The Bible speaks of breastfeeding, although one won't necessarily find the actual term "breastfeeding" in Scripture. However, there are several key words under this general topic breasts, nursing, suckling, etc. The Bible mentions breastfeeding (or "giving suck," "suckling", or "nursing", depending upon translation) in two ways: as a literal reference to the physical act of breastfeeding, and a reference to the image of breastfeeding as an idiomatic expression or even a metaphor. In this article we deal with the literal references, which include a discussion of the duration of breastfeeding, or, to put that another way, how long children in Biblical times were breastfed before they were weaned. We consider non-literal, idiomatic references to breastfeeding as well. The conclusion here is that breastfeeding was a fact of life in Bible times. It was so common to the culture of the Bible lands that the image of a nursing mother influenced even idiomatic expressions and figures of speech.

• Ткаченко Світлана Кузьмівна (1930–2018) (медичні науки)
• Шлемкевич Ольга Любомирівна (медичні науки)

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