May the good Lord be with you down every road you roam-And may sunshine and happiness surround you when you’re far from home- And may you grow to be proud dignified and true- And do unto others as you’d have done to you.
Rod Stewart
The Torah Portion Naso’s Priestly Blessing is one of the most well-known scriptural passages for many reasons. Its content continues to be present within popular culture. In music, two contemporary rock stars borrowed from it: “May God bless and keep you always” was coined by Bob Dylan in his Forever Young lyrics and the “May the good Lord be with you” from Rod Stewart in his Forever Young lyrics. Beyond music, the priestly blessing also entered the realm of popular culture courtesy of Leonard Nimoy. Mr. Nimoy- Mr. Spock from Star Trek’s original television series- famously borrowed the priestly blessing’s hand gesture and made it part of the Vulcan greeting: “Live long and prosper.”
The Blessing
Naso’s priestly blessing, in translation, is as follows: “May the Lord bless you and watch over you. May the Lord make His face shine to you and be gracious to you. May the Lord raise His face to you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26. This blessing was for Aaron and sons to use to bless the Children of Israel. Numbers 6:23.
From an archaeological find, it appears that even in antiquity, the blessing was popular.
It’s Ancient Popularity and Archaeological Significance
A recent 1979 discovery suggests that it may have well been popularly embraced during biblical times. One of the Hebrew Bible’s greatest archaeological finds- the Ketef Hinnom- contains the priestly blessing. Written on silver in Paleo-Hebrew, the amulets were found in Jerusalem. They date to the First Temple period, predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by approximately 500 years!
Script
Beyond appreciating the blessing’s popularity even in antiquity, the fact that it was written in Paleo-Hebrew script is important as well. History shows that the preferred Hebrew script for the Hebrew Bible changed over time. The lettering changed from the Paleo-Hebrew to Aramaic.
There is an excellent article on the changing nature of the script. See Aaron Koller, The Transformation of Hebrew Script: From Paleo-Hebrew to Aramaic. Essentially, with the Babylonian conquest moving forward, the Israelite literature transformed with respect to the script employed for both copying and composition. The end result being that a form of Aramaic script was adopted for scripture.
Conclusion
The Priestly Blessing from the Torah Portion Naso is one that not only remains popular from its first utterance to present day, it also provides for excellent data points for those interested in the Biblical history. It offers a significant data point upon which a portion of scripture existed- the First Temple period. Also, it is a reminder that the script used for both composing and crafting scripture changed over time from Paleo-Hebrew to Aramaic.
Be well!!
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