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This is a well known sentence:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked

Is the word "Blessed" an adjective or past-participle verb? Or something else?

Καrτhικ
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    It is the past participle of the verb 'bless' used adjectivally in a sentence that employs inversion. The man is blessed... It is a predicate adjective. – TimR May 15 '15 at 20:08
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    @TRomano, Would it make a difference if the sentence were "Blessed be the man"? – Καrτhικ May 15 '15 at 20:16
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    In "Blessed be..." we no longer have a simple present-tense predicate, but that change doesn't affect "blessed", which is still used adjectivally and still has the form of the past-participle of the verb 'bless'. – TimR May 15 '15 at 20:19
  • Re "blessed is" vs. "blessed be" - the second implies that the person in question may not be blessed; the first states this is unconditionally the case. – Joe McMahon May 15 '15 at 22:21

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Copied directly from TRomano's comment that should have been an answer:

It is the past participle of the verb 'bless' used adjectivally in a sentence that employs inversion. The man is blessed... It is a predicate adjective

Inversion just means the sentence order is switched around from what you would normally expect, so the subject is at the end and the predicate is first.

I'll add that in "(blessed) is (the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked)" 'is' is a copula, which makes 'blessed' a predicative expression.

DCShannon
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