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Ge 42:1-38.
英語原文
Ge 42:1-38.
JOURNEY INTO EGYPT.
1. Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt--learned from common rumor. It is evident from Jacob's language that his own and his sons' families had suffered greatly from the scarcity; and through the increasing severity of the scourge, those men, who had formerly shown both activity and spirit, were sinking into despondency. God would not interpose miraculously when natural means of preservation were within reach.
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5. 迦南地也有饥荒——每年降下、使尼罗河涨溢的热带雨，也是巴勒斯坦的雨；其不降便会在迦南产生与埃及相同的灾难性后果。因此，迦南人许多骆驼队，赶着驮兽，跨过苏伊士沙地，前来买粮；其中“以色列的儿子们”也被迫踏上他们因痛苦的联想而极力厌恶的旅程。
英語原文
5. the famine was in the land of Canaan--The tropical rains, which annually falling swell the Nile, are those of Palestine also; and their failure would produce the same disastrous effects in Canaan as in Egypt. Numerous caravans of its people, therefore, poured over the sandy desert of Suez, with their beasts of burden, for the purchase of corn; and among others, "the sons of Israel" were compelled to undertake a journey from which painful associations made them strongly averse.
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6. 约瑟是治理者——在他权势影响的顶峰。
粜粮……是由他——即主持粜粮；因他不可能亲临各处。不过他大概亲自监督靠近迦南边境的粮仓，一则因那地最为暴露，二则因他必已预想父家会派人来。
约瑟的哥哥们来了，向他下拜——他那预言性的梦
[Ge 37:5-11]
正在应验的过程中，而众兄弟的凶残暴行，反倒成了成就他们原想阻止之结局的工具
(Isa 60:14； Re 3:9，
末句)。
英語原文
6. Joseph was the governor--in the zenith of his power and influence.
he it was that sold--that is, directed the sales; for it is impossible that he could give attendance in every place. It is probable, however, that he may have personally superintended the storehouses near the border of Canaan, both because that was the most exposed part of the country and because he must have anticipated the arrival of some messengers from his father's house.
Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him--His prophetic dreams
[Ge 37:5-11]
were in the course of being fulfilled, and the atrocious barbarity of his brethren had been the means of bringing about the very issue they had planned to prevent
(Isa 60:14; Re 3:9,
last clause).
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7, 8. 约瑟看见他哥哥们，就认得他们，他们却不认得他——这并不奇怪。他们离别时已是成人——他不过是个少年。他们穿着寻常衣裳——他穿着官服。他们从不想他会是埃及的治理者，而他则一直在等候他们。他们只有一张脸可看；他则有十个人可凭。
假装生人，向他们说严厉话——若以为约瑟这严厉的态度是出于报复的心，那对他的品格便是冤屈——他从不向那些伤害他的人怀恨。但他以治理者的权威口吻说话，为要引出一些他所渴望的关于父家情形的消息，并要使众兄弟因自己的屈辱和痛苦，觉悟他们向他所行的恶。
英語原文
7, 8. Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, . . . but they knew not him--This is not strange. They were full-grown men--he was but a lad at parting. They were in their usual garb--he was in his official robes. They never dreamt of him as governor of Egypt, while he had been expecting them. They had but one face; he had ten persons to judge by.
made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly--It would be an injustice to Joseph's character to suppose that this stern manner was prompted by any vindictive feelings--he never indulged any resentment against others who had injured him. But he spoke in the authoritative tone of the governor in order to elicit some much-longed-for information respecting the state of his father's family, as well as to bring his brethren, by their own humiliation and distress, to a sense of the evils they had done to him.
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9-14. 你们是奸细——这是直至今日东方各国对陌生人所怀的疑心。但约瑟明知他的兄弟们并非奸细，却有人指责他残酷的虚伪，故意违背他所知之真理，把这种品格加在他们身上。但必须记得他所扮演的是一位治理者；事实上，他正是按着许多圣史和我们的主自己所认可的原则行事——主曾讲比喻（虚构的故事）以促成善果。
英語原文
9-14. Ye are spies--This is a suspicion entertained regarding strangers in all Eastern countries down to the present day. Joseph, however, who was well aware that his brethren were not spies, has been charged with cruel dissimulation, with a deliberate violation of what he knew to be the truth, in imputing to them such a character. But it must be remembered that he was sustaining the part of a ruler; and, in fact, acting on the very principle sanctioned by many of the sacred writers, and our Lord Himself, who spoke parables (fictitious stories) to promote a good end.
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15. 我指着法老的性命起誓——在西亚，指着王的性命起誓是很普遍的习俗。约瑟以埃及人的口吻说话，也许并不以为其中有何恶。但我们受教导要把这一切说法都视作起誓
(Mt 5:34； Jas 5:12)。
英語原文
15. By the life of Pharaoh--It is a very common practice in Western Asia to swear by the life of the king. Joseph spoke in the style of an Egyptian and perhaps did not think there was any evil in it. But we are taught to regard all such expressions in the light of an oath
(Mt 5:34; Jas 5:12).
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17-24. 把他们……下在监里三天——他们的监禁是为使他们得着有益的反省。这目的达到了，因为他们看自己如今在异乡受神报应性公义的追讨。他们谈话的趋向，是记录上良心能力最显著的例子之一
[Ge 42:21, 22]。
英語原文
17-24. put them . . . into ward three days--Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land. The drift of their conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the power of conscience
[Ge 42:21, 22].
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24. ……带走……西缅，把他捆绑——他大概是那暴行的主谋——对约瑟最暴烈的执行者；若是如此，他被选作被囚被缚的人质以保证他们回来，在他们目前的反省中便有痛苦的含义。
英語原文
24. took . . . Simeon, and bound him--He had probably been the chief instigator--the most violent actor in the outrage upon Joseph; and if so, his selection to be the imprisoned and fettered hostage for their return would, in the present course of their reflections, have a painful significance.
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25-28. 约瑟吩咐人把粮食装满他们的口袋，把各人的银子归还——这私下的慷慨并非越权——也不是侵吞国库。他有自由裁量的权力——他日日充实王的国库——他完全可以自掏腰包付这笔钱。
英語原文
25-28. Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money--This private generosity was not an infringement of his duty--a defrauding of the revenue. He would have a discretionary power--he was daily enriching the king's exchequer--and he might have paid the sum from his own purse.
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27. 住宿的地方——不过是个给驮兽喂食的站口。
他看见自己的银子——这一发现使他们比以前更加困惑。他们若因逃脱了那冷酷的总督而自庆，现在却看出他有了对付他们的把柄；值得注意的是，他们将此看作是上天的刑罚。如此，约瑟的一个主要目的便达到了——他们的良心被激发，感到自己有罪。
英語原文
27. inn--a mere station for baiting beasts of burden.
he espied his money--The discovery threw them into greater perplexity than ever. If they had been congratulating themselves on escaping from the ruthless governor, they perceived that now he would have a handle against them; and it is observable that they looked upon this as a judgment of heaven. Thus one leading design of Joseph was gained in their consciences being roused to a sense of guilt.
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35. 后来他们倒口袋，不料，各人的……银子都在口袋里——看来他们在住宿之地发现银子一事上一直保持沉默，免得父亲责备他们不立刻回去。虽然他们自知清白，却普遍感到这是不幸的事，可能将他们带入新的、更大的危险。
英語原文
35. as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's . . . money was in his sack--It appears that they had been silent about the money discovery at the resting-place, as their father might have blamed them for not instantly returning. However innocent they knew themselves to be, it was universally felt to be an unhappy circumstance, which might bring them into new and greater perils.
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36. 你们使我丧失我的儿子——这一感叹表明他心情极度激动，也显明即使一个好人也很难完全顺服护理的安排。这话并非暗示他那失踪的儿子们遭了其余人之毒手，但他视西缅如同约瑟一样已失丧，并暗示正是因他们不谨慎的话，他如今又面临失去便雅悯的危险。
英語原文
36. Me have ye bereaved--This exclamation indicates a painfully excited state of feeling, and it shows how difficult it is for even a good man to yield implicit submission to the course of Providence. The language does not imply that his missing sons had got foul play from the hands of the rest, but he looks upon Simeon as lost, as well as Joseph, and he insinuates it was by some imprudent statements of theirs that he was exposed to the risk of losing Benjamin also.
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37. 流便对他父亲说，你可以杀我的两个儿子，若我不带他回来交在你手里——这是一个轻率而不合理的条件——他从未认真预期父亲会接受。这只是为了保证对便雅悯极其小心而已。但出乎意料的情况可能发生，使他们全体都无法保全那个少年
(雅 4:13)，
雅各想到前途便极为痛苦。他哪里知道神是在严厉却以慈爱待他
(来 12:7, 8)，
他所认为不利于自己的那些事，都互相效力，叫他得益处。
英語原文
37. Reuben spake, . . . Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee--This was a thoughtless and unwarrantable condition--one that he never seriously expected his father would accept. It was designed only to give assurance of the greatest care being taken of Benjamin. But unforeseen circumstances might arise to render it impossible for all of them to preserve that young lad
(Jas 4:13),
and Jacob was much pained by the prospect. Little did he know that God was dealing with him severely, but in kindness
(Heb 12:7, 8),
and that all those things he thought against Him were working together for his good.
Ge 42:1-38.
下埃及之行。
1. 雅各见埃及有粮——是从传闻得知的。从雅各的话中显然可见，他自己的和众子的家眷都因饥荒而大受苦害；而由于灾祸日益严重，这些从前曾表现出活力和勇气的男人们，也渐渐陷入沮丧之中。当天然的保全方法垂手可得时，神不会以神迹的方式介入。