‘The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “‘”The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace.”’ (Numbers 6:22-26, NIV)

The Aaronic Blessing is very ancient. ‘In 1979, two small silver scrolls from the seventh century BC were unearthed in Jerusalem. They were found to contain the words of Nu. 6:24-26 in a form almost identical to the Hebrew text.’

The blessing is in poetic form, having three lines each with two parts.

1. The Lord bless you. The ‘bless’ sums up the totality of covenant benefits. ‘Sons would expect a blessing from their father (e.g. Gn. 27:27-29, 38; 49:1-28). God’s blessing was given to Adam, whom Luke calls ‘the son of God’ (Gn. 1:28; 5:1-3; Lk. 3:38). Through Adam’s fall the curse came in (Gn. 3:14-19), but blessing was promised again to Abraham and his descendants (Gn. 12:1-3). Blessing entails fruitfulness (descendants, flocks, harvests), but these benefits are tokens of the true blessing, the relationship with the Lord. Only if God is our Father are we truly blessed (Gn. 17:16; 22:17-18; Lv. 26:3-13; Dt. 28:2-14).’

2. And keep you. ‘The purpose of the protection was to keep Israel in covenant relationship with God. The Lord was Israel’s keeper (Ps. 121:7-8; cf. Heb. 13:6). Christ, the good shepherd, kept his sheep and lost none except for Judas Iscariot (Jn. 6:37-40; 10:11-16; 18:9).’

3. The Lord make his face shine upon you. ‘His face means his presence, revealed in the cloud of fire (Ex. 40:34ff.); shine upon you means that God takes pleasure in his people and saves them (Pr. 16:15; Pss. 31:16; 67:1f.; 80:3, 7, 19).’

4. And be gracious to you. ‘The outcome of God’s pleasure is his grace; his covenant mercy. It is fundamental to salvation that God’s favour is unmerited. It is not deserved in any way; rather God shows mercy because of his own love and faithfulness to his oath (Dt. 7:7-8). This principle can be traced throughout Scripture (Ezek. 16:1ff.; Rom. 5:1-11; 9:10-13, 18; 11:5; 1 Cor. 1:26ff.).’

5. The Lord turn his face toward you. ‘This is more emphatic and asks that God might pay attention to Israel. It may reflect the fact that he had chosen them and not other nations. If God hid his face, Israel would suffer and perish (Pss. 30:7; 44:24; 104:29).’

6. And give you peace. ‘Peace means completeness and well-being. This has long been recognized as covenant language. Covenants were made to secure peace through a right relationship. But when God gives peace, it extends to the whole of life; even human enemies are quiet (Lv. 26:6; Pr. 16:7). These words were later seen as a promise of the Messiah, the ‘Prince of Peace’ (Isa 9:6), and find their true depths in Christ (Jn. 14:27; Eph. 2:14-18).’

Of the blessing as a whole, it has been noted that ‘the influence of these words runs through the Bible (Pss. 67; 121; 122; 124; 128). Paul’s letters begin with a greeting which always uses the words ‘grace’ and ‘peace’ (e.g. Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; and 2 Tim. 1:2 adds ‘mercy’). In most cases Paul says the grace and peace are from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and without doubt he is taking up the priestly blessing.’

(New Bible Commentary)