Chapter commentary
Numbers Chapter 13
1
Nu 13:1-33.
繁體中文
English original
Nu 13:1-33.
THE NAMES OF THE MEN WHO WERE SENT TO SEARCH THE LAND.
1, 2. The Lord spake unto Moses, Send thou men, that they may search the land, of Canaan--Compare
De 1:22,
whence it appears, that while the proposal of delegating confidential men from each tribe to explore the land of Canaan emanated from the people who petitioned for it, the measure received the special sanction of God, who granted their request at once as a trial, and a punishment of their distrust.
3
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3. 那些人都是以色列人的族長——並非
(Nu 10:14-16, 18-20, 22-27)
所列的那些首領，而是各支派的族長——是有地位的首領，卻非頭等之列。
English original
3. those men were heads of the children of Israel--Not the princes who are named
(Nu 10:14-16, 18-20, 22-27),
but chiefs, leading men though not of the first rank.
16
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16. 何西阿——意即「拯救的願望」。耶和書亞（Jehoshua）在前面加上神之名，意為「神所任命的」、「拯救之首」、「救主」，即與耶穌同名
[Mt 1:21， 旁註]。
English original
16. Oshea--that is, "a desire of salvation." Jehoshua, by prefixing the name of God, means "divinely appointed," "head of salvation," "Saviour," the same as Jesus
[Mt 1:21,
Margin].
17
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17. 你們從南地上山地去——即西珥山
(De 1:2)， 位於西奈正對面，橫過巴蘭曠野，向東北直入應許之地的南部。
English original
17. Get you up this way . . . , and go up into the mountain--Mount Seir
(De 1:2),
which lay directly from Sinai across the wilderness of Paran, in a northeasterly direction into the southern parts of the promised land.
20
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20. 那時正是葡萄初熟的時候——即八月，頭一批葡萄收成的時候。第二批在九月，第三批在十月。探子們出去了四十天，由此可知他們從以實各帶回的葡萄屬於第二批。
English original
20. Now the time was the time of the first grapes--This was in August, when the first clusters are gathered. The second are gathered in September, and the third in October. The spies' absence for a period of forty days determines the grapes they brought from Eshcol to have been of the second period.
21
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21-24. 於是他們……窺探那地——他們從南向北推進，偵察全地。
尋的曠野——一片長而平坦的平原，或沙土深谷，其單調因幾棵柽柳和羅騰樹而略得緩和。它以 El Ghor 與 El Araba 之名，構成約但河谷的延續，從死海延伸至阿卡巴灣。
利合——即伯利合，乃一座城邑與地區；據某些人說，位於西頓以東；另有人認為它即 El Hule，一片廣闊肥沃的平原地帶，位於安提黎巴嫩山腳下，帕尼阿斯下方數里格之處。
哈馬口——即「哈馬的入口」
（2Ki 14:25），
即今巴貝克谷，是北方邊境的一處山口或隘口，構成以色列產業在那個方向上的極限。從這些地點的提及看來，探子們前進時的路線似乎是沿約但河的河道推進；而他們的歸途則是經由西邊邊境，穿過西頓人與非利士人的境界。
English original
21-24. So they . . . searched the land--They advanced from south to north, reconnoitering the whole land.
the wilderness of Zin--a long level plain, or deep valley of sand, the monotony of which is relieved by a few tamarisk and rethem trees. Under the names of El Ghor and El Araba, it forms the continuation of the Jordan valley, extending from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba.
Rehob--or, Beth-rehob, was a city and district situated, according to some, eastward of Sidon; and, according to others, it is the same as El Hule, an extensive and fertile champaign country, at the foot of Anti-libanus, a few leagues below Paneas.
as men come to Hamath--or, "the entering in of Hamath"
(2Ki 14:25),
now the valley of Balbeck, a mountain pass or opening in the northern frontier, which formed the extreme limit in that direction of the inheritance of Israel. From the mention of these places, the route of the scouts appears to have been along the course of the Jordan in their advance; and their return was by the western border through the territories of the Sidonians and Philistines.
22
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22. 到了希伯崙——位於猶大山地的腹地，在巴勒斯坦的南端。這城或《希伯來文》所稱的「希伯崙諸城」，由數個彼此分立的謝赫領地組成，坐落在構成環抱並圍攏它的一個盆地的諸山之一的山腳下。本節所提及的「亞衲族人」，似乎也是城邑的首領；而如此遙遠的兩個時代竟存在這種政制上的吻合，實屬可觀〔VERE MONRO〕。希伯崙（基列亞巴，
Ge 23:2）
是世界上最古老的城邑之一。
瑣安——（希臘人的 Tanis）位於尼羅河東部的一條支流上，鄰近門扎拉湖，是法老早期的王室駐地。它所誇的古老，超過埃及任何其他城邑。其名意為平坦遼闊，正描述了它在三角洲低地中的位置。
English original
22. unto Hebron--situated in the heart of the mountains of Judah, in the southern extremity of Palestine. The town or "cities of Hebron," as it is expressed in the Hebrew, consists of a number of sheikdoms distinct from each other, standing at the foot of one of those hills that form a bowl round and enclose it. "The children of Anak" mentioned in this verse seem to have been also chiefs of townships; and this coincidence of polity, existing in ages so distant from each other, is remarkable [VERE MONRO]. Hebron (Kirjath Arba,
Ge 23:2)
was one of the oldest cities in the world.
Zoan--(the Tanis of the Greeks) was situated on one of the eastern branches of the Nile, near the lake Menzala, and was the early royal residence of the Pharaohs. It boasted a higher antiquity than any other city in Egypt. Its name, which signifies flat and level, is descriptive of its situation in the low grounds of the Delta.
23
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23. 他們到了以實各谷——意即「一掛之溪」。其位置在希伯崙西南不遠處。那谷及其斜坡上至今仍覆蓋著葡萄園，其果實的特質與古時的盛名相符。
從那裏砍了一根帶一掛葡萄的枝子——此地所種的葡萄至今仍如往昔般碩大——據某人說，其大小可比擬李子；另一人則將之比作人的拇指。一掛有時重達十至十二磅。探子們砍下這掛葡萄所用的搬運方式，雖因其重量並非必要，卻顯然是為了完整保存它作為應許之地出產的樣本；而這景象所造成的印象，必更加深刻，因為以色列人所熟悉的，只是埃及那稀疏的葡萄樹與細小的葡萄。
English original
23. they came unto the brook of Eshcol--that is, "the torrent of the cluster." Its location was a little to the southwest of Hebron. The valley and its sloping hills are still covered with vineyards, the character of whose fruit corresponds to its ancient celebrity.
and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes--The grapes reared in this locality are still as magnificent as formerly--they are said by one to be equal in size to prunes, and compared by another to a man's thumb. One cluster sometimes weighs ten or twelve pounds. The mode of carrying the cluster cut down by the spies, though not necessary from its weight, was evidently adopted to preserve it entire as a specimen of the productions of the promised land; and the impression made by the sight of it would be all the greater because the Israelites were familiar only with the scanty vines and small grapes of Egypt.
26
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26. 他們……到了加低斯——以色列人的一個重要駐營地。但其確實位置尚不確知，也未能斷定它與加低斯巴尼亞是同一地點還是不同地點。有人推測它即 Ain-el-Weibeh，曠野東側的一處著名泉源〔ROBINSON〕，也有人認為即彼特拉〔STANLEY〕。
English original
26. they came . . . to Kadesh--an important encampment of the Israelites. But its exact situation is not definitely known, nor is it determined whether it is the same or a different place from Kadesh-barnea. It is supposed to be identical with Ain-el-Weibeh, a famous spring on the eastern side of the desert [ROBINSON], or also with Petra [STANLEY].
27
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27, 28. 他們告訴他說：我們到了你所打發我們去的那地，果然是流奶與蜜之地——這報告是在百姓聽聞之中公開作的，且經過巧妙的安排，先以對那地天然肥沃的稱讚開始敘述，為要使他們隨後的毀謗更易被人相信。
English original
27, 28. they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey--The report was given publicly in the audience of the people, and it was artfully arranged to begin their narrative with commendations of the natural fertility of the country in order that their subsequent slanders might the more readily receive credit.
29
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29. 亞瑪力人住在南地——他們的地業位於死海與紅海之間，沿迦南邊境延伸。
赫人……住在山地——他們的定居點在巴勒斯坦南部山地
（Ge 23:7）。
迦南人住在海邊——被非利士人逐出的原住民餘民，分為兩個遊牧群——一群定居在東面靠近約但河之處；另一群在西面，靠地中海。
English original
29. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south--Their territory lay between the Dead and the Red Seas, skirting the borders of Canaan.
Hittites . . . dwell in the mountains--Their settlements were in the southern and mountainous part of Palestine
(Ge 23:7).
the Canaanites dwell by the sea--The remnant of the original inhabitants, who had been dispossessed by the Philistines, were divided into two nomadic hordes--one settled eastward near the Jordan; the other westward, by the Mediterranean.
32
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32. 吞吃居民之地——意即氣候與地理不健康的地區。猶太作者說，他們在旅途中看見許多喪禮，因為照神的護理，當時有極多迦南人被瘟疫或黃蜂所剪除
（Jos 24:12）。
身量高大的人——這顯然是一個虛假而誇大的報告，因膽怯或惡意的詭計，將少數人的真實情形描述為全體百姓的特徵。
English original
32. a land that eateth up the inhabitants--that is, an unhealthy climate and country. Jewish writers say that in the course of their travels they saw a great many funerals, vast numbers of the Canaanites being cut off at that time, in the providence of God, by a plague or the hornet
(Jos 24:12).
men of a great stature--This was evidently a false and exaggerated report, representing, from timidity or malicious artifice, what was true of a few as descriptive of the people generally.
33
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33. 我們在那裏看見了巨人，就是亞衲族人——這名稱源自亞巴，他是阿拉伯人中的一個偉人
（Jos 15:14），
其名大概因頸上佩戴華麗的項圈或鏈子而得，正如該詞所含之意。「巨人」這稱號此處顯然指身量。（參見
Ge 6:4。）
亞衲族人很可能是一個顯赫的家族，或許是一支因其非凡身材而選出的精銳戰士。
在我們眼中就如蚱蜢一樣——一個強烈的東方誇飾語，那些詭詐的探子藉此誇大報告迦南人的體力。
English original
33. there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak--The name is derived from the son of Arba, a great man among the Arabians
(Jos 15:14),
who probably obtained his appellation from wearing a splendid collar or chain round his neck, as the word imports. The epithet "giant" evidently refers here to stature. (See on
Ge 6:4).
And it is probable the Anakims were a distinguished family, or perhaps a select body of warriors, chosen for their extraordinary size.
we were in our own sight as grasshoppers--a strong Orientalism, by which the treacherous spies gave an exaggerated report of the physical strength of the people of Canaan.
Nu 13:1-33.
奉差窺探那地之人的名字
1, 2. 耶和華對摩西說：你打發人去窺探迦南地——請對照
De 1:22，
從中可知：雖然從各支派委派可信賴之人去探查迦南地的提議，源於百姓主動的請求，但這項舉措卻得到了神的特別認可——祂隨即照他們所求的允准了他們，以此作為對他們不信的試驗與刑罰。