This morning as I was translating Numbers 6 from Hebrew to English I was struck by the beauty of the Aaronic blessing from Numbers 6:22-27. Most English translations simply don’t capture the nuances of the Hebrew. Moses is instructed to teach this blessing to the priests so that can invoke it over the people of God and thereby “set my name upon the sons of Israel”. To have God’s name upon you is to know the light of his presence, his very face illuminating you with grace, blessings, protection, and peace. But this peace is shalom, which is not simply the absence of conflict but the perfection of being made whole and complete.

Numbers 6:22-27 And Yehuwah spoke to Moses saying:

“Speak to Aaron and to his sons saying that in this way you shall bless the sons of Israel when you say to them:

‘Yehuwah was, is and will be blessing you and preserving you.

Yehuwah was, is and will be causing the light of his presence (face) to shine toward you and favoring you.

Yehuwah was, is and will be lifting his face toward you and setting you at peace in wholeness.’

and they shall set my name upon the sons of Israel and I, and only I, was, am and will be blessing them.”

Translation Notes:

In Hebrew the word for “face” is used broadly to convey being “in the presence” of someone, for example where we might say in English “in front of”, or “before”, they would say “in his face”.

In Hebrew, unlike English, the verbs do not delineate past, present or future. Hebrew has a timeless nature, a language perfect for an eternal being outside of time. So with each imperfect verb it conveys continual eternal action which I have tried to capture in English by using the awkward construction: “was, is and will be”.

The “I and only I” is an attempt to capture the interesting and grammatically unnecessary addition of the pronoun I before the verb “blessing” (which in Hebrew already communicates that the subject is “I” because of the verb form).

I have included what I believe is the correct pronunciation of God’s name, Yehuwah, which was known to the priests but was purposefully hidden by the Masorites, when they added vowel pointing to the Hebrew texts. It borrows the vowels of Yeshua (Jesus’ Hebrew name) and adds them to the known consonants of God’s name given to Moses: YHWH. I believe that Jesus reveals all the hidden things of the Father! The Masorites felt that this name was too precious to write down correctly, so they guarded the true pronunciation and removed the “u” so that the pronunciation of the Masoretic text as written would be Yeh-wah. Yehuwah is consistent with the transliteration of the name into Greek in early Christian literature, in the form “ιαουε” by Clement of Alexandria. The prominent Greek “ου” in the center of the word clearly indicates the missing “u” sound (as in “soup”). Adding this “u” yields “Yehuwah” from the Masoretic “Yehwah”. It is also eerily consistent with the name “Jehovah” if the interior “ov” was originally a transliteration of the Greek “ου”.

Side by side Transliteration and Translation of the Aaronic Blessing

Numbers 6:22-27:

22 ‏וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃

toward-saying to-Moses Yehuwah and-words

And Yehuwah spoke to Moses saying:

‎23 ‏דַּבֵּ֤ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶל־בָּנָ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר כֹּ֥ה

in-this-way toward-saying and-to-his-sons to-Aaron speak

Speak to Aaron and to his sons saying that in this way

אֶת־תְבָרֲכ֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אָמ֖וֹר לָהֶֽם׃

toward-them to-say Israel to-sons-of you-bless

you shall bless the sons of Israel when you say to them:

‎24 ‏יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ ס

and keep/preserve/protect-you Yehuwah bless-you

“Yehuwah was, is and will be blessing you and preserving you.

‎25 ‏יָאֵ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ ס

and-is favoring/grace upon-you to you his-face/presence Yehuwah causes-light

“Yehuwah was, is and will be causing the light of his presence to shine toward you and favoring you.

‎26 ‏יִשָּׂ֨א יְהוָ֤ה׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם׃ ס

peace/wholeness to-you and-setting/putting/placing to-you his-face/presence Yehuwah Lifting up/rising

Yehuwah was, is and will be lifting his face toward you and setting you at peace in wholeness.

‎27 ‏וְשָׂמ֥וּ אֶת־שְׁמִ֖י עַל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַאֲנִ֖י אֲבָרֲכֵֽם׃

I am-blessing-them and-I-only Israel upon- sons-of my name and-they-set/place/put

and they shall set my name upon the sons of Israel and I, and only I, was, am and will be blessing them.