בראשית, פרק מ״ט, פסוק כ״ה

After recounting Joseph’s past hardships and ultimate triumphs, Jacob’s blessing shifts toward the future, encompassing every layer of existence, from Divine providence down to the forces of nature and human fertility. The primary approach among commentators is that Joseph’s ongoing success is deeply rooted in ancestral merit and the constant Divine assistance that has accompanied him. The strength he found to survive his troubles and peacefully transform his enemies into friends came directly from the God of his father [העמק דבר]. Because God stood by Joseph and helped him withstand the temptation of Potiphar's wife without sinning [רש״י, אור החיים, בכור שור], God will continue to help and bless him directly, without the use of angels or intermediaries [ספורנו]. This blessing is delivered using the Divine name Shaddai, which represents personal providence and hidden miracles [מלבי״ם], as well as the precise boundaries God established in nature through which Joseph’s bounty will flow [העמק דבר].

The blessing then turns to wealth, sustenance, and agriculture, promising ideal conditions from both above and below. The bounty of the sky provides dew, timely rain, and sunlight, while the depths below offer underground springs and streams. Commentators describe a harmonious relationship in nature where rain falling from the sky awakens the subterranean waters, drawing them upward to water the earth. The deep waters are described as resting in wait because they remain patiently within the earth until the proper time to burst forth. Consequently, Joseph’s land will enjoy constant moisture. Even in years of drought, the underground waters will rise to irrigate his crops [רד״ק, מלבי״ם, בכור שור, העמק דבר].

Regarding the promise of fertility, commentators offer three distinct interpretations. The primary approach understands this literally as a blessing for abundant natural reproduction, serving as the exact opposite of the biblical curse of a miscarrying pregnancy and dry nursing mothers. It guarantees that women and animals will carry their young to term and always have an abundance of milk to feed them [רשב״ם, ספורנו, מלבי״ם]. The unusual sequence of mentioning the ability to nurse before the womb itself is explained by the biological reality that milk begins to form before birth [בכור שור, חזקוני]. Others suggest this sequence ensures that every newborn will immediately find a mother ready and able to provide nourishment [רש״ר הירש], or that it points to a unique blessing allowing women to nurse and be pregnant simultaneously without either process harming the other [אלשיך]. Alternatively, some view this fertility imagery as a metaphor for the parents themselves, symbolizing the father providing seed and the mother receiving it to conceive [רש״י, גור אריה, רבינו בחיי]. Finally, a third approach connects these concepts back to the agricultural theme, comparing the heavens to a mother nursing the plants with rain, and the earth to a womb that takes in the water and gives birth to fruit and grain [אבן עזרא, רד״ק, אם למקרא].