1
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.
5
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5. 迦南地也有饑荒——每年降下使尼羅河水高漲的熱帶雨，也是巴勒斯坦的雨；它們若不降下，在迦南也如在埃及一樣，會產生同樣災難性的後果。因此，無數的百姓帶着他們的馱獸，組成商隊，越過蘇伊士的沙質沙漠，去購買糧食；在這些人當中，「以色列的兒子們」也被迫踏上他們因痛苦的聯想而極不情願作的旅程。
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.
6
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6. 約瑟就是那宰相——正處於他的權勢和影響力的頂峰。
糶糧給他們的——即指揮賣糧之事；因為他不可能親自在每個地方照應。不過，他可能親自監管靠近迦南邊境的倉庫，這既是因為那是全國最暴露的地區，也是因為他必定預料到他家裏會有使者到來。
約瑟的哥哥們來了，俯伏在他面前——他那預言性的夢
[Ge 37:5-11]
正在應驗之中，而他哥哥們那殘酷的暴行，反倒成了促成他們本想要阻止之結果的工具
(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).
7
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7, 8. 約瑟看見他哥哥們，就認得他們……他們卻不認得他——這並不奇怪。他們都是成年人——分別時他只是個孩子。他們穿着尋常的衣服——他穿着官服。他們做夢也想不到他作埃及的宰相，而他卻一直在期待着他們。他們只有一張臉；他卻有十個人可作判斷。
假裝生疏，向他們說嚴厲話——若以為這嚴厲的態度是出於任何報復的心理，那對約瑟的品格是不公平的——他從不對那些傷害他的人懷恨在心。但他以宰相的威嚴口吻說話，為要引出一些他渴望得知的關於他父親家中情況的信息，也要藉着他們自己的屈辱和困苦，使他哥哥們覺悟他們對他所行的惡。
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.
9
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9-14. 你們是奸細——這是至今東方各國對陌生人的普遍懷疑。然而約瑟深知他哥哥們不是奸細，卻被指控為殘忍的偽裝，故意違背他明知為真的事實，把這樣的身分加在他們身上。但必須記住，他是在扮演統治者的角色；事實上，他所依據的原則，正是許多受默示的作者和我們的主自己所認可的，他們曾說比喻（虛構的故事）以促進好的目的。
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.
15
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15. 我指着法老的性命起誓——在西亞，指着王的性命起誓是十分常見的做法。約瑟說話的口吻是埃及人的樣式，也許並不以為其中有何不妥。但我們受教導要將一切這類的表達視為起誓
(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).
17
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17-24. 把他們……下在監裏三天——他們被囚禁，原是為要使他們作出有益的反思。這目的達到了，因為他們把神的報應公義看作如今正在那異鄉追趕着他們。他們談話的內容，是記錄上良心力量最顯著的例子之一
[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].
24
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24. 把西緬挑出來捆綁他——他大概是傷害約瑟一事的主謀、最激烈的實行者；若是這樣，那麼如今他被選作人質，被囚被縛以保證他們的歸來，在他們現今的反省中，便具有痛切的意義。
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.
25
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25-28. 約瑟吩咐人把他們的口袋裝滿糧食，並把各人的銀子退還——這私下的慷慨並非失職，也非對國庫的欺瞞。他原可以有權自行酌量——他天天使王的庫藏增加——更可以從自己的錢袋中支付那筆款項。
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.
27
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27. 那個住宿的地方——不過是個給馱獸餵料的站頭。
他看見自己的銀子——這一發現使他們陷入比先前更大的困惑。他們若還在為逃脫了那位無情的總督而自幸，如今卻看出他有了對付他們的把柄；而且值得注意的是，他們將這看作天上的報應。這樣，約瑟的一個主要目的便達到了——他們的良心被喚醒，承認自己的罪。
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.
35
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35. 後來他們傾倒口袋，不料，各人的……銀子都在口袋裏——可見他們在投宿之處發現銀子一事上保持緘默，因為父親可能會責怪他們沒有立即回去。雖然他們知道自己清白，這件不幸的事卻普遍被認為會給他們帶來新的、更大的危險。
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.
36
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36. 你們使我喪失我的兒子——這一聲呼喊表明他心情極其激動；這也顯示，即使是好人，要完全順服護理的安排，也是何等困難。這話並不是暗示他那失蹤的兒子們遭了其餘諸人之手的不測，而是他把西緬看作與約瑟一樣失喪了，並且暗示正是因他們一些輕率的話，他才冒著失去便雅憫的危險。
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.
37
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37. 流便說……我若不帶他回來交給你，你可以殺我的兩個兒子——這是個輕率且無理的條件——他從未認真期望父親會接受。其用意不過是保證對便雅憫會盡最大的看護。但 unforeseen（無法預料的）情況可能發生，使他們全部不可能保全那少年
(Jas 4:13)，
雅各因此前景而大受痛苦。他一點也不知道神正在嚴厲地、卻是出於恩慈地對待他
(Heb 12:7, 8)，
那些他以為與他不利的事，其實都為他的好處而互相效力。
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.
下埃及去糴糧。
1. 雅各見埃及有糧——是從普遍傳聞得知的。從雅各的話顯然可見，他自己和兒子們的家都因歉收而受苦甚深；隨著災情日趨嚴重，那些從前表現得勤奮有魄力的人也漸漸灰心喪志。當自然的保全途徑近在手邊時，神便不會以神蹟干預。