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Es 3:1-15.
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영문 원문
Es 3:1-15.
HAMAN, ADVANCED BY THE KING, AND DESPISED BY MORDECAI, SEEKS REVENGE ON ALL THE JEWS.
1. After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman . . . set his seat above all the princes--that is, raised him to the rank of vizier, or prime confidential minister, whose pre-eminence in office and power appeared in the elevated state chair appropriated to that supreme functionary. Such a distinction in seats was counted of vast importance in the formal court of Persia.
2
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2. 王的一切臣僕，就是在王門那裡的，都俯伏拜哈曼——東方的豪宅都由寬敞的門廊、即大門進入，訪客沿門廊兩側而坐，由家主接見；因為除至親或摯友外，無人能更進一步。古時波斯王的官員們便在那裡候命，直至被召見，並向當日權勢滔天的宰相行禮。
惟獨末底改不跪不拜——這種俯伏於地的卑躬屈膝之禮，在東方風俗中並非全然陌生，但以前的宰相並未如此要求；然而這位寵臣卻下令朝廷中所有下級官員都要面伏於地在他面前跪拜。但在末底改看來，這樣深切的崇敬之禮只當歸給神。哈曼是亞瑪力人，本屬注定受咒詛的族類，這無疑也是他拒絕的另一因素；及至他得悉這位不從命的人是猶太人，其不順服乃是基於宗教上的良心顧慮，這一冒犯的嚴重性便顯得更甚，因為末底改的榜樣必被所有同胞所效法。若這敬禮只是世俗禮節的表示，末底改原不會拒絕；但波斯王所要求的那種近乎敬拜的禮，眾所周知，連希臘人也認為表示此禮有辱身分。薛西斯在寵信哈曼的高峰時，曾下令要給予這位宰相與自己同等的尊榮，這便是末底改拒絕的緣由。
영문 원문
2. all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman--Large mansions in the East are entered by a spacious vestibule, or gateway, along the sides of which visitors sit, and are received by the master of the house; for none, except the nearest relatives or special friends, are admitted farther. There the officers of the ancient king of Persia waited till they were called, and did obeisance to the all-powerful minister of the day.
But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence--The obsequious homage of prostration not entirely foreign to the manners of the East, had not been claimed by former viziers; but this minion required that all subordinate officers of the court should bow before him with their faces to the earth. But to Mordecai, it seemed that such an attitude of profound reverence was due only to God. Haman being an Amalekite, one of a doomed and accursed race, was, doubtless, another element in the refusal; and on learning that the recusant was a Jew, whose nonconformity was grounded on religious scruples, the magnitude of the affront appeared so much the greater, as the example of Mordecai would be imitated by all his compatriots. Had the homage been a simple token of civil respect, Mordecai would not have refused it; but the Persian kings demanded a sort of adoration, which, it is well known, even the Greeks reckoned it degradation to express. As Xerxes, in the height of his favoritism, had commanded the same honors to be given to the minister as to himself, this was the ground of Mordecai's refusal.
7
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7. 正月……他們掣普珥，就是掣籤——哈曼採用這種方法來查明執行他那惡毒計畫的最吉利日子，乃與波斯的君王和貴族歷來所作的一樣：他們若不諮詢占星家、並對吉時感到滿意，就絕不進行任何事業。他決意報復，卻不屑只加害於一人，便圖謀滅絕猶太全族——他知道猶太人乃是他同胞的死敵；他巧妙地把他們描述為一個在風俗習慣上與眾不同、並與他其餘臣民為敵的外族人，藉此取得了王對這場計畫中的大屠殺的批准。他在力陳己見時所使用的一個理由，便是針對王的貪心。他惟恐他的主子會反對，說滅絕如此眾多的一群臣民，將嚴重損害國家的稅收，便應許要彌補這一損失。
영문 원문
7. In the first month . . . they cast Pur, that is, the lot--In resorting to this method of ascertaining the most auspicious day for putting his atrocious scheme into execution, Haman acted as the kings and nobles of Persia have always done, never engaging in any enterprise without consulting the astrologers, and being satisfied as to the lucky hour. Vowing revenge but scorning to lay hands on a single victim, he meditated the extirpation of the whole Jewish race, who, he knew, were sworn enemies of his countrymen; and by artfully representing them as a people who were aliens in manners and habits, and enemies to the rest of his subjects, he procured the king's sanction of the intended massacre. One motive which he used in urging his point was addressed to the king's cupidity. Fearing lest his master might object that the extermination of a numerous body of his subjects would seriously depress the public revenue, Haman promised to make up the loss.
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9. 我要捐一萬他連得銀子……交在王的府庫裡——按巴比倫他連得計算，這筆銀子約值 2,119,000 英鎊；但若按猶太他連得估算，則大大超過 3,000,000 英鎊——以私人財產來作如此巨額的捐輸，實屬驚人。但古典歷史中曾提及若干人物，他們的財力看來幾乎令人難以置信。
영문 원문
9. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver . . . into the king's treasuries--This sum, reckoning by the Babylonish talent, will be about £2,119,000; but estimated according to the Jewish talent, it will considerably exceed £3,000,000, an immense contribution to be made out of a private fortune. But classic history makes mention of several persons whose resources seem almost incredible.
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10. 王就從手上摘下戒指，給哈曼——戒指裡有一印章或璽。授戒指之舉，因戒指上刻有王的名字和他國度的名字，須以隆重的儀式進行；它等同於在王詔上蓋上親筆簽名之印。
영문 원문
10. the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman--There was a seal or signet in the ring. The bestowment of the ring, with the king's name and that of his kingdom engraven on it, was given with much ceremony, and it was equivalent to putting the sign manual to a royal edict.
12
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12-15. 王……召了王的書記來……就寫下——政府的書記奉命起草一份授權在指定一日之內屠殺猶太全族的公告。它被譯成廣大帝國各民族的一切方言，並差派快馬信使傳達到各省。在指定的那一日，所有猶太人都當被處死，他們的財產也被充公——這無疑是哈曼盼望用來向王庫繳納所許銀子的辦法。在我們看來，任何一位心智健全的君王竟會同意滅絕自己一大群臣民，實在是難以理解。然而這類瘋狂的暴行，唉！卻屢屢被那些漫不經心、耽於享樂的暴君所批准，因為他們任憑自己的耳朵被那些傲慢自私的寵臣所占據，任由他們左右國策，使這些寵臣得以滿足自己的私慾、達成自己的目的。
영문 원문
12-15. Then were the king's scribes called . . . and there was written--The government secretaries were employed in making out the proclamation authorizing a universal massacre of the Jews on one day. It was translated into the dialects of all the people throughout the vast empire, and swift messengers were sent to carry it into all the provinces. On the day appointed, all Jews were to be put to death and their property confiscated; doubtless, the means by which Haman hoped to pay his stipulated tribute into the royal treasury. To us it appears unaccountable how any sane monarch could have given his consent to the extirpation of a numerous class of his subjects. But such acts of frenzied barbarity have, alas! been not rarely authorized by careless and voluptuous despots, who have allowed their ears to be engrossed and their policy directed by haughty and selfish minions, who had their own passions to gratify, their own ends to serve.
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15. 王和哈曼坐下飲酒，書珊城卻一片慌亂——本節文字描寫的周全可謂精妙。史家只用簡練一筆，便繪出了一幅東方暴君的生動畫像：他與寵臣一同沉溺於感官享樂之中，而他暴虐的酷政正在撕裂千萬臣民的心與家。
영문 원문
15. the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed--The completeness of the word-painting in this verse is exquisite. The historian, by a simple stroke, has drawn a graphic picture of an Oriental despot, wallowing with his favorite in sensual enjoyments, while his tyrannical cruelties were rending the hearts and homes of thousands of his subjects.
斯 3:1-15。
哈曼被王高升，卻被末底改輕看，遂圖謀報復所有猶太人。
1. 這事以後，亞哈隨魯王抬舉哈曼……使他的座位高過眾領袖——即把他擢升至大臣（vizier）、或首席機要首相之位，其職任與權柄的尊貴，便顯明於那專為這一最高官職所設的高座之上。在波斯莊嚴的朝廷中，座位的這一區分被視為極其重要。