happens after the curse then the word is empty. One of the definitions I found is “a solemn utterance intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something.” There it is, the supernatural power is Almighty God and the solemn utterance is Genesis 12:3. What happened after God cursed the earth? Thorns and thistles and of course and the rest of the maladies that plague mankind.

b. that curseth thee [7043 * qalal][Gesenius: to be slight, be swift, be trifling, be of little account, be light, to be lightly esteemed, to make despicable, to treat with contempt, bring contempt or dishonor.][Strong: a primitive root; to be (causatively, make) light, literally (swift, small, sharp, etc.) or figuratively (easy, trifling, vile, etc.):--abate, make bright, bring into contempt, (ac-)curse, despise, (be) ease(-y, -ier), (be a, make, make somewhat, move, seem a, set) light(-en, -er, -ly, -ly afflict, -ly esteem, thing), X slight(-ly), be swift(-er), (be, be more, make, re-)vile, whet.]

1). Other examples of its use. The Hebrew word will be in bold.

a). Genesis 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

b). Genesis 22:28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

c). Deuteronomy 25:3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.

d). Judges 9:27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.

e). Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

f). Isaiah 23:9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

2). The above word study was taken from Ramon Bennett, When Day And Night Cease, and his reasoning is very sound: If we hold the Jewish people in contempt, if we consider them vile, if we despise them, then God will declare a solemn utterance intended to… inflict harm or punishment.”

3). John Walvoord, The Millennial Kingdom, “A solemn part of the covenant as it deals with the Gentiles is the provision, “I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse” (Genesis 12:3)…the primary application is to Gentiles. Long sections of the Old Testament pronouncing judgment upon the Gentiles for their ill-treatment of Israel enlarge on this provision. History has recorded graphic fulfillment in the wrecks of Nineveh, Babylon, and Rome, to say nothing of smaller groups and peoples. Down to modern times, the nation that has persecuted the Jew has paid dearly for it.”

3. “…and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

a. in thee shall all the families [4940 * mishpachah] [Strong: from 8192 (Compare 8198); a family, i.e. circle of relatives; figuratively, a class (of persons), a species (of animals) or sort (of things); by extens. a tribe or people:--family, kind(-red).]

b. of the earth [127 * ‘adamah] [Strong: from 119; soil (from its general redness):--country, earth, ground, husband(-man) (-ry), land.]

c. be blessed [1288 * barak] [Gesenius: to bless, kneel, to praise, salute, curse.] [Strong:  a primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason):--X abundantly, X altogether, X at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, X greatly, X indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, X still, thank.]

1). In this part of the verse we see the New Covenant according to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

a). Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

2). Jesus declared to the Samaritian woman in John 4:22 that “salvation is of the Jews.” Paul wrote in Romans 9:4 that it is from the Jews come “…the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;”