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Genesis 49 includes a blessing for Joseph that follows an ancient Near Eastern tradition describing the breasts and the womb. The Aramaic translation in Targum Neofiti interprets this as a description of abundance and praise for the one who nursed him.
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Genesis 49:25
Hebrew Bible
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough near a spring whose branches climb over the wall. 23 The archers will attack him, they will shoot at him and oppose him. 24 But his bow will remain steady, and his hands will be skillful; because of the hands of the Powerful One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 25 because of the God of your father, who will help you, because of the Sovereign God, who will bless you with blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and womb. 26 The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the eternal mountains or the desirable things of the age-old hills. They will be on the head of Joseph and on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Neofiti Genesis 49:25
Targum
24 But he placed his confidence in the Strong One. He stretched out his hand and his arms to beseech mercy from the Strong One of his father Jacob, with the strength of whose arm all the tribes of Israel are sustained. 25 May the Memra of the God of your father be at your aid, and may the God of the heavens bless you with the best of the dew and the rain that descend from the heavens from above and with the blessing of the springs of the abyss that come up from the earth, from beneath. Blessed are the breasts from which you sucked and the womb within which you lay. 26 May the blessings of your father be added for you, to the blessings with which my fathers Abraham and Isaac blessed me, which the lords of the world Ishmael and Esau longed for from the beginning. Let all these blessings come; let them become a crown of dignity on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of the pious man who was master and ruler over the land of Egypt, and paid attention to the honor of his father and the honor of his brothers.
Date: 300-600 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... “Blessed are the breasts from which you sucked and the womb within which you lay”; Hebrew text: “blessings of the breasts and of the womb.” An almost identical Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Text is found in Genesis Rabbah 98:20: “Blessings of the breasts and of the womb, which means: Blessed be the breasts that suckled such a one and the womb which brought forth such a one.” This is almost identical with Luke 11:27. On the possible relationship between the two see R. Le Déaut, 1962, 51; idem, Targumic Literature and New Testament Interpretation (Rome, 1974) 246; McNamara, 1966A, 131; Syrén, 15 ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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