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I'm interested in who introduced (and/or when) the standard liturgical formula for bruchas, that is, that they start with

  • (a) 'ברוך אתא ה
  • (b) that, followed by אלוקנו מלך העלום
  • (c) in the case of positive commandments, those followed by ...אשר קדשנו במצותיו וץונו

What I can figure out is that (a) dates back at least to anshei ha-k'nesset hag'dolah, because the Shmoneh Esrey early blessings date back at least that far, and (c) dates back at least to the time of the Gemorrah, because in Shabbos they give the words for the Hanukkah candle blessing.

But these might go further back; for all I know, Moshe was using (a) when he benched after meals.

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    There are plenty of close analogues in Tanakh: Gen 14:20, Exo 18:10, Chro 1:16:36, 1:29:10, 2:6:4 – Double AA♦ Apr 15 at 19:14
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See this discussion regarding the blessing made on the mahn while in the desert.

Despite a discussion regarding the ending of the bracha, it seems clear from the sources cited that they started the bracha with the standard six words. So a) and b) date back to the midbar.

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    This seems anachronistic. – Mordechai Apr 15 at 21:58
  • From that cited answer, it is also clear that they felt (c) dated back to BaMidbar, since one of the sources said that on Shabbos they would say Asher Kidishanu ... I'll wait a few more days, in case somebody has a source that says it dates back from even earlier, but this looks like an acceptable answer. – Mark Fischler Apr 21 at 20:10

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