10495. 'So that He may bestow a blessing on you today' means the reception of Divine Truth from the Word, and being joined thereby to the Lord. This is clear from the general meaning of 'a blessing' as that which the Lord imparts to a person; and since all that the Lord imparts has connection with the good of love and the truth of faith, these and all that springs from them are what is meant by 'a blessing'. So here the reception of Divine Truth from the Word is meant, and being joined thereby to the Lord, see 1096, 2846, 3017, 3406, 4216, 4981, 6298, 8674, 8939. As regards the meaning of 'a blessing' as being joined to the Lord, see 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584, 6091, 6099. The implications of all this have been shown in what has gone before; and regarding the Word, that it is the means by which the Lord is joined to mankind, and heaven is joined to the world, see 10452.

4981. 'And the blessing of Jehovah was' means increases. This is clear from the meaning of 'the blessing of Jehovah'. In the genuine sense 'the blessing of Jehovah' means love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, for those who are endowed with these are called 'the blessed of Jehovah' since they are in that case endowed with heaven and eternal salvation. Consequently 'the blessing of Jehovah' in the external sense, that is, in the sense which has to do with a person's state in the world, means resting content in God and on that account being content with one's position in society and with the amount of wealth one possesses, whether one is among the highly honoured and is wealthy or among the not so honoured and the poor. For the person who rests content in God regards positions and wealth as means to fulfill useful purposes; and when he thinks about these and at the same time about eternal life, he rates them as nothing and eternal life as that which is essential.

[2] Because 'the blessing of Jehovah (or the Lord)' implies such increases in the genuine sense, blessing also implies countless other benefits and consequently means the various gifts which flow from it, such as enrichment with spiritual and celestial good, 981, 1731; fruitfulness resulting from the affection for truth, 2846; undergoing rearrangement into heavenly order, 3017; being endowed with the good of love and thereby being joined to the Lord, 3406, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3584; and joy, 4216. What is meant by 'blessing' therefore in any specific instance becomes clear from the context in which it appears. Here the meaning of 'the blessing of Jehovah' as increases in good and truth, that is, in life and doctrine, is evident from what follows it, for there it says that this blessing of Jehovah was 'in the house and in the field', and 'house' means good which is the good of life, while 'field' means truth which is the truth of doctrine. From this it is evident that increases in these are meant in this case by 'the blessing of Jehovah'.