서론
Psalm 128 Introduction
英文原文
The author of this psalm is unknown, as is also the occasion on which it was composed. It is not known, either, why this psalm was placed among those which are called "Songs of Degrees." The scope and design of it, however, cannot be misunderstood. It is intended to show the advantage of religion on the affairs of this life, and especially on the domestic relations; in a numerous family, in the character of children, and in being permitted to see numerous descendants. In connection with this, the possessor of true religion would be permitted to see the prosperity of Zion - the good of Jerusalem, and peace upon Israel. Of course this is to be regarded as a general statement, or as indicating what will commonly be true as the restilt of religion. See Psalm 37:9, note; Psalm 37:33, note; Psalm 112:2-3, note. Thus industry, temperance, prudence, tend to promote health and long life, so that health and a long life are the general result; but it would be unfair to regard one who should assert this as meaning to say that it is universally true, or that people who are industrious, temperate, and prudent, are never sick, and never die.
The psalm states, in general Psalm 128:1, the blessedness of those who fear the Lord. This blessedness is seen
(1) in their success in life, Psalm 128:2;
(2) in a numerous and happy family, Psalm 128:3;
(3) in being permitted to see children's children, Psalm 128:6;
(4) in being permitted to see the prosperity of religion - the "good of Jerusalem," and "peace upon Israel," Psalm 128:5-6.
1
Psalm 128:1
凡敬畏耶和华的，这人便为有福——即尊荣神的人，真正敬虔的人。参见 Psalm 1:1 和 Psalm 112:1 的注释。这福分究竟为何，以下各节有所说明。
遵行他道的人——即神所命令或指示的道路。关于"遵行"一词，参见 Psalm 1:1 的注释。
英文原文
Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord - That honors God; that is truly pious. See the notes at Psalm 1:1; Psalm 112:1. What that blessedness is, is indicated in the following verses.
That walketh in his ways - The ways which God commands or directs. On the word "walketh," see the notes at Psalm 1:1.
2
Psalm 128:2
你要吃劳碌得来的——你必享受你劳碌的收益；你的权利必得保全。参见 Isaiah 3:10 的注释。这是论到宗教所带来兴盛的一般应许。若所有人都真正虔诚，就人的层面而言，这事就会普遍实现。财产就必得保全；而且，除非丰厚的收成因神直接的护理——因枯萎病、霉烂、风暴与干旱——而受阻，所有人都必不受搅扰地享受他们劳碌的收益。奴役——即一人被迫为另一人劳苦——必将终止；如今为奴的每一个人都必“吃自己劳碌得来的”；财产也不再被战争卷走，或成为强盗与劫掠者的掠物。宗教若普遍盛行，就必在我们权利的事上带来普遍的安全。
你要享福，事情顺利——字面作“你有福，与你顺利”。就是说，幸福与安全乃是真宗教的后果。
英文原文
For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands - Thou shalt enjoy the avails of thy labor; thou shalt be secure in thy rights. See the notes at Isaiah 3:10. This is a general promise respecting the prosperity which religion affords. If all people were truly religious, this would be universal, so far as man is concerned. Property would be secure; and, except so far as abundant harvests might be prevented by the direct providence of God - by blight, and mildew, and storms, and drought - all people would enjoy undisturbed the avails of their labor. Slavery, whereby one man is compelled to labor for another, would come to an end; every one who is now a slave would "eat the labor of his own hands;" and property would no more be swept away by war, or become the prey of robbers and freebooters. Religion, if it prevailed universally, would produce universal security in our rights.
Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee - literally, "Happy thou, and well with thee." That is, happiness and security would be the consequence of true religion.
3
Psalm 128:3
“你妻子在你的内室，好像多结果子的葡萄树”——在东方，正如别处一样，沿房屋的侧墙培植葡萄树并不罕见——部分为节省地面，部分因为那是结果实的好朝向，部分作为装饰，也部分为防盗贼。这样一棵葡萄树，以它的美丽和其上累累的果穗，成了多子之家母亲的美好象征。东方人最渴慕、最看重的福分之一，就是后裔繁多；在亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的事上，这也是神应许给他们的主要福气之一——后裔数目多如海边的沙、天上的星。参 Genesis 15:5；Genesis 22:17；Genesis 32:12。这两样——享受自己劳碌所得的权利（Psalm 128:2），和众多的家人——是首先被指明为构成敬虔之家幸福的福气。
“你儿女围绕你的桌子，好像橄榄栽子”——参 Psalm 52:8 的注释。美丽，多结果实，并长出幼树，在老树衰残死去时接替其位。下面这段摘录及其前面的插图引自《圣地与圣书》（第一卷第76、77页），可为本段提供一个很好的说明：“大卫在第一百二十八篇里说，‘你儿女围绕你的桌子，好像橄榄栽子’，他究竟是指什么特别的情景呢？请随我进入树林，我要让你看那可能引出这比喻的景象。我们在这里恰好遇上一个美丽的例证。正如你所看见的，这棵衰老的树周围环绕着几株年轻茁壮的新枝，它们都发自这棵年高可敬的母树的根。它们似乎在扶持、保护、拥抱着老树。我们甚至可以想象，它们如今正结出那否则要由衰弱的母树承担的果实。良善而挚爱的儿女围绕义人的桌子聚集，正是如此。每一个人都为全体的富足与福祉贡献一份——这是一幅美丽的景象，愿神以它使我的每一位朋友的眼目得着舒畅。”
英文原文
Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house - It is not uncommon in the East, as elsewhere, to train a vine along the sides of a house - partly to save ground; partly because it is a good exposure for fruit; partly as an ornament; and partly to protect it from thieves. Such a vine, in its beauty, and in the abundant clusters upon it, becomes a beautiful emblem of the mother of a numerous household. One of the blessings most desired and most valued in the East was a numerous posterity, and this, in the case of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was among the chief blessings which God promised to them - a posterity that should resemble in number the sands of the sea or the stars of heaven. Compare Genesis 15:5; Genesis 22:17; Genesis 32:12. These two things - the right to the avails of one's labor Psalm 128:2, and a numerous family - are the blessings which are first specified as constituting the happiness of a pious household.
Thy children like olive plants round about thy table - Compare the notes at Psalm 52:8. Beautiful; producing abundance; sending up young plants to take the place of the old when they decay and die. The following extract and preceding cut from "The land and Book," vol. i., pp. 76, 77, will furnish a good illustration of this passage: "To what particular circumstance does David refer in the 128th Psalm, where he says, Thy children shall be like oliveplants round about thy table? Follow me into the grove, and I will show you what may have suggested the comparison. Here we have lilt upon a beautiful illustration. This aged and decayed tree is surrounded, as you see, by several young and thrifty shoots, which spring from the root of the venerable parent. They seem to uphold, protect, and embrace it. We may even fancy that they now bear that lead of fruit which would otherwise be demanded of the feeble parent. Thus do good and affectionate children gather round the table of the righteous. Each contributes something to the common wealth and welfare of the whole - a beautiful sight, with which may God refresh the eyes of every friend of mine."
4
Psalm 128:4
看哪，人必要这样蒙福……——仿佛他在说："请看这幅图画。看那农夫耕种他的田地；看他在收割谷物；看他在自己的桌前，平静、安稳而感恩地享受自己劳碌的果实。看那幸福家庭的图画——人数众多、欢欣喜乐、为人所爱——预示着未来年日中家族之名的延续——并看见这一切都是出于耶和华——这样，你就得着一幅敬虔生活所随之而来的福乐的图解。"
英文原文
Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed ... - As if he had said, "Look upon this picture. See the farmer cultivating his fields; see him gathering in the grain; see him at his own table calmly, quietly, and gratefully enjoying the fruit of his toil. Look upon that picture of a happy family - numerous, cheerful, beloved - giving promise of upholding the name of the family in future years - and see all this as coming from the Lord - and you have an illustration of the blessedness which follows a religious life."
5
Psalm 128:5
愿耶和华从锡安赐福给你——他不仅要在田间、在屋里赐福给你，还要加上那些似乎更直接出于锡安、或似乎与宗教更直接相连的福分：要以信仰上的感化赐福给你的家；要允许你看见教会的成长与灵魂的归正，以此赐福给你。
愿你看见耶路撒冷的好处——即耶路撒冷的繁荣、幸福：也就是教会的好处；纯正宗教的进展。希伯来文也可译作命令式的“你要看耶路撒冷的好处”；若这样译，它就是在这些境况中关注耶路撒冷的福利、即教会的兴盛的命令；但这话也可容许另一种译法，而且按上下文似乎要求如此。这样理解，它就是一个应许：这里所指的人将蒙允许，看见宗教在世上持续兴盛的景象。
一生一世——直到生命的终点。对一个敬虔人来说，再没有比这更大的福可以应许给他：他将看见宗教总是兴盛；他对世界的最后一瞥，将是宗教的迅速进展；他将在宗教的复兴中离世。
英文原文
The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion - Will not merely bless thee in the field and in the house, but will add blessings that seem to come more directly out of Zion, or that seem to be more directly connected with religion: shall bless thee with religious influences in thine own family; shall bless thee by permitting thee to see the growth of the church and the conversion of souls.
And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem - The prosperity, the happiness of Jerusalem: that is, the good of the church; the advancement of pure religion. The Hebrew might be rendered, "And look thou upon the good of Jerusalem" - in the imperative; and, thus rendered, it would be a command to regard, in these circumstances, the welfare of Jerusalem, or the prosperity of the church; but the language will also admit of the other construction, and the connection seems to require it. Thus understood, it is a promise that he who is referred to would be permitted to enjoy a view of the continual prosperity of religion in the world.
All the days of thy life - To the very close of life. No higher blessing could be promised to a pious man than that he should see religion always prospering; that the last view which he would have of the world should be the rapid advances of religion; that he should die in a revival of religion.
6
Psalm 128:6
愿你看见你儿女的儿女——这是接着上文，继续以众多后裔为福气的观念——这是希伯来人极看重的事（见 Psalm 128:3 的注释），并且有其根植于我们本性中的基础。
愿平安归于以色列——见 Psalm 125:5。这是加冕之福；是高于世俗事业成就、高于看见众多而幸福之后裔的福。在敬虔人的心中，对神的爱是至高的情感；愿他的事业兴旺得胜，是他至高的愿望。人惟有在宗教中，才真实而完全地蒙福。
英文原文
Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children - This is a continuation of the idea of blessedness as connected with a numerous posterity - an object of so much interest to the Hebrews (see the notes at Psalm 128:3), and having its foundation in our nature.
And peace upon Israel - See Psalm 125:5. As the crowning blessing; a blessing above that of success in worldly affairs; above that of seeing a numerous and happy posterity. The love of God is the supreme affection in the mind of a pious man; the desire that his cause may prosper and triumph is to him a supreme desire. Man is truly and completely blessed only in religion.
本诗的作者不详，写作的场合也不详。同样不知道的是，本诗为何被列在称为"上行之诗"的那些诗篇之中。然而，它的范围与主旨不可能被误解。它旨在显明宗教在今生事务上的益处，尤其是在家庭关系上——在儿女众多、儿女的品格，以及获准看见众多后裔之事上。与此相连，真宗教的持有者还将获准看见锡安的兴隆——耶路撒冷的福祉，和平安归于以色列。当然，这应被视为一个概括性的陈述，或表明宗教通常会带来的结果。参见 Psalm 37:9 的注释；Psalm 37:33 的注释；Psalm 112:2-3 的注释。正如勤劳、节制、审慎能促进健康与长寿，以致健康长寿是一般性的结果；但若有人如此断言，就说他意指这普遍为真、或说勤劳、节制、审慎的人从不生病、从不死亡，那是不公平的。
本诗概括地陈述了敬畏耶和华之人的福（Psalm 128:1）。这福见于：
（1）他们在人生事务上的顺遂，Psalm 128:2；
（2）众多而幸福的家庭，Psalm 128:3；
（3）获准看见儿女的儿女，Psalm 128:6；
（4）获准看见宗教的兴隆——"耶路撒冷的福祉"和"平安归于以色列"，Psalm 128:5-6。