The Priestly Blessing (4): Turn

“May the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:26 (ESV)

Yisa YHVH (Adonai) panav elecha viyasem lecha shalom.

The verb yissa, a form of the verb nasa, נְשָׂא, translated here as “lift up” also means "to carry, take." Panav is a form of panim, or "face(s)." So, the blessing is quite straightforward: may God turn His face towards you and look at you. But isn't He El Roi, the God who sees? What is the point of asking Him to look if He knows everything about us? It turns out that the Hebrew idiom "to turn one's face toward someone" means to show favor, acceptance, approval, respect, or partiality to another. In contrast, "to hide one's face" means to show displeasure, disapproval, and disrespect. By asking God to look, we ask Him to accept and to show His favor, like a parent would show love to a child by looking lovingly at him or her.

God hides His face, when we turn away from Him, hardened and blinded by our selfishness. When we turn to Him and seek Him with all our heart [1], He turns His face towards us. “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. “[2] To call "in truth” means to call in accordance with His word, believing “that He rewards those who seek Him.” [3] Calling on Him in truth requires us to turn towards Him.

This understanding brings a new depth to the concepts of 'lostness' and repentance. To be lost does not mean to be sinful; it means to choose to live without God, to turn away from His presence. To repent, on the other hand, does not mean to be sorry--it means to return to God ( shuv; שׁוּב).

It seems reasonable to say that, while the structure of this prayer is such that the Lord is the agent and people are the recipients o the blessing, the implication is that people can only receive the blessing when they actively seek God's face.

[1] Psalm 27: 9 (ESV) [2] Psalm 145:18 (ESV) [3] Hebrews 11: 16 (ESV)