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<td valign="top" ><p>It is misleading to build a thelogical system on certain texts in Paul's epistles without first taking into account the Hebrew Bible and the Synoptic accounts of the Gospel as it came from the lips of Jesus. (Minister, A. Buzzard, 1998)</p></td>
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<h1><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Research Materials On Paul As The Benjamite Wolf of Prophecy</span></h1>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;">Hippolytus' Quote</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">In <em>Jesus Words Only</em>, chapter 14 presented the case that Paul fulfilled the Ravening Benjamite Wolf Prophecy of Jacob found at Genesis 49:27. See "<a href="/books/90-benjamite-wolf.html">Benjamite Wolf</a>."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">We quoted the early church commentator, Hippolytus (170-236 AD), who saw Paul perfectly fit the Benjamite Ravening Wolf of Genesis 49:27. Hippolytus did so not realizing how negative the original Hebrew was about this person. Hippolytus trusted the Greek Septuagint 257 BC translation. It said the wolf "divided the food" ---&nbsp;<em>trophe </em>in the Greek translation known as the Septuagint. However, this mistranslated the Hebrew word for <em>spoil</em>, that is&nbsp;<em>shalal</em> . Thus, the "dividing" behavior - dividing the spoils -- was still part of the wolf's evil behavior. The Hebrew did not mean the more inoccuous concept of "apportioning food." Unaware of this, Hippolytus first quoted the verse Gen 49:27 as saying:&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><q>Benjamin is a ravening wolf; in the morning he shall devour still, and till evening he apportions food.</q></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Then HIPPOLYTUS commented:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"This<em><strong> thoroughly suits Paul</strong></em>, who was of the tribe of&nbsp;Benjamin. For when he was young, he was a ravening wolf; but when he believed,&nbsp;he&nbsp;<q>apportioned</q> food. This also is shown us by the grace&nbsp;of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the tribe of&nbsp;Benjamin&nbsp;is among the first persecutors, which is the sense of&nbsp;<q>in the morning.</q> For&nbsp;Saul, who was of the tribe of&nbsp;Benjamin, persecuted&nbsp;David, who was appointed to be a&nbsp;type&nbsp;of the&nbsp;Lord." [Hippolytus,&nbsp;<em>Refutation of All Heresies</em> 5.168.]</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">[<a href="http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0502.htm">Catholic New Advent Encyclopedia</a>.][Rev. S.D.F.Salmond, <a href="http://www.voxdeibaptist.org/Hippolytus_of_Rome_Exegetical.htm"><em>Hippolytus</em> <em>of Rome: Extant Fragments of Hippolytus</em></a>.] [Anti-Nicene Fathers - Hippolytus (trans. Rev. J. H. Macmahon) Vol. 5</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">But the second portion means "divide the spoils." In chapter 14 of JWO, we pointed out that Paul claimed in Galatians that the 12 apostles consented to a division of Christianity in two: Paul alone would go to the Gentiles, and the 12 would go to the Jews. Yet, this was preposterous to believe was truly consensual -- the 12 were evangelizing Gentiles in Spain (James), India (Thomas and Bartholomew), Persia (Matthew), and Italy, Syria (Peter). &nbsp;Yet, this proves Paul was trying to "divide the spoils" in his favor among those he previously was murdering. Thus, Paul perfectly fits the Benjamite Wolf of prophecy.</span></p>
<hr />
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;">Quotes of Jerome, Tertullian and Testament of the 12 Patriarchs</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Three more sources from the early church besides Hippolytus thought Paul fulfilled the Benjamite Wolf prophecy in Genesis <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%2049:27&amp;version=KJV">49:27</a>. These three were:&nbsp;Jerome and Tertullian and a Christian interpolator to the Testament of the 12 Patriarchs.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">First, in a letter of Jerome to Marcella in 386 AD, it reads in part:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">If the faith of the apostle Peter is shaken by Our Lord's passion, it is that amid his bitter tears he may hear the words: "Feed my sheep." Paul, that<strong><em> ravening wolf, that little Benjamin</em></strong>, is blinded in a trance, but as the result he gains clear vision, and from the sudden horror of darkness around him calls upon Him as Lord whom in the past he persecuted as man.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><em>Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi Epistulae (</em>ed. Isidorus Hilberg) (New York: Johnson, 1970, repr.1910-18) 3 Vols.; ep.38. The translation and annotation from F.A.Wright, <em>Select Letters of St. Jerome </em>(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1933, repr.1980) at 158-67 (reprinted online at&nbsp;<a href="http://epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/letter/308.html">http://epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/letter/308.html</a>)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Tertullian in 202 AD in&nbsp;<em>Scorpion's Sting</em> saw Paul as fulfilling Genesis 49:27, in the Septuagint rendering where the second part is fuflilled by supplying food:</span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;">But how Paul...who first of all shed the blood of the church, though afterwards he exchanged the sword for the pen, and turned the dagger into a plough, being first</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;">&nbsp;<em><strong>a ravening wolf of Benjamin</strong></em>, then himself supplying food as did Jacob,</span><sup style="font-size: 8pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; background-color: #f7f8d1;"><a href="http://www.tertullian.org/anf/anf03/footnote/fn110.htm#P11090_3148521">92</a></sup><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;">&nbsp;-how he, (I say, ) speaks in favour of martyrdoms.... (<em>Scorpion's Sting</em>, <a href="http://www.tertullian.org/anf/anf03/anf03-45.htm">Ch. 13.</a>)</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">Tertullian in 207 A.D. in <em>Against Marcion</em>&nbsp;still has the same outlook that Paul was fulfilling the prophecy in Genesis 49, but like others familiar with the Greek Septuagint Bible, Tertullian spins the second part of Gen 49:27 to Paul's favor -- which positive spin is textually implausible from the Hebrew, as discussed in <em>Jesus' Words Only </em>(2007) at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=3VFnsDuxBPcC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=jesus%20words%20only&amp;pg=PA335#v=snippet&amp;q=benjamite%20wolf&amp;f=false">335</a>. Regardless, Tertullian wrote in 207 A.D.:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">Because even the <strong><em>book of Genesis </em></strong>so long ago <strong><em>promised me the Apostle Paul</em></strong>. For among the types and prophetic blessings which he pronounced over his sons, Jacob, when he turned his attention to <strong><em>Benjamin</em></strong>, exclaimed, &ldquo;Benjamin shall <strong><em>ravin as a wolf</em></strong>; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall impart nourishment.&rdquo; <strong><em>He foresaw that Paul would arise out of the tribe of Benjamin</em></strong>, a voracious wolf, devouring his prey in the morning: in order words, in the early period of his life he would devastate the Lord&rsquo;s sheep, as a persecutor of the churches; but in the<strong><em> evening he would give them nourishment</em></strong>, which means that in his declining years he would educate the fold of Christ, as the teacher of the Gentiles. Tertullian,<em> Latin Christianity: Its Founder Tertullian</em> (ed. Philip Schaff)(1885) at 735 (PDF at 783)(downloaded from Christian Classics Ethereal Library at this <a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.pdf?membership_type=2634da9d44711718c2fecc2ddf85e80ee73207aa">link</a>.)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">But again, Tertullian is placing a favorable spin on something that in Genesis in Hebrew is not favorable. "Dividing the spoils" means taking those you killed and then eating them. Paul divided the church and then sucked away the Gentiles for himself. The second part of Gen 49:27 does not read "shall impart nourishment" in the Hebrew original.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">What explains this? The erroneous translation of the Hebrew Bible into the Greek Septuagint of 257 BC. &nbsp;The Masoretic Hebrew text says "divide the spoil" (<em>shalal</em> in Hebrew)&nbsp;in <a href="http://biblos.com/genesis/49-27.htm">49:27</a>, but the Septuagint Greek translation says "will provide food" -- <em><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dtrofh%2F&amp;highlight=food">trophe</a></em> in Greek.&nbsp;(See Septuagint <a href="http://bibledatabase.net/html/septuagint/01_049.htm">Gen. 49</a>; see also Septuagint English translation, <a href="http://ecmarsh.com/lxx/Genesis/index.htm">Gen. 49</a> in English translation "gives food").&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Finally, the <em>Jewish Encyclopedia</em> in "<a href="http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2947-benjamin">Benjami</a>n" notes that in the early church a third source identified Paul as the ravening wolf of the Deuteronomy prophecy, and this translates 49:27 in part as "devours" his enemy rather than as "apportioning the food":</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">[Benjamin's] comparison to the ravening wolf (Cant. R. to viii. 1), "who <strong><em>devours</em></strong> his enemy" (Gen. xlix. 27) is referred to ... also in the original text of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs [Benjamin ii]; whereas a Christian interpolation refers it to Paul.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The <a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/patriarchs-charles.html">Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs</a> was a Christian (Pauline) work from about 200 AD of what purported to be solely a Jewish document that existed prior to the Christian era. See "<a href="http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/testtwelve.html">Testament of the 12</a>" and "<a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/patriarchs.html">Patriachs</a>." This source tries to turn around Jacob's prophecy from a negative to a positive. This time Benjamin is speaking, and he himself prophesies that no longer will he be called the wolf that ravens, but a blessing to the Gentiles. Obviously, it was politically necessary for Paulinists to deflect the attention this verse had as inimical to Paul's validity. Thus this apocryphal book was invented to help have Benjamin contradict Jacob's true prophecy which was that the end result from the Benjamite Wolf was <em>negative.</em></span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Jesus' Message About The Ravening Wolf Is More Identifying</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Both Tertullian and Jerome failed to line up Genesis with our Savior's Words that speak clearly that the "ravening <img src="/images/stories/wolf_in_sheeps_clothing.jpg" alt="wolf_in_sheeps_clothing" width="200" height="221" style="float: right;" />wolf" who comes as a false prophet in "sheep's clothing," <em>i.e.</em>, outwardly appears to be a Christian. Our savior says that inwardly this sheep-appearing person is actually a "ravening wolf." (Matt. 7:15.) Our Lord deliberately spoke of the "ravening wolf" knowing that Genesis spoke about the "ravening wolf" coming from the tribe of Benjamin. (Gen. 49:27.) This was our Good Shepherd's effort to leave behind a prophetic message to identify the coming one we should not trust is a true sheep.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Study Notes</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Justin Martyr in 165 AD discusses that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Jacob of Shiloh to come who would wash his garments in the "blood of grapes." See First Apology <a href="http://www.archive.org/stream/firstapologyofju00just">XL</a> at page 40 and LXXI at pages 66-67.</span></p>
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<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Email Inquiry About How Paul Can Be Benjamite &amp; Herodian At Same Time</strong></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">V's Question:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Doug,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Your friend V again. &nbsp;Could you elaborate on Paul's fulfillment of the Benjamite wolf prophecy vis a vis the discussion of his Herodian ancestoral connection. &nbsp;If he was born of Greek parents, how can he be from the tribe of Benjamin? Thanks in advance for your time.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">My Reply</span></strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">V</span></p>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">As I explained in JWO, Herodians are mixed ethnic figures. They have 1 parent who is Jewish, and one who is not, or somewhere in the ancestral line this is true. If Paul was a Herodian, it could mean that one parent was from one of the 12 tribes. So if one is a Benjamite tribal member who marries an Herodian, Paul belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. Paul is thus not technically Jewish / an Israelite in the traditional definition of having a mother who is Jewish / an Israelite (which is tradition), but Paul would still be a Benjamite because tribal status exists even if it is a mixed line.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"></span></div>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">For example, 2 of the 12 tribes were mixed from the beginning -- the children of Joseph <strong><em>by an Egyptian wife</em></strong>. The tribe of Manesseh is one of them. Here is a Biblical depiction of that tribe of Israel which is half Israelite (Joseph) and half from an Egyptian mother. Thus, this supports viewing <strong><em>tribal lineage is not a matter of Israelite purity at all</em></strong>. Here is the wikipedia link&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manasseh_(tribal_patriarch)" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/<wbr />wiki/Manasseh_(tribal_<wbr />patriarch)</a> and a snippet quote:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><strong>Manasseh</strong> or <strong>Menashe</strong> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language" target="_blank" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a>: vvvvv,&nbsp;<small><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Israeli_Hebrew" target="_blank" title="Modern Israeli Hebrew">Modern</a></small> <em>Mena&scaron;e</em> <small><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberian_vocalization" target="_blank" title="Tiberian vocalization">Tiber<wbr />ian</a></small> <em>M?na&scaron;&scaron;&eacute;h</em><small><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan_Hebrew" target="_blank" title="Samaritan Hebrew">Samaritan</a></small> <em>Mana)&nbsp;</em>was, according to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesis" target="_blank" title="Book of Genesis">Book of Genesis</a>, the first son of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_(Hebrew_Bible)" target="_blank" title="Joseph (Hebrew Bible)">Joseph</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asenath" target="_blank" title="Asenath">Asenath</a>. (<a href="http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20Genesis&amp;verse=41:50-52&amp;src=HE" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Genesis 41:50-52</a>) Asenath was<strong><em> an </em><em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt" target="_blank" title="Ancient Egypt">Egyptian</a> woman whom <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaoh" target="_blank" title="Pharaoh">Pharaoh</a></em></strong><em><strong> gave to Joseph as wife</strong>,</em> and the daughter of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potipherah" target="_blank" title="Potipherah">Potipherah</a>, a priest of&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliopolis_(ancient)" target="_blank" title="Heliopolis (ancient)">On</a>. (<a href="http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20Genesis&amp;verse=41:50-52&amp;src=HE" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Genesis 41:50-52</a>) Manasseh was born in Egypt before the arrival of the&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Israel" target="_blank" title="Children of Israel">children of Israel</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan" target="_blank" title="Canaan">Canaan</a>. (<a href="http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20Genesis&amp;verse=48:5&amp;src=HE" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Genesis 48:5</a>)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">And here is a reference to this Manasseh becoming a tribal head from Wikipedia at this link&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Manasseh">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Manasseh</a>:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">According to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible" title="Hebrew Bible">Hebrew Bible</a>, the <em><strong>Tribe of Manasseh</strong></em> (<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Loudspeaker.svg/11px-Loudspeaker.svg.png" alt="play" width="11" height="11" /> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">/</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">m</a>...<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English"></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">n</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">&aelig;</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">s</a>..<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English"></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">/</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a>: ...., <small><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Israeli_Hebrew" class="mw-redirect" title="Modern Israeli Hebrew">Modern</a></small> <em>Menashe&nbsp;</em><small><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberian_vocalization" title="Tiberian vocalization">Tiberian</a></small> <em>M..na&scaron;&scaron;&eacute;</em> ; "who makes to forget") was one of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites" title="Israelites">Tribes of Israel</a>. Together with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Ephraim" title="Tribe of Ephraim">Tribe of Ephraim</a>, Manasseh also formed the <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Joseph" class="mw-redirect" title="House of Joseph">House of Joseph</a></em>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Hence, I would say that Paul can be of the tribe of Benjamin and an Herodian as his epistles and temple service support Paul enjoyed both lineages.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Blessings, Doug</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Deuteronomy 33:12's Promise of Protection to Those Beloved of Lord When Among Benjamites</span></strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">If you read the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible (manuscript 250 BC) of Deuteronomy 33:12, you are reading the least possibly altered and oldest manuscript version of the Bible. The DSS version has Jacob's words of blessings over each tribe, in which Jacob says of Benjamin (and this is all Jacob says):</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"Of Benjamin he said: "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in<strong><em> safety by him</em></strong>. He covers him all the day long, and he [NIV correctly extrapolates as "the one the Lord loves"] dwells between his shoulders." (Abegg, etc., <em>DSS</em> page 194.)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">This same "safety by him" is found in the ASV, NASB, Darby, Webster's, YLT. And the comparable "with him" is found in the KJV and God's Word.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">However, the NIV renders it to flatter Benjamin and make him the source of protection: "Let the beloved rest secure&nbsp;<strong><em>in him</em></strong>."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">But the DSS and the greater / better translations say that the beloved of the Lord shall rest in "safety <strong><em>by him</em></strong>." This can easily mean<strong> <em>Benjamin cannot touch the beloved of the Lord</em>.</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Then "He covers him" is God covers "him" <em>i.e.</em>, the beloved of the Lord, and "he" - the <img src="http://static.environmentalgraffiti.com/sites/default/files/images/http-inlinethumb27.webshots.com-42138-2599869840105101600S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="" width="165" height="112" style="float: right;" />beloved of the Lord - "dwells between his shoulders" meaning that those God loves can lay their head even on Benjamin, and show him affection, but God promises the "beloved of the Lord" can do so safely. Even the NIV renders this second sentence to mean this.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Hence, Deut 33:12 is a promise of protection of those who God loves that they cannot be truly harmed by those associated with Benjamin.&nbsp;</span></p>
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