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In the Legend of Kirta, El takes a cup in hand and blesses King Kirta with seven sons. Genesis 49 echoes this blessing language, calling on El the father who helps Joseph and Shaddai who blesses him with descendants.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.15 II:16
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[The]n came the companies of the gods. [Then] spoke Puiss[ant] Baal: "[So] come, O Kindly One [El Be]nignant! May you bless [Kirta] the Noble, may you beatify Naaman, [the Lad of] El."—A cup [El] takes [in] (his) hand, a flagon in (his) [right hand]. Indeed he blesses [his servant]. El blesses Kirta, [beatifie]s Naam[an] the Lad of El: "The wo[man that you ta]ke, O Kirta, the woman that you take into your house, the maid you bring into your court, shall bear seven sons to you, yes, eight shall she produce for you. She will bear Yassib the heir:
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
... The blessing god is quite clear in the Ugaritic texts. In the story of Kirta, the god El leads a party of deities to the home of Kirta. El is asked by Baal to provide a blessing. Baal says to El (1.15 II 14-16): ’Surely you will bless him, Bull El my Father, Strengthen him, Creator of Creatures.’ El takes a chalice in hand (1.15 II 16-18), and performs the blessing (1.15 II 18-20): He surely blessed... El blessed Kirta... [Strengthen]ed the Pleasant One, El’s lad. The content of the blessing follows (1.15 II 21-28). El’s blessing appears also in the following column (1.15 III 2-16). As the final first person verb is singular, the speech seems to belong to an individual. After the speech is finished, the narrative relates that the gods offer blessing and they depart (1.15 III 17-19). It would seem then that El blesses in the name of the deities present. ...
Smith, Mark S.
"The Blessing God and Goddess in Early Israel" in Eidevall, Göran; Scheuer, Blaženka (ed.) Enigmas and Images: Studies in Honor of Tryggve N. D. Mettinger
(p. 214) Eisenbrauns, 2011
* 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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