Comentário do capítulo
Genesis Capítulo 44
1
Ge 44:1-34.
日本語
Original em inglês
Ge 44:1-34.
POLICY TO STAY HIS BRETHREN.
1. And Joseph commanded the steward--The design of putting the cup into the sack of Benjamin was obviously to bring that young man into a situation of difficulty or danger, in order thereby to discover how far the brotherly feelings of the rest would be roused to sympathize with his distress and stimulate their exertions in procuring his deliverance. But for what purpose was the money restored? It was done, in the first instance, from kindly feelings to his father; but another and further design seems to have been the prevention of any injurious impressions as to the character of Benjamin. The discovery of the cup in his possession, if there had been nothing else to judge by, might have fastened a painful suspicion of guilt on the youngest brother; but the sight of the money in each man's sack would lead all to the same conclusion, that Benjamin was just as innocent as themselves, although the additional circumstance of the cup being found in his sack would bring him into greater trouble and danger.
2
Sem título
日本語
2. わたしの杯、銀の杯を、袋の口に入れよ——それは原語が示すように大きなゴブレットであり、所有者がその高価な素材や優雅な仕上げのゆえに重んじ、おそらく前日の豪華な宴で彼の食卓を飾ったものであろう。
Original em inglês
2. put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth--It was a large goblet, as the original denotes, highly valued by its owner, on account of its costly material or its elegant finish and which had probably graced his table at the sumptuous entertainment of the previous day.
3
Sem título
日本語
3. 朝明るくなるとすぐ、人々は送り出された——彼らは夜明けとともに帰路についた
(Ge 18:2 の注解参照)。
すべての悩みと不安から解放され、このような幸福な結果を得た後の彼らが、大いに意気揚々としていたであろうことは容易に想像できる。
Original em inglês
3. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away--They commenced their homeward journey at early dawn (see on
Ge 18:2);
and it may be readily supposed in high spirits, after so happy an issue from all their troubles and anxieties.
4
Sem título
日本語
4. 彼らが市を出て……ヨセフは家宰に言った——彼らは総督の家から稀少な価値のある品が紛失したという衝撃的な知らせによって、突然の停止を余儀なくされた。それは銀の杯であった。強い疑いが彼らに向けられたため、特別の使者が彼らを捜索するために遣わされた。
Original em inglês
4. When they were gone out of the city . . . Joseph said unto his steward--They were brought to a sudden halt by the stunning intelligence that an article of rare value was missing from the governor's house. It was a silver cup; so strong suspicions were entertained against them that a special messenger was despatched to search them.
5
Sem título
日本語
5. わたしの主がこれで飲み、これによって占いをなさるのではないか——総督の個人的使用のためだけでなく、これによって占いをする。杯による占い、すなわち未来の進展を確かめることは、古代エジプトの流行した迷信の一つであり、今日でも東洋の国々の迷信である。ヨセフのような、まことの神を敬虔に信じる者が、この迷信的な慣習にふけったとは考えにくい。しかし彼は、兄弟たちに対する最後の決定的な試みのための策略を成功裏に実行するために、その民間の考えを利用したのかもしれない。
Original em inglês
5. Is not this it in which my lord drinketh--not only kept for the governor's personal use, but whereby he divines. Divination by cups, to ascertain the course of futurity, was one of the prevalent superstitions of ancient Egypt, as it is of Eastern countries still. It is not likely that Joseph, a pious believer in the true God, would have addicted himself to this superstitious practice. But he might have availed himself of that popular notion to carry out the successful execution of his stratagem for the last decisive trial of his brethren.
6
Sem título
日本語
6, 7. 彼は彼らに追いつき……これらの言葉を語った——家宰の言葉は彼らにとって雷霆のように響いたに違いない。そして彼らの最も支配的な感情の一つは、これほど何度も疑いの対象とされたことへの屈辱的で苦々しい感覚であった。彼らは自分たちの無実を主張し、捜索を求めた。その挑戦は受け入れられた
[Ge 44:10, 11]。
長子から始まり、すべての袋が調べられた。そして杯がベニヤミンの袋に見つかり
[Ge 44:12]、
彼らは皆、形容しがたい心の苦悩のうちに総督の家に戻った
[Ge 44:13]。...
彼の足元に身を投げ
[Ge 44:14]、
「神がしもべたちの不正を突き止められた」との注目すべき告白をした
[Ge 44:16]。
Original em inglês
6, 7. he overtook them, and he spake . . . these words--The steward's words must have come upon them like a thunderbolt, and one of their most predominant feelings must have been the humiliating and galling sense of being made so often objects of suspicion. Protesting their innocence, they invited a search. The challenge was accepted
[Ge 44:10, 11].
Beginning with the eldest, every sack was examined, and the cup being found in Benjamin's
[Ge 44:12],
they all returned in an indescribable agony of mind to the house of the governor
[Ge 44:13],
throwing themselves at his feet
[Ge 44:14],
with the remarkable confession, "God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants"
[Ge 44:16].
16
Sem título
日本語
16-34. ユダは言った、わたしたちは何を言いえましょう——この語りかけは注釈を必要としない。最初は語り手の感情の圧倒的な力のため、彼のことばが詰まったかのように、短く、途切れ途切れの文から成るが、語る努力によって次第に自由で豊かになる。すべての言葉が心に届く。そして祭壇の上に置かれようとする犠牲のように言葉なくそこに立っていたベニヤミンが、自分の身代金として奴隷に服従しようとするユダの寛大な申し出を聞いたとき、生涯にわたる感謝で寛大な兄に縛られることとなるであろうことが、容易に想像できる。この絆は彼の部族において世襲的になったようである。ヨセフの振る舞いは、いかなる単一の視点からも、あるいは別々の部分としてではなく、全体として見られなければならない。よく考え抜かれ、深く敷かれ、密接に結びついた計画として。そしてそのいくつかの特徴は確かに厳しさの外観を示すが、彼の行動の支配的原則は、真の、純粋な、兄弟的な親切であった。この光において読めば、出来事の叙述は一つの目的の継続的ではあるが秘密の追求を描写する。そしてヨセフはその計画の管理において、非常に高い次元の知性、温かく感じやすい心を、彼の感情に対する完全な統制を及ぼす判断力に結びつけたことを示す。目的の達成に向けた手段を工夫する上での幸福な工夫、および思慮が要求する、どれほど苦痛であってもその道を外れない揺るぎない堅持を。
Original em inglês
16-34. Judah said, What shall we say?--This address needs no comment--consisting at first of short, broken sentences, as if, under the overwhelming force of the speaker's emotions, his utterance were choked, it becomes more free and copious by the effort of speaking, as he proceeds. Every word finds its way to the heart; and it may well be imagined that Benjamin, who stood there speechless like a victim about to be laid on the altar, when he heard the magnanimous offer of Judah to submit to slavery for his ransom, would be bound by a lifelong gratitude to his generous brother, a tie that seems to have become hereditary in his tribe. Joseph's behavior must not be viewed from any single point, or in separate parts, but as a whole--a well-thought, deep-laid, closely connected plan; and though some features of it do certainly exhibit an appearance of harshness, yet the pervading principle of his conduct was real, genuine, brotherly kindness. Read in this light, the narrative of the proceedings describes the continuous, though secret, pursuit of one end; and Joseph exhibits, in his management of the scheme, a very high order of intellect, a warm and susceptible heart, united to a judgment that exerted a complete control over his feelings--a happy invention in devising means towards the attainment of his ends and an inflexible adherence to the course, however painful, which prudence required.
Ge 44:1-34.
兄弟たちを引き留める計略。
1. ヨセフは家宰に命じた——杯をベニヤミンの袋に入れたのは、明らかにその若者を困難や危険に陥れることで、残りの者たちの兄弟としての感情が彼の苦悩に同情し、彼の解放のために努力するよう、どれほど刺激されるかを知るためであった。しかし、銀を返したのは何のためであったか。第一には、父への親切な感情からであった。しかし、さらにもう一つの、より深い目的があったと思われる。それはベニヤミンの品性に関する有害な印象を防ぐことであった。もし他に判断の手がかりが何もなければ、彼 の所有から杯が発見されたことは、末の兄弟に罪の疑いという苦痛な印象を与えたかもしれない。しかし、各人の袋の中の銀を見れば、ベニヤミンも自分たちと同じように無実であるという同じ結論に至るはずであった。もっとも、杯が彼の袋に見つかったという付加的な事情は、彼をより大きな苦境と危険に陥れることになろうが。