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Bless and Curse The act of making a binding verbal pronouncement of good or evil on another person or persons.
The Hebrew root, ברך (brk), “bless,” is widely understood as referring to “health-creating power”; someone who is בְּרוּךְ (berukh), “blessed,” is gifted with such power, while to bless someone is either to bestow such power on them (often by means of a verbal statement) or to declare that they have such power (TLOT s.v. “ברך, brk“; see references there). Greek εὐλογέω (eulogeō), “to speak well,” was used in the Septuagint and other ancient Jewish writings to translate Hebrew brk, and took on the meaning of “to bless” from the Hebrew word (TDNT s.v. “εὐλογέω, eulogeō,” 754). To curse someone, by contrast, is to bestow ill effects on someone (again often by means of a verbal statement; TLOT s.v. “ארר, 'rr”).
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