Message of Amaryaw:

"Say to my lord, are you well? I have blessed you to YHWH of Teman and his ގ*asherah*. May he bless you and may he guard you, and may he be with my lord [forever(?)]".

In this inscription, we have several features that mark it as a letter exercise. First, the introductory phrase *'mr* + PN ("Message of 'Amaryaw") is the standard opening in Ugaritic, Akkadian, and Iron Age Hebrew letters (Pardee and Sperling 1982, p. 145; Cunchillos 1999, pp. 359–74; Huehnergard 1999, pp. 375–89). Such letters open with the phrase "Says PN" followed by a question about the well-being of the recipient. This question is reflected in line 4 of this inscription where we have the phrase "Are you well?" This is followed by two blessing formulas (Thomas 2009, pp. 21–22). The first one, "I have blessed you by ... " is similar to the formula on the stone basin described above. The second one, located in lines 7–9, exhibits prefix verbal forms (*yrbk*, *yšmrk*, and *yhy*) instead of the suffix forms verbal forms attested in the blessing in line 4. The blessing in lines 7–9, with it pairing of the verbs "bless" and "guard/keep," closely resembles the lexical and syntactic formulation of the biblical priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26:

*ybrkk yhwh wyšmrk*

*<sup>y</sup>*ގ*r yhwh pnyw* <sup>ގ</sup>*lyk wyh. nk*

*y´s*ގ *yhwh pnyw* ގ*lyk wy´sm lk šlwm*

May Yahweh bless you and guard you;

May Yahweh make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

May Yahweh lift up his face upon you, and give you peace.

As studies have noted, the blessing from Kuntillet ޏAjrud contains a close parallel to the first line of the biblical blessing (v. 24) (Zevit 2001, p. 396). The blessing from Kuntillet ޏAjrud indicates that the biblical blessing is a development of stock blessing language known from epistolary exercises and correspondence. The biblical blessing has adopted the lexical and syntactic formula of this shorter blessing and developed it to include additional blessings invoking the divine face of Yahweh (Smoak 2016, pp. 116–18).

The parallels between the blessings at Kuntillet ޏAjrud and the biblical priestly blessing are also instructive for what they reveal about Israelian and Judahite religions. Whereas Kuntillet ޏAjrud's blessings include references to Yahweh's ގ*asherah*, the priestly Judahite formulation in the book of Numbers only refers to Yahweh. While this is not necessarily surprising, the contrast sheds light on some of the chronological and regional differences in the religions of Israel and Judah during the Iron Age. In terms of the variations of this blessing formula in the Iron Age the fact that we now have a formulation with striking similarities to the biblical version at Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem becomes especially relevant. Ketef Hinnom's blessings also lack inclusion of any references to Yahweh's ގ*asherah*. Additionally, whereas the Kuntillet ޏAjrud inscriptions connect Yahweh's blessings to his cultic locales at Samaria and Teman, the formulation in Numbers reflects an attempt to connect the blessing with Yahweh's temple in Jerusalem.
