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This word occurs three times in the Authorized Version (Rom_4:8-9, Gal_4:15), but rightly disappears in the Revised Version ,* [Note: In the two passages in Rom. the RV substitutes ‘blessing,’ in Gal. ‘gratulation.’] for the Gr. word ìáêáñéóìüò means not blessedness itself, but a pronouncement that some one is blessed. ‘Blessedness’ is simply a convenient generalization, expressing the meaning which NT writers convey by the adjectives translated ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’ ( ìáêÜñéïò , åὐëïãçôüò ) and the participle åὐëïãçìÝíïò , ‘blessed’ (practically an adjective); cf. the verb ἐíåõëïãÝïìáé (Act_3:25, Gal_3:8) and ìáêáñßæù (Luk_1:48, Jam_5:11). The various forms of åὐëïãÝïìáé refer, literally, to being ‘well spoken of,’ and apparently always contain at least the latent thought of praise being conferred or happiness ascribed; ìáêÜñéïò , however, expresses simply the possession of a quality, and for the ascription of this by others the verb ìáêáñßæù is needed.
Blessedness being a personal possession, any kind of action or utterance by others is of secondary importance in regard to it. Hence the crucial word is ìáêÜñéïò , not åὐëïãÝïìáé , etc. The Revised Version has in Joh_13:17, 1Pe_3:14; 1Pe_4:14 altered the Authorized Version translation of ìáêÜñéïò from ‘happy’ to ‘blessed’; it might well have made the same alteration in Rom_14:22, 1Co_7:40. Massie would banish ‘happy’ from the NT except in Act_26:2 (Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) , article ‘Happiness’). In the OT àַùְׁøֵé , ‘O the happiness (or blessedness) of,’ has been even more frequently translated ‘happy’ when it might have been rendered ‘blessed’ (cf. Psa_89:15 with Psa_144:15, where the Hebrew is àַùְׁøֵé in both cases). Still, ‘happy’ is more suitable in the OT than in the NT, for the rewards promised to the OT saints are of a far more material and temporal order (see Psa_1:3-6; the epilogue even of Job_42:10-17; and Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) , article ‘Blessedness’). For the NT it is significant not only that ìáêÜñéïò , which occurs very frequently, represented to the Greeks the higher and even the Divine bliss, but also that the lower and more ordinary word åὐäáßìùí , with its suggestion of good luck, is entirely absent. For the use of ìáêÜñéïò in the Gospels, see article ‘Beatitude’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) and in Dict. of Christ and the Gospels . This was the regular term in NT times for ‘departed’ (to the world of blessedness); cf. Germ. selig, and see Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East2, 1911, p. 166. On the whole, it bears an exceedingly lofty meaning, though it is less spiritual in Luke than in Matthew, In Mat_24:47 Matthew need not be understood as offering a coarsely material ‘blessedness’; the servant is advanced in the confidence of his master. There is no need to question the inwardness of any blessedness offered elsewhere in Matthew. In Luk_12:37; Luk_12:33 the spread table, and the flattering attentions received thereat, are somewhat prominent; but Jesus is speaking metaphorically, and elsewhere literal, materialistic views are rebuked (Luk_11:27-28 and perhaps Luk_14:15 ff.). Too much stress must not therefore he laid on Luk_6:20-21, although there the blessedness of being ‘filled’ seems to refer to food rather than, as in Matthew, to righteousness.
In the rest of the NT ìáêÜñéïò is less used than in the Gospels. St. Paul has it twice only (Rom_4:7-8), and then in an OT quotation. In 1Ti_1:11; 1Ti_6:15 (never in the Gospels) it is applied to God, but in this sense åὐëïãçôüò is usual. In regard to men, it is applied to those who give (Act_20:35), who are forgiven (Rom_4:7-8), who endure temptation (Jam_1:12), who act according to the perfect law of liberty (Jam_1:25), who die in the Lord (Rev_14:13; see also Rev_1:3; Rev_16:15; Rev_19:9; Rev_20:6; Rev_22:7; Rev_22:14). It stands for a good which is above happiness, and dwells not least with those who are counted worthy to sacrifice happiness for conscience’ sake. It is based, partly, on a character which is its own ‘better and abiding possession’ (Heb_10:34 m). While it remains itself, it is above all adequate earthly reward and beyond all earthly overthrow. Above all, it is based in the spiritual world; to the ‘pure in heart’ the highest blessedness is to ‘see God’ (Mat_5:8; cf. 1Jn_3:2-3).
For various aspects of the idea of blessedness, as expressed in the NT by quite other words, see article ‘Blessedness’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) .
Literature.-Article ‘Blessedness’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) , Hastings’ Single-vol. Dictionary of the Bible , and Dict. of Christ and the Gospels ; also F. C. Kempson, The Future Life, 1907, p. 308; J. M. Hodgson, Religion-The Quest of the ideal, 1911, p. 106; T. G. Selby, The Imperfect Angel, 1888, p. 25; T. Binney, King’s Weigh-house Chapel Sermons, 1869, p. 71; J. B. Lightfoot, Sermons in St. Paul’s Cathedral, 1891, p. 178.
C. H. Watkins.