IT is a very foolish fancy of some of the Jewish rabbin that this prophet was the son of the Shunamite woman that was at first miraculously given, and afterwards raised to life, by Elisha (2 Kings iv.), as they say also that the prophet Jonah was the son of the widow of Zarephath, which Elijah raised to life. It is a more probable conjecture of their modern chronologers that he lived and prophesied in the reign of king Manasseh, when wickedness abounded, and destruction was hastening on, destruction by the Chaldeans, whom this prophet mentions as the instruments of God's judgments: and Manasseh was himself carried to Babylon, as an earnest of what should come afterwards. In the apocryphal story of Bel and the Dragon mention is made of Habakkuk the prophet in the land of Judah, who was carried thence by an angel to Babylon, to feed Daniel in the den: those who give credit to that story take pains to reconcile our prophet's living before the captivity, and foretelling it, with that. Huetius thinks that that was another of the same name, a prophet, this of the tribe of Simeon, that of Levi: others that he lived so long as to the end of that captivity, though he prophesied of it before it came. And some have imagined that Habakkuk's feeding Daniel in the den is to be understood mystically, that Daniel then lived by faith, as Habakkuk had said the just should do: he was fed by that word, Hab. ii. 4. The prophecy of this book is a mixture of the prophet's addresses to God in the people's name and to the people in God's name: for it is the office of the prophet to carry messages both ways. We have in it a lively representation of the intercourse and communion between a gracious God and a gracious soul. The whole refers particularly to the invasion of the land of Judah by the Chaldeans, which brought spoil upon the people of God, a just punishment of the spoil they had been guilty of among themselves: but it is of general use, especially to help us through that great temptation with which good men have in all ages been exercised, arising from the power and prosperity of the wicked and the sufferings of the righteous by it.

Book Genesis 45

The Book of Genesis

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Chapter 46

1: And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, andoffered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

2: And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

3: And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

4: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Josephshall put his hand upon thine eyes.

5: And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

6: And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

7: His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

8: And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.

9: And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

10: And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.

11: And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12: And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.

13: And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.

14: And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
15: These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.

16: And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

17: And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.

18: These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.

19: The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.

20: And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.

21: And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

22: These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

23: And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
24: And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

25: These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.

26: All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls werethreescore and six;

27: And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

28: And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

29: And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

30: And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

31: And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;

32: And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, andall that they have.

33: And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What isyour occupation?

34: That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land ofGoshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
Genesis 47

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