BOUNTY (בְּרָכָה֒, H1388, blessing [Gen 49:26]; יָד, H3338, hand, strength, power [1 Kings 10:13; Esth 1:7]; גָּמַל, H1694, benefit [Ps 13:6; 116:7; 119:17; 142:7]; טﯴבָה, H3208, good [Ps 65:11; Prov 22:9]; שֹֽׁועַ, rich [Isa 32:5 KJV; RSV honorable]; תַּגְמוּל, H9326, benefit [Ps 116:12]; ἁπλότης, G605, singleness, sincerity [2 Cor 9:11]; εὐλογία, G2330, fair speech, blessing [2 Cor 9:5, 6]). The word means generosity, generous gift, and appears several times in Scripture. It is also bountiful and bountifully. In the OT the word appears most often in the Psalms, esp. in connection with the incredible generosity of God. The psalmist praises God for all His bounty to him (13:6; 65:11; 116:7, 12); he has confidence that God will deal bountifully with him (142:7), and he prays for this (119:17). The author of Proverbs (22:9) says that God will bless those who provide bread to the poor. In a textually difficult passage Jacob says to Joseph, “The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills” (Gen 49:26 KJV “the blessings of my progenitors”). King Solomon overwhelmed the queen of Sheba with his bounty (1 Kings 10:13), and in the banquet of Ahasuerus the king lavished wine according to his bounty (Esth 1:7).

In the NT the word appears only in connection with the gift of money that Paul is trying to raise for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. The KJV refers to this as the Corinthians’ “bounty” (2 Cor 9:5 RSV “gift”). Paul says that God has enriched the Corinthians to “all bountifulness” (2 Cor 9:11 RSV “generosity”); and that those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly, while those who sow bountifully will also reap bountifully (2 Cor 9:6).