Chapter commentary
Isaiah Chapter 39
서론
Untitled
繁體中文
English original
The story of this chapter likewise we had before, 2Ki 20:12, etc. It is here repeated, not only as a very memorable and improvable passage, but because it concludes with a prophecy of the captivity in Babylon; and as the former part of the prophecy of this book frequently referred to Sennacherib's invasion and the defeat of that, to which therefore the history of that was very fitly subjoined, so the latter part of this book speaks much of the Jews' captivity in Babylon and their deliverance out of that, to which therefore the first prediction of it, with the occasion thereof, is very fitly prefixed. We have here, I. The pride and folly of Hezekiah, in showing his treasures to the king of Babylon's ambassadors that were sent to congratulate him on his recovery, Isa 39:1,2. II. Isaiah's examination of him concerning it, in God's name, and his confession of it, Isa 39:3,4. III. The sentence passed upon him for it, that all his treasures should, in process of time, be carried to Babylon, Isa 39:5-7. IV. Hezekiah's penitent and patient submission to this sentence, Isa 39:8.
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Hezekiah's Vanity (712 BC)
繁體中文
希西家的虛榮 (712 BC)
¹ 那時，巴拉但的兒子巴比倫王米羅達巴拉但聽見希西家病而痊癒，就送書信和禮物給他。
² 希西家喜歡見使者，就把自己寶庫的金、銀、香料、貴重的膏油，和他武庫的一切軍器，並他所有的財寶都給他們看；他家中和全國之內，希西家沒有一樣不給他們看的。
³ 於是先知以賽亞來見希西家王，問他說：這些人說什麼？他們從哪裡來見你？希西家說：他們從遠方來見我，就是從巴比倫來。
⁴ 以賽亞說：他們在你家裡看見了什麼？希西家回答說：凡我家中所有的，他們都看見了；我一切的財寶中，沒有一樣不給他們看的。
從此我們可以學到這些功課：——1. 人情和一般的禮貌教導我們，當朋友鄰舍歡喜之時與他們同樂，為他們的解救——尤其是從疾病中康復——向他們道賀。巴比倫王聽見希西家病了又康復，便差人來就此向他致意。基督徒若不友善睦鄰，異教徒便要使他們羞愧。2. 對於神所尊榮的人，我們當予以尊敬。日頭是巴比倫人的神；當他們知道日頭在某一天竟為希西家的緣故倒退了十度——這對他們是極大的驚奇——他們便覺得有義務向希西家竭盡所能地致敬。萬民都如此奉他們神的名而行，我們豈不更當如此？3. 那些不因善人的良善而尊重他們的人，也可能因其他的動因、為著屬世的利益而對他們大加恭敬。巴比倫王向希西家獻媚，不是因為他敬虔，而是因為他興旺——正如非利士人渴望與以撒結盟，因為他們看見耶和華與他同在（創26:28）。巴比倫王是亞述王的仇敵，因此喜愛希西家，因為亞述人因他神的大能而被大大削弱。4. 在大蒙高升之時保持心靈謙卑是一件難事。希西家就是一個例子：他是一個智慧而善良的人，但當一個又一個神蹟為他而行之時，他便發覺要使自己的心不高舉是何等困難；不，那時一件小事便將他引入了驕傲的網羅。蒙福的保羅自己也需要肉中的一根刺，免得他因啟示甚大而過於自高。5. 當我們向朋友展示我們的財物——我們所做的和所得的——之時，我們需要謹守自己的心，不可因之驕傲，彷彿我們的力量或功勞為我們購置並獲取了這些財富。當我們觀看自己的享受並有機會談論它們之時，必須謙卑地承認自己的不配，並感恩地承認神的恩慈，對別人的成就給予恰當的評價，並預期損失和變遷——不要妄想我們的山立得穩固、不能很快被動搖。6. 善人因這世之子所給予的世俗尊敬（即便其中有某些特別而不尋常之處）而過分看重自己、並喜愛與他們交往，實在是極大的軟弱。神如此尊榮的希西家，竟如此過分驕傲於一位異教君王所給的尊敬，彷彿那為他增添了什麼，這是何等可憐！我們應當加倍回報這樣的禮節，卻不可因之驕傲。7. 我們必須預備為我們驕傲的活動——即使是隱秘的、是在我們以為其中並無害處的事上——被要求交賬；因此我們應當自己為這些事向自己交賬；當有客人在我們這裡，給了我們尊敬，滿意於他們的款待，並稱讚一切之時，我們應當以敬虔的謹慎察驗自己，恐怕我們的心已被高舉。只要我們看見理由懷疑這狡猾隱微的驕傲之罪已潛入我們的心中、混雜在我們的言談之中，便當為之羞愧，並如希西家在此所作的，坦然承認並以此自取羞愧。
English original
Hezekiah's Vanity (712 BC)
¹ At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
² And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.
³ Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
⁴ Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.
Hence we may learn these lessons:—1. That humanity and common civility teach us to rejoice with our friends and neighbours when they rejoice, and to congratulate them on their deliverances, and particularly their recoveries from sickness. The king of Babylon, having heard that Hezekiah had been sick, and had recovered, sent to compliment him upon the occasion. If Christians be unneighbourly, heathens will shame them. 2. It becomes us to give honour to those whom our God puts honour upon. The sun was the Babylonians' god; and when they understood that it was with a respect to Hezekiah that the sun, to their great surprise, went back ten degrees, on such a day, they thought themselves obliged to do Hezekiah all the honour they could. Will all people thus walk in the name of their God, and shall not we? 3. Those that do not value good men for their goodness may yet be brought to pay them great respect by other inducements, and for the sake of their secular interests. The king of Babylon made his court to Hezekiah, not because he was pious, but because he was prosperous, as the Philistines coveted an alliance with Isaac because they saw the Lord was with him, Ge 26:28. The king of Babylon was an enemy to the king of Assyria, and therefore was fond of Hezekiah, because the Assyrians were so much weakened by the power of his God. 4. It is a hard matter to keep the spirit low in the midst of great advancements. Hezekiah is an instance of it: he was a wise and good man, but, when one miracle after another was wrought in his favour, he found it hard to keep his heart from being lifted up, nay, a little thing then drew him into the snare of pride. Blessed Paul himself needed a thorn in the flesh, to keep him from being lifted up with the abundance of revelations. 5. We have need to watch over our own spirits when we are showing our friends our possessions, what we have done and what we have got, that we be not proud of them, as if our might or our merit had purchased and procured us this wealth. When we look upon our enjoyments, and have occasion to speak of them, it must be with humble acknowledgments of our own unworthiness and thankful acknowledgments of God's goodness, with a just value for the achievements of others and with an expectation of losses and changes, not dreaming that our mountain stands so strong but that it may soon be moved. 6. It is a great weakness for good men to value themselves much upon the civil respects that are paid them (yea, though there be something particular and uncommon in them) by the children of this world, and to be fond of their acquaintance. What a poor thing was it for Hezekiah, whom God has so dignified, to be thus over proud of the respect paid him by a heathen prince as if that added any thing to him! We ought to return the courtesies of such with interest, but not to be proud of them. 7. We must expect to be called to an account for the workings of our pride, though they are secret, and in such instances as we thought there was no harm in; and therefore we ought to call ourselves to an account for them; and when we have had company with us that have paid us respect, and been pleased with their entertainment, and commended every thing, we ought to be jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy lest our hearts have been lifted up. As far as we see cause to suspect that this sly and subtle sin of pride has insinuated itself into our breasts, and mingled itself with our conversation, let us be ashamed of it, and, as Hezekiah here, ingenuously confess it and take shame to ourselves for it.
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Hezekiah's Vanity Punished (712 BC)
繁體中文
希西家的虛榮受罰（主前712年）
⁵ 以賽亞對希西家說，你要聽萬軍之耶和華的話：
⁶ 日子必到，凡你家裏所有的，並你列祖所積蓄到今日的，都要被擄到巴比倫去，不留下一樣；這是耶和華說的。
⁷ 並且從你本身所生的眾子，就是你的後裔，也必被擄去，他們必在巴比倫王宮裏作太監。
⁸ 希西家對以賽亞說，你所說耶和華的話甚好。他又說，因為在我的日子中，必有平安和穩妥。
由此讓我們留意：1. 神若愛我們，必使我們自卑，必這樣或那樣地找到方法，當我們的心過分高舉時把它降下。一個叫人謙卑的信息臨到希西家，為要叫他為心中的驕傲自卑，並認識其中的愚昧；因為神雖或容許他的百姓陷入罪中——如他在此容許希西家那樣，要試驗他，好知道他心內一切——卻不容他們在其中久留。2. 神從我們奪去我們所引以為傲、並以之建立屬肉體自信的，是公義的。當大衛以百姓的數目驕傲時，神便設法使之減少；當希西家誇耀他的寶物、以過分的自滿觀看時，他便被告知，他行事如同那愚昧的旅客，向一個結果成了賊的人展示自己的金錢和黃金，因而惹來搶劫。3. 我們若能看見將來的事，就必為我們如今對事物的想法羞愧。希西家若知道這巴比倫王的後裔和繼承者日後將成為他家族和國度的毀壞，他便不會那樣奉承這王的使者了；當先知告訴他將要如此時，我們盡可想像他是何等為自己所行的懊惱。我們不能確實預見將來的事，卻被告知總意是：凡事都是虛空；因此我們以任何被這名所涵蓋的事物為滿足、寄以信任，都是虛空。4. 那些熱衷於與不敬虔之人結交或結盟的人，遲早必自食其果，並要為之悔改。希西家自以為與巴比倫的友誼十分幸福，雖然它是淫亂和偶像的母；但如今向耶路撒冷諂媚的巴比倫，日後終要征服她、將她擄去。與罪人的聯盟，以及與罪的聯盟，結局都是如此；因此我們的智慧是與之保持距離。5. 真正為自己的罪悔改的人，樂意為之受責備，也樂意被人指出自己的過失。希西家以為主的那話是好的——那話向他顯明了罪，使他明白自己行得不當，是他先前所未察覺的。真正悔改者的言語是：任憑義人擊打我，這算為恩慈；律法因此是好的，因為它是屬靈的，在其中罪顯為罪，顯得極其罪惡。6. 真正悔改的人不但順服話語的責備，也順服護理為他們的罪所施的責打。希西家被告知他罪孽的刑罰時說：你所說耶和華的話甚好——不但是那判決的減輕，連那判決本身也是如此；他對其公義毫無異議，倒向那威脅說阿們。那些看見罪的邪惡和其當受之刑罰的人，必在因罪而臨到的一切事上顯神為義，並承認他刑罰他們遠不及他們的罪孽所當受的。7. 我們雖不可不顧我們身後的人，卻當認為：只要有平安和穩妥在我們的日子，便是善待我們了，且勝過我們理所當得的。若有風暴將至，我們當以在風暴前進港、在平安中被收入墳墓為恩惠；然而我們對此絕不能有把握，必須在自己有生之年預備變遷，好使我們在神一切旨意中得以完全，並無論何事都歡迎它。
English original
Hezekiah's Vanity Punished (712 BC)
⁵ Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
⁶ Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
⁷ And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
⁸ Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.
Hence let us observe, 1. That, if God love us, he will humble us, and will find some way or other to pull down our spirits when they are lifted up above measure. A mortifying message is sent to Hezekiah, that he might be humbled for the pride of his heart, and be convinced of the folly of it; for though God may suffer his people to fall into sin, as he did Hezekiah here, to prove him, that he might know all that was in his heart, yet he will not suffer them to lie still in it. 2. It is just with God to take that from us which we make the matter of our pride, and on which we build a carnal confidence. When David was proud of the numbers of his people God took a course to make them fewer; and when Hezekiah boasts of his treasures, and looks upon them with too great a complacency, he is told that he acts like the foolish traveller who shows his money and gold to one that proves a thief and is thereby tempted to rob him. 3. If we could but see things that will be, we should be ashamed of our thoughts of things that are. If Hezekiah had known that the seed and successors of this king of Babylon would hereafter be the ruin of his family and kingdom, he would not have complimented his ambassadors as he did; and, when the prophet told him that it would be so, we may well imagine how he was vexed at himself for what he had done. We cannot certainly foresee what will be, but are told, in general, All is vanity, and therefore it is vanity for us to take complacency and put confidence in any thing that goes under that character. 4. Those that are fond of an acquaintance or alliance with irreligious men will first or last have enough of it, and will have cause to repent it. Hezekiah thought himself very happy in the friendship of Babylon, though it was the mother of harlots and idolatries; but Babylon, who now courted Jerusalem, in process of time conquered her and carried her captive. Leagues with sinners, and leagues with sin too, will end thus; it is therefore our wisdom to keep at a distance from them. 5. Those that truly repent of their sins will take it well to be reproved for them and will be willing to be told of their faults. Hezekiah reckoned that word of the Lord good which discovered sin to him, and made him sensible that he had done amiss, which before he was not aware of. The language of true penitents is, Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness; and the law is therefore good, because, being spiritual, in it sin appears sin, and exceedingly sinful. 6. True penitents will quietly submit, not only to the reproofs of the word, but to the rebukes of Providence for their sins. When Hezekiah was told of the punishment of his iniquity he said, Good is the word of the Lord, not only the mitigation of the sentence, but the sentence itself; he has nothing to object against the equity of it, but says Amen to the threatening. Those that see the evil of sin, and what it deserves, will justify God in all that is brought upon them for it, and own that he punishes them less than their iniquities deserve. 7. Though we must not be regardless of those that come after us, yet we must reckon ourselves well done by if there be peace and truth in our days, and better than we had reason to expect. If a storm be coming, we must reckon it a favour to get into the harbour before it comes, and be gathered to the grave in peace; yet we can never be secure of this, but must prepare for changes in our own time, that we may stand complete in all the will of God, and bid it welcome whatever it is.
本章的故事我們先前也看過，2Ki 20:12 等。此處重述，不僅因為這是一段極其值得記念、可以從中得教訓的事蹟，也因為它以預言巴比倫之囚作結；正如本書預言的前半部常論及西拿基立的入侵與其失敗，因此把那段歷史附在後面十分恰當，照樣本書的後半部大量論到猶太人在巴比倫的被擄與得釋放，因此把關於這事的首次預言、連同其起因，附在前頭也是十分恰當的。我們在此看到：I. 希西家的驕傲與愚妄，把他的寶物展示給因他痊癒而來道賀的巴比倫王使者看，Isa 39:1,2。II. 以賽亞奉神的名就此盤問他，以及他的認罪，Isa 39:3,4。III. 因此臨到他的判語——他一切的寶物日後必被擄到巴比倫，Isa 39:5-7。IV. 希西家對這判語悔改而忍耐地順服，Isa 39:8。