6:22–27. In pronouncing God’s favor on the people, the priest was to use a formula for blessing. This beautiful blessing may be only a model, as the so-called “Lord’s Prayer” is a model for prayer, but its purpose is clear: it communicates the desire of the LORD to invest His people with His name. The name of the Lord is tantamount to the Lord Himself so that this blessing becomes a petition that God might live among His people and meet all their needs. He alone can bless His people, keep them, look on them with favor (make His face shine and turn His face toward them), be gracious to them, and give them peace.
