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The Legend of Keret blesses King Kirta’s heir Yasib with nursing at Athirat’s milk and Rahmay’s breast. Genesis 49 draws on the same Canaanite blessing image, promising Joseph blessing of the breasts and womb.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Legend of Keret 5:6
Epic of Kirta
Ancient Near East
'Take a wife, O Keret, take a wife to your house, bring a sacred bride into your dwelling: she will bear you seven sons, and multiply them eightfold for you. She will bear Yasib the heir: he will drink the milk of Athirat; he will drain the breast of Virgin Rahmay; the suckling of goddesses.' 'Be greatly exalted, Keret, among the Saviours of the underworld, in the convocation of the assembly of Ditan.
Date: 1500 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Genesis 49:25
Hebrew Bible
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.
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Notes and References
... Moreover, the blessing in verse 25bC of ’breasts and womb’ Joseph receives, might be paralleled to the blessing Yassubu, the (promised) first-born of Kirtu received (KTU 1.15.ii.25-28): tld. ysb [.] glm — She will bear the lad Yassubu, ynq. hlb . dtrt — who will imbibe the milk of Athiratu, mss. td [.] btlt [. ’nt] — who will suck the breast of the Virgin ’Anatu, mšnq[t ] — the wet-nurs[es of ... ] Such metaphors are intended to describe the elevated position of the king and it might be that this blessing in Genesis 49:25bC has a similar meaning. In any case, Ugaritic ṯd ’breast’ and Ugaritic rḥm ’womb’ are both epithets of ’Anatu and may be hidden here behind these terms. ...
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