1
Lu 2:1-7.
简体中文
英文原文
Lu 2:1-7.
BIRTH OF CHRIST.
1. Cæsar Augustus--the first of the Roman emperors.
all the world--so the vast Roman Empire was termed.
taxed--enrolled, or register themselves.
2
无标题
简体中文
2. 居里扭作等等——这是一节非常令人困惑的经文，因为居里扭（即奎里努斯）看来是在基督降生后约十年才担任叙利亚总督的，而他所主持的"报名上册"正是引起徒 5:37 所提及之叛乱的那次。然而，亚古士督治下整个罗马帝国确实进行过一次报名上册，如今已为人所公认；连有怀疑倾向的公正批评家也乐意承认我们的福音书作者之记述不大可能有真正的失实。许多优秀学者愿将这话译为："这次登记是在居里扭作叙利亚总督之前"——"先"字如约 1:15; 15:18 中的译法。在此情形下，困难自然就消失了。但与其他学者一起假设，也许更好：在我们主降生之时，为征税之用而已经下令登记，但征税本身——这在巴勒斯坦是令人厌恶的措施——直到奎里努斯之时才付诸实施。
英文原文
2. first . . . when Cyrenius, &c.--a very perplexing verse, inasmuch as Cyrenius, or Quirinus, appears not to have been governor of Syria for about ten years after the birth of Christ, and the "taxing" under his administration was what led to the insurrection mentioned in
Ac 5:37.
That there was a taxing, however, of the whole Roman Empire under Augustus, is now admitted by all; and candid critics, even of skeptical tendency, are ready to allow that there is not likely to be any real inaccuracy in the statement of our Evangelist. Many superior scholars would render the words thus, "This registration was previous to Cyrenius being governor of Syria"--as the word "first" is rendered in
Joh 1:15; 15:18.
In this case, of course, the difficulty vanishes. But it is perhaps better to suppose, with others, that the registration may have been ordered with a view to the taxation, about the time of our Lord's birth, though the taxing itself--an obnoxious measure in Palestine--was not carried out till the time of Quirinus.
3
无标题
简体中文
3. 各归各城——按犹太惯例归到他籍贯之城，而非他居住之城；后者才是通常的罗马方式。
英文原文
3. went . . . to his own city--the city of his extraction, according to the Jewish custom, not of his abode, which was the usual Roman method.
4
无标题
简体中文
4, 5. 不仅属王家血统的约瑟前往伯利恒（撒上 16:1），马利亚也去了——按她的情形绝非出于自愿，大概是为了亲自登记，因为她自己是女继承人。
英文原文
4, 5. Not only does Joseph, who was of the royal line, go to Bethlehem
(1Sa 16:1),
but Mary too--not from choice surely in her condition, but, probably, for personal enrollment, as herself an heiress.
5
无标题
简体中文
5. 所聘之妻——如今毫无疑问已如太 1:18; 25:6 所记，被他迎娶回家了。
英文原文
5. espoused wife--now, without doubt, taken home to him, as related in
Mt 1:18; 25:6.
6
无标题
简体中文
6. 他们在那里的时候，日子满足了，孩子就出生了——直到此时，马利亚一直住在与弥赛亚降生之地不符的地方。在拿撒勒再多留片刻，预言就要落空。然而看哪！她本人绝无意——更不用说该撒亚古士督——要应验预言，却被从拿撒勒带到伯利恒，就在那关键时刻她的产期到了，她的婴孩出生了（诗 118:23）。“一切受造之物都蒙着眼行走；惟独住在光中的那位才知道他们往何处去”[霍尔主教]。
英文原文
6. while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered--Mary had up to this time been living at the wrong place for Messiah's birth. A little longer stay at Nazareth, and the prophecy would have failed. But lo! with no intention certainly on her part, much less of Cæsar Augustus, to fulfil the prophecy, she is brought from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and at that nick of time her period arrives, and her Babe is born
(Ps 118:23).
"Every creature walks blindfold; only He that dwells in light knows whether they go" [BISHOP HALL].
7
无标题
简体中文
7. 头胎的儿子——太 1:25 也是如此；然而律法论到头生子时，并不看后面是否有人出生，只看前面是否无人出生[莱特富特]。
包裹他……放下他——是母亲亲自作的。那么她竟没有一个人帮忙吗？看来如此（林后 8:9）。
马槽——指拴马头、可以在其上放置饲料的马槽，即食槽[韦伯斯特与威尔金森]。
客店里没有地方——一座里面敞开的方形建筑，供旅客住宿，后部用作马厩。古代传统说我们的主降生于石窟或洞穴中，与此完全相合，因为那地多岩石。按马利亚的情形，旅程必定缓慢，他们未到之前，客店早已满员——这正是他此后所要遭受之接待的动人预表（约 1:11）。
强褓之中他被包裹， 马槽之中他被放下， 万邦的盼望与荣耀， 已降临救助这世界。 他的摇篮之上没有安宁之家微笑， 王的孩子安睡之处，宾客粗鲁地来去。
——基布尔
然而有些“宾客来去”并非“粗鲁地”，而是恭敬地。神差遣自己的人来向这位新生之王致敬。
英文原文
7. first-born--So
Mt 1:25;
yet the law, in speaking of the first-born, regardeth not whether any were born after or no, but only that none were born before [LIGHTFOOT].
wrapt him . . . laid him--The mother herself did so. Had she then none to help her? It would seem so
(2Co 8:9).
a manger--the manger, the bench to which the horses' heads were tied, on which their food could rest [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].
no room in the inn--a square erection, open inside, where travellers put up, and whose rear parts were used as stables. The ancient tradition, that our Lord was born in a grotto or cave, is quite consistent with this, the country being rocky. In Mary's condition the journey would be a slow one, and ere they arrived, the inn would be fully occupied--affecting anticipation of the reception He was throughout to meet with
(Joh 1:11).
Wrapt in His swaddling--bands,
And in His manger laid,
The hope and glory of all lands
Is come to the world's aid.
No peaceful home upon His cradle smiled,
Guests rudely went and came where slept the royal Child.
KEBLE
But some "guests went and came" not "rudely," but reverently. God sent visitors of His own to pay court to the new-born King.
8
Lu 2:8-20.
简体中文
路 2:8-20.
天使向牧羊人宣告，以及他们对新生婴孩的探访.
8. 在野地里——在那里住宿，大概在棚子或帐幕里。
夜间……看守——或作夜班，按更次轮流看守。从约四月的逾越节时分直至秋季，羊群常在旷野草场放牧，牧羊人整段时间都宿在那里。（由此看来，通常归给我们主降生的时节显然太晚。）这些牧羊人被拣选得以首先看见那蒙福的婴孩，是全不顾及他们自己的心境吗？至少那不是神的行事方式。“无疑他们像西面一样（路 2:25），是等候以色列的安慰者的人”[奥尔肖森]；若他们乡心思的纯朴、安静的职事、午夜时分的寂静，以及头顶深邃蔚蓝的穹苍——适合容纳要充满他们双耳的天上乐曲——把他们标明为那婴孩救主之首批喜讯的恰当领受者，那么，照我们所推测，他们用以排遣沉闷时光的相称的默想与交谈，便为他们那意想不到的访客作成了完备的预备。拿但业也是这样，在无花果树下独自一人却未被忽略，在不知不觉中为与耶稣初次相遇而作好了预备。（参约 1:48 的注释。）
那位在孤独的磐石上“在主日被圣灵感动”的出神先见者也是如此，他几乎没想到这正是他为要听见身后人子如号筒之声音所作的预备（启 1:10 以下）。但是，虽然他近处的牧羊人最先看见，从远方来的智者则其次看见这位新生之王。直至今日仍是如此：先是单纯，后是学问，找到通向基督的路——
在安宁中，在幽荫里， 牧人与智者都能寻见他， 那未经学习便向自然之治俯首的人， 和那沿着真理星辰所铺之路追随的人， 都能寻见他。
——基布尔
英文原文
Lu 2:8-20.
ANGELIC ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS--THEIR VISIT TO THE NEWBORN BABE.
8. abiding in the fields--staying there, probably in huts or tents.
watch . . . by night--or, night watches, taking their turn of watching. From about passover time in April until autumn, the flocks pastured constantly in the open fields, the shepherds lodging there all that time. (From this it seems plain that the period of the year usually assigned to our Lord's birth is too late). Were these shepherds chosen to have the first sight of the blessed Babe without any respect of their own state of mind? That, at least, is not God's way. "No doubt, like Simeon
(Lu 2:25),
they were among the waiters for the Consolation of Israel" [OLSHAUSEN]; and, if the simplicity of their rustic minds, their quiet occupation, the stillness of the midnight hours, and the amplitude of the deep blue vault above them for the heavenly music which was to fill their ear, pointed them out as fit recipients for the first tidings of an Infant Saviour, the congenial meditations and conversations by which, we may suppose, they would beguile the tedious hours would perfect their preparation for the unexpected visit. Thus was Nathanael engaged, all alone but not unseen, under the fig tree, in unconscious preparation for his first interview with Jesus. (See on
Joh 1:48).
So was the rapt seer on his lonely rock "in the spirit on the Lord's Day," little thinking that this was his preparation for hearing behind him the trumpet voice of the Son of man
(Re 1:10,
&c.). But if the shepherds in His immediate neighborhood had the first, the sages from afar had the next sight of the new-born King. Even so still, simplicity first, science next, finds its way to Christ, whom
In quiet ever and in shade
Shepherds and Sage may find--
They, who have bowed untaught to Nature's sway,
And they, who follow Truth along her star-pav'd way.
KEBLE
9
无标题
简体中文
9. 主的荣耀——“被描述为环绕一切天上异象的光辉或荣耀”[奥尔肖森]。
甚惧怕——历来如此（但 10:7, 8; 路 1:12; 启 1:17）。当不可见的世界突然敞开在眼前时，人总觉不安。这从来不是要长久存留的；不过是为一时的目的而设。
英文原文
9. glory of the Lord--"the brightness or glory which is represented as encompassing all heavenly visions" [OLSHAUSEN].
sore afraid--So it ever was
(Da 10:7, 8; Lu 1:12; Re 1:17).
Men have never felt easy with the invisible world laid suddenly open to their gaze. It was never meant to be permanent; a momentary purpose was all it was intended to serve.
10
无标题
简体中文
10. 关乎万民的——“关系到整个民”，即以色列民；以后要由他们向全世界开启。（参路 2:14 的注释。）
英文原文
10. to all people--"to the whole people," that is, of Israel; to be by them afterwards opened up to the whole world. (See on
Lu 2:14).
11
无标题
简体中文
11. 为你们生了——为你们这些牧羊人，为以色列，为人类[本格尔]。比较赛 9:6“因有一婴孩为我们而生”。这是一次降生——“道成了肉身”（约 1:14）。
何时？“今天。”何地？“在大卫的城里”——在正确的世系和正确的“地点”；预言吩咐我们在那里寻找他，信心也就相应地在那里期待他。我们信心的这些历史锚地对我们何等宝贵！一旦失去它们，一切实质的基督教便都丧失。藉着它们，有多少人未曾“见过他的荣光”之先，便得以免于破坏，并达到对他某种外在的钦佩。
救主——不是将作救主的那位，而是“生为救主”的那位。
基督主——“宏伟的称号！”[本格尔]。“这些字眼在此处惟一并列；我看除了将这里的”主“理解为对等于希伯来文耶和华之外，别无他解”[阿尔福德]。
英文原文
11. unto you is born--you shepherds, Israel, mankind [BENGEL]. Compare
Isa 9:6,
"Unto us a Child is born." It is a birth--"The Word is made flesh"
(Joh 1:14).
When? "This day." Where? "In the city of David"--in the right line and at the right "spot"; where prophecy bade us look for Him, and faith accordingly expected Him. How dear to us should be these historic moorings of our faith! With the loss of them, all substantial Christianity is lost. By means of them how many have been kept from making shipwreck, and attained to a certain external admiration of Him, ere yet they have fully "beheld His glory."
a Saviour--not One who shall be a Saviour, but "born a Saviour."
Christ the Lord--"magnificent appellation!" [BENGEL]. "This is the only place where these words come together; and I see no way of understanding this "Lord" but as corresponding to the Hebrew JEHOVAH" [ALFORD].
12
无标题
简体中文
12. 记号——“那个记号”。
婴孩——“一个婴孩”。
马槽——即“那个马槽”。看来这记号全然由刚才论他的话语与他们在其中要发现他的卑微光景之间那压倒性的对照所构成——他的根源从亘古、从太初就有，“你们要看见一个婴孩”；天上的天也不能容纳的他，竟“被强褓包裹”；“救主基督主”竟卧在马槽里！他所拣选的风格——这些令人惊异的对照——如此早便被昭示。（见林后 8:9。）
英文原文
12. a sign--"the sign."
the babe--"a Babe."
a manger--"the manger." The sign was to consist, it seems, solely in the overpowering contrast between the things just said of Him and the lowly condition in which they would find Him--Him whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting, "ye shall find a Babe"; whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, "wrapt in swaddling bands"; the "Saviour, Christ the Lord," lying in a manger! Thus early were these amazing contrasts, which are His chosen style, held forth. (See
2Co 8:9.)
13
无标题
简体中文
13. 忽然——仿佛只等到他们的同伴说完。
同那天使——那天使并未退去，而是被前来印证并庆贺他所报之信息的别的天使加入。
天兵——或作“军队”，一支庆贺和平的军队！[本格尔]“把他们崇高岗位的职务转移到这可怜的大地——这地如此少有神纯洁的赞美回响”[奥尔肖森]；为要叫人知道这事在天上被如何看待，在地上又当如何对待。
英文原文
13. suddenly--as if only waiting till their fellow had done.
with the angel--who retires not, but is joined by others, come to seal and to celebrate the tidings he has brought.
heavenly host--or "army," an army celebrating peace! [BENGEL] "transferring the occupation of their exalted station to this poor earth, which so seldom resounds with the pure praise of God" [OLSHAUSEN]; to let it be known how this event is regarded in heaven and should be regarded on earth.
14
无标题
简体中文
14. 荣耀等等——简短却令人魂驰神往的颂歌——不仅以清晰的人间言语为我们而发，且以可歌唱的节拍，呈希伯来式平行体：两个完整的子句，第三个子句只是把第二个加以扩充，因此没有连接词“和”。“救主”所要带来的“荣耀归与神”，是这崇高颂歌的第一个音；与之相应，第二子句便是他为其“君王”（赛 9:6）的“地上平安”——大概由天上的诗班以应唱方式唱出；紧随这音的快乐回声，大概由天使歌咏队的第三组唱出——“喜悦归与人”。“他们不是说，荣耀归给在天上的神——天使所在之处——而是用一罕见的说法，”在至高之处“——天使所不敢企及之处”（来 1:3, 4）[本格尔]。“与神相和”是堕落世界最迫切的需要。为带来这平安，以及一切随之而来的平安，正是救主到这世上来的首要使命；与此相伴，天庭对人的全部“美意”——在新根基上的属神悦纳——便降临住在人身上，正如住在那神所“喜悦”的儿子身上一样（太 3:17，与此处同字）。
英文原文
14. Glory, &c.--brief but transporting hymn--not only in articulate human speech, for our benefit, but in tunable measure, in the form of a Hebrew parallelism of two complete clauses, and a third one only amplifying the second, and so without a connecting "and." The "glory to God," which the new-born "Saviour" was to bring, is the first note of this sublime hymn: to this answers, in the second clause, the "peace on earth," of which He was to be "the Prince"
(Isa 9:6)
--probably sung responsively by the celestial choir; while quickly follows the glad echo of this note, probably by a third detachment of the angelic choristers--"good will to men." "They say not, glory to God in heaven, where angels are, but, using a rare expression, "in the highest [heavens]," whither angels aspire not,"
(Heb 1:3, 4)
[BENGEL]. "Peace" with God is the grand necessity of a fallen world. To bring in this, and all other peace in its train, was the prime errand of the Saviour to this earth, and, along with it, Heaven's whole "good will to men"--the divine complacency on a new footing--descends to rest upon men, as upon the Son Himself, in whom God is "well-pleased."
(Mt 3:17,
the same word as here.)
15
无标题
简体中文
15. 我们去看看——何等可爱的敬虔与信心的纯朴！他们没有沉醉于天使、环绕他们的荣耀，以及他们响彻空中的高超旋律。他们也没有说：让我们去看看这事是否真实——他们毫无疑虑。而是说：“让我们去看看主所指示我们的这已成的事。”这岂不印证了路 2:8 处对这些谦卑人之心地的见解？
英文原文
15. Let us go, &c.--lovely simplicity of devoutness and faith this! They are not taken up with the angels, the glory that invested them, and the lofty strains with which they filled the air. Nor do they say, Let us go and see if this be true--they have no misgivings. But "Let us go and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us." Does not this confirm the view given on
Lu 2:8
of the spirit of these humble men?
16
无标题
简体中文
16.急忙——比较路 1:39; 太 28:8（“跑去”）；约 4:28（“留下水罐子”，正如他们在神魂颠倒中留下羊群）。
寻见马利亚等等——“在夜的朦胧中受圣灵奥秘地引导到正确之地”[奥尔肖森]。
马槽——即如前的“那”马槽。
英文原文
16. with haste--Compare
Lu 1:39; Mt 28:8
("did run");
Joh 4:28
("left her water-pot," as they do their flocks, in a transport).
found Mary, &c.--"mysteriously guided by the Spirit to the right place through the obscurity of the night" [OLSHAUSEN].
a manger--"the manger," as before.
17
无标题
简体中文
17. 传开了——在他们回去之前便已传开（路 2:20），因此他们是最早的传福音者[本格尔]。
英文原文
17. made known abroad--before their return
(Lu 2:20),
and thus were the first evangelists [BENGEL].
20
无标题
简体中文
20. 赞美神等——后一个字曾用于天使的歌唱
(Lu 2:13),
也见于
Lu 19:37
和 Lu 24:53,
这使我们可以推想，他们的赞美也是一首歌，也许是诗篇中的某一首——正适合承载他们单纯的心灵因“所听见、所看见”之事而洋溢的情感。
英文原文
20. glorifying and praising God, &c.--The latter word, used of the song of the angels
(Lu 2:13),
and in
Lu 19:37, and Lu 24:53,
leads us to suppose that theirs was a song too, probably some canticle from the Psalter--meet vehicle for the swelling emotions of their simple hearts at what "they had heard and seen."
21
Lu 2:21.
简体中文
Lu 2:21.
基督的割礼。
此事仅在此处记载，甚至在此处也仅为着那圣婴当时所得的名字“耶稣”，即“救主”
(Mt 1:21;
Ac 13:23)
而简略提及。
然而，在为他行割礼这象征性、流血地除掉罪身的行为中，给他起名为“救主”，便暗含一个意思：他们反倒“需要”——正如约翰论到他的受洗时所说——被他“用不是人手所行的割礼，即基督的割礼，脱去肉体的罪身”
(Col 2:11),
而他之所以“这样许可”，只是因为“这样尽诸般的义是合宜的”
(Mt 3:15)。
然而基督的割礼对他自己的工作有极深的意义——少有人能正确领会。因为“受割礼的人，就是欠全律法之债的”
(Ga 5:3),
所以耶稣在自己的肉体上，带有履行全律法的自愿义务的印记——自从堕落以来，能在肉身中行出此事的，只有他一人。又因为他“生在律法之下”，并非为自己的目的，而是“*要赎出律法以下的人，*叫我们得着儿子的名分”
(Ga 4:4, 5),
所以他的割礼所承诺的顺服，乃是救赎的顺服——是“救主”的顺服。最后，因基督“为我们受了咒诅”，把我们“从律法的咒诅中赎出来”
(Ga 3:13),
所以我们在他的割礼之中，当看他已经被置于一个明显的誓约之下，要“顺服至死，且死在十字架上”
(Php 2:8)。
英文原文
Lu 2:21.
CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST.
Here only recorded, and even here merely alluded to, for the sake of the name then given to the holy Babe, "JESUS," or SAVIOUR
(Mt 1:21; Ac 13:23).
Yet in this naming of Him "Saviour," in the act of circumcising Him, which was a symbolical and bloody removal of the body of sin, we have a tacit intimation that they "had need"--as John said of His Baptism--rather to be circumcised by Him "with the circumcision made without hands, in the putting off of the body [of the sins] of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ"
(Col 2:11),
and that He only "suffered it to be so, because thus it became Him to fulfil all righteousness"
(Mt 3:15).
Still the circumcision of Christ had a profound bearing on His own work--by few rightly apprehended. For since "he that is circumcised is a debtor to do the whole law"
(Ga 5:3),
Jesus thus bore about with Him in His very flesh the seal of a voluntary obligation to do the whole law--by Him only possible in the flesh since the fall. And as He was "made under the law" for no ends of His own, but only "to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons"
(Ga 4:4, 5),
the obedience to which His circumcision pledged Him was a redeeming obedience--that of a "Saviour." And, finally, as "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law" by "being made a curse for us"
(Ga 3:13),
we must regard Him, in His circumcision, as brought under a palpable pledge to be "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross"
(Php 2:8).
22
Lu 2:22-40.
简体中文
Lu 2:22-40.
处女的洁净礼——婴儿在圣殿献与主——在那里与西面、亚拿相遇的情景。
22, 24. 满了洁净的日子——虽然最多、最好的抄本作“他们的”，但需要从生产的律法不洁中得洁净的，只是母亲。男孩出生的洁净之“日数”共计四十日
(Le 12:2, 4),
期满之后，母亲要献一只羊羔作燔祭，一只斑鸠或雏鸽作赎罪祭。她若无力献羊羔，就要再带一只斑鸠或雏鸽；倘若连这也超乎她的力量，就要带一份细面，却没有惯常的油与乳香 accompanying，因为它代表赎罪祭
(Le 12:6-8; 5:7-11)。
从“一对斑鸠或两只雏鸽”这一居间的祭物看来，约瑟和这位童贞女家境贫寒
(2Co 8:9),
但并非赤贫。既是头胎的男孩，他们“带他到耶路撒冷，献与主”。所有头胎的都因在埃及藉着洒血使以色列头生的免于灭亡，而被“归于主为圣”，即分别为圣事奉神
(Ex 13:2)。
然而后来却用一个整支派——利未支派——代替他们，被分别出来专任圣职
(Nu 3:11-38);
初次核算时，利未人比以色列一切头胎的少了二百七十三人，于是每个头胎的都要交五舍客勒银子来赎，却不可没有先“献（带）到主面前”，以表明神对他们和他们的服事有合法的权利
(Nu 3:44-47; 18:15, 16)。
童贞女正是顺服这条“摩西的律法”，将她的婴孩献给主，“在称为尼迦诺尔门的院子的东门那里，在那里她自己也要被祭司用她祭牲的血所洒”[莱特富特]。到了时候，我们要被这婴孩所赎，“不是凭着能坏的银、金等物，乃是凭着基督的宝血”
(1Pe 1:18, 19);
母亲燔祭的焚烧与她被赎罪祭之血所洒，也要在那“用洁净我们一切罪的血”洒过、从“邪恶良心中得着洒净”的心之丰满里，在基督徒母亲自己所献的“活祭”之中，得着长存的应验。
英文原文
Lu 2:22-40.
PURIFICATION OF THE VIRGIN--PRESENTATION OF THE BABE IN THE TEMPLE-SCENE THERE WITH SIMEON AND ANNA.
22, 24. her purification--Though the most and best copies read "their," it was the mother only who needed purifying from the legal uncleanness of childbearing. "The days" of this purification for a male child were forty in all
(Le 12:2, 4),
on the expiry of which the mother was required to offer a lamb for a burnt offering, and a turtle dove or a young pigeon for a sin offering. If she could not afford a lamb, the mother had to bring another turtle dove or young pigeon; and, if even this was beyond her means, then a portion of fine flour, but without the usual fragrant accompaniments of oil and frankincense, as it represented a sin offering
(Le 12:6-8; 5:7-11).
From the intermediate offering of "a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons," we gather that Joseph and the Virgin were in poor circumstances
(2Co 8:9),
though not in abject poverty. Being a first-born male, they "bring him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord." All such had been claimed as "holy to the Lord," or set apart to sacred uses, in memory of the deliverance of the first-born of Israel from destruction in Egypt, through the sprinkling of blood
(Ex 13:2).
In lieu of these, however, one whole tribe, that of Levi, was accepted, and set apart to occupations exclusively sacred
(Nu 3:11-38);
and whereas there were two hundred seventy-three fewer Levites than first-born of all Israel on the first reckoning, each of these first-born was to be redeemed by the payment of five shekels, yet not without being "presented (or brought) unto the Lord," in token of His rightful claim to them and their service
(Nu 3:44-47; 18:15, 16).
It was in obedience to this "law of Moses," that the Virgin presented her babe unto the Lord, "in the east gate of the court called Nicanor's Gate, where she herself would be sprinkled by the priest with the blood of her sacrifice" [LIGHTFOOT]. By that Babe, in due time, we were to be redeemed, "not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ"
(1Pe 1:18, 19),
and the consuming of the mother's burnt offering, and the sprinkling of her with the blood of her sin offering, were to find their abiding realization in the "living sacrifice" of the Christian mother herself, in the fulness of a "heart sprinkled from an evil conscience," by "the blood which cleanseth from all sin."
25
无标题
简体中文
25. 公义——品格正直。
虔诚——具有宗教情操。
素常盼望以色列的安慰者——这是将要来的弥赛亚一个美好的称号，此处正指他。
圣灵——以超自然的方式。
在他身上——这样，圣灵在荒凉地缺席近四百年之后，又回到教会，复兴期待，并为将要来的事作预备。
英文原文
25. just--upright in his moral character.
devout--of a religious frame of spirit.
waiting for the consolation of Israel--a beautiful title of the coming Messiah, here intended.
the Holy Ghost was--supernaturally.
upon him--Thus was the Spirit, after a dreary absence of nearly four hundred years, returning to the Church, to quicken expectation, and prepare for coming events.
26
无标题
简体中文
26. 圣灵的启示——无疑暗示了圣灵的位格。
未看见以前，不会见死——“何等美的反衬！”[本格尔]。一次的看见，将为另一次的幽暗镀上何等金光！他此时大概已届晚年。
英文原文
26. revealed by the Holy Ghost--implying, beyond all doubt, the personality of the Spirit.
should see not death till he had seen--"sweet antithesis!" [BENGEL]. How would the one sight gild the gloom of the other! He was, probably, by this time, advanced in years.
27
无标题
简体中文
27, 28. 圣灵恰在童贞女要将婴孩献给主的那一刻，引导他进入了圣殿。
英文原文
27, 28. The Spirit guided him to the temple at the very moment when the Virgin was about to present Him to the Lord.
28
无标题
简体中文
28. 抱起他来——无须马利亚告诉其所经历之事，便毫不犹豫地、确凿无疑地认出这孩子就是所应许的弥赛亚[奥尔肖森]。他抱起婴孩的这奇特举动，不应被忽略。仿佛他在说：“这是我的全部救恩，是我一切所愿”
(2Sa 23:5)。
英文原文
28. took him up in his arms--immediately recognizing in the child, with unhesitating certainty, the promised Messiah, without needing Mary to inform him of what had happened to her. [OLSHAUSEN]. The remarkable act of taking the babe in his arms must not be overlooked. It was as if he said, "This is all my salvation and all my desire"
(2Sa 23:5).
29
无标题
简体中文
29. 主啊——“主人”，这字在新约中很少用，此处用得特别贴切：这位年老的圣徒觉得他想要继续存活的最后目的既已达到，只等他主人“离去”的吩咐。
如今可以等——更明说作“如今你正释放你的仆人”；这是一种忍耐而恭敬的表达想要离去的方式。
英文原文
29. Lord--"Master," a word rarely used in the New Testament, and selected here with peculiar propriety, when the aged saint, feeling that his last object in wishing to live had now been attained, only awaited his Master's word of command to "depart."
now lettest, &c.--more clearly, "now Thou art releasing Thy servant"; a patient yet reverential mode of expressing a desire to depart.
30
无标题
简体中文
30. 看见你的救恩——许多人见过这孩子，甚至见过长大成人的“人基督耶稣”，却从未在他里面看见“神的救恩”。对一个可见的对象——一个无知无觉、无助的婴孩——作这样的估量，乃是纯粹的信心。他“见过他的荣光”\n (Joh 1:14)。
从另一面看，这乃是先前的信心蒙现在的看见赏赐。
英文原文
30. seen thy salvation--Many saw this child, nay, the full-grown "man, Christ Jesus," who never saw in Him "God's Salvation." This estimate of an object of sight, an unconscious, helpless babe, was pure faith. He "beheld His glory"
(Joh 1:14).
In another view it was prior faith rewarded by present sight.
31
无标题
简体中文
31, 32. 万民——万族万民，泛指全人类。
照亮外邦人的光——他们当时仍在厚重的黑暗之中。
你民以色列的荣耀——已经是你的民；如今在那信他的一部分人中，要得着前所未有的更荣耀的显明。当注意这首“向今生永诀、如天鹅临终之歌”[奥尔肖森]，比撒迦利亚之歌更广阔地论及基督的国度；但他们所唱的国，原为一。
英文原文
31, 32. all people--all the peoples, mankind at large.
a light to the Gentiles--then in thick darkness.
glory of thy people Israel--already Thine, and now, in the believing portion of it, to be so more gloriously than ever. It will be observed that this "swan-like song, bidding an eternal farewell to this terrestrial life" [OLSHAUSEN], takes a more comprehensive view of the kingdom of Christ than that of Zacharias, though the kingdom they sing of is one.
34
无标题
简体中文
34, 35. 安置——被指定。
叫以色列中许多人跌倒、兴起，又作毁谤的话柄——前一句大概指两个阶段：在我们主肉身生活的日子，因不信而有“以色列中许多人”暂时的“跌倒”；以及五旬节圣灵降临之后，因整件事有了新的光照，这些人又再“兴起”；后一句则描写主耶稣顽梗的仇敌。对基督如此相反的看法，代代皆有。
英文原文
34, 35. set--appointed.
fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against--Perhaps the former of these phrases expresses the two stages of temporary "fall of many in Israel" through unbelief, during our Lord's earthly career, and the subsequent "rising again" of the same persons after the effusion of the Spirit at pentecost threw a new light to them on the whole subject; while the latter clause describes the determined enemies of the Lord Jesus. Such opposite views of Christ are taken from age to age.
35
无标题
简体中文
35. 又——“你虽在妇女中是有福的，却要深深有份于这婴孩所要引起的挣扎与苦难”——这不但指她的这孩子要继续受辱遭拒，她要在十字架上目睹他的痛苦，以及她此后凄凉的处境，也指她要经过关于他的信心与不信、盼望与恐惧之间可怕的反复。
叫……心意显露出来——人对基督的见解与抉择，乃是一面镜子，连他们“心里的意念”都映照出来。
英文原文
35. Yea, &c.--"Blessed as thou art among women, thou shalt have thine own deep share of the struggles and sufferings which this Babe is to occasion"--pointing not only to the continued obloquy and rejection of this Child of hers, those agonies of His which she was to witness at the cross, and her desolate condition thereafter, but to dreadful alternations of faith and unbelief, of hope and fear regarding Him, which she would have to pass through.
that the thoughts, &c.--Men's views and decisions regarding Christ are a mirror in which the very "thoughts of their hearts" are seen.
36
无标题
简体中文
36. 亚拿——即哈拿。
女先知——又一个证据，表明神要把他的灵“浇灌凡有血气之人”的“末世”近了。
亚设支派——十支派之一。他们之中许多人未被掳去，归回巴比伦之后也有不少人重新与犹大联合。各支派的区分虽在被掳中实际被毁，但直到他们最终分散之前仍为人所知
(Ro 11:1;
Heb 7:14);
即便如今也未全失。
活了等——她与丈夫同住七年
(Lu 2:36),
作寡妇八十四年；所以她若在最早可婚的十二岁出嫁，此时至少也有一百零三岁。
英文原文
36. Anna--or, Hannah.
a prophetess--another evidence that "the last times" in which God was to "pour out His Spirit upon all flesh" were at hand.
of the tribe of Aser--one of the ten tribes, of whom many were not carried captive, and not a few reunited themselves to Judah after the return from Babylon. The distinction of tribes, though practically destroyed by the captivity, was well enough known up to their final dispersion
(Ro 11:1; Heb 7:14);
nor is it now entirely lost.
lived, &c.--she had lived seven years with her husband
(Lu 2:36),
and been a widow eighty-four years; so that if she married at the earliest marriageable age, twelve years, she could not at this time be less than a hundred three years old.
37
无标题
简体中文
37. 不离开圣殿——一日之内一切规定的时辰都在殿中找着她，甚至在殿守卫的夜间值守之时
(Ps 134:1, 2),
“禁食祈求，昼夜事奉神”。（见
1Ti 5:5,
这话是受其启发。）
英文原文
37. departed not from the temple--was found there at all stated hours of the day, and even during the night services of the temple watchmen
(Ps 134:1, 2),
"serving God with fastings and prayer." (See
1Ti 5:5,
suggested by this.)
38
无标题
简体中文
38. 正当那时进前来——“前来显出自己的身分”。她本来就在那里，如今当西面对这蒙福婴孩的见证渐渐收尾时，她“站在旁边”，准备好“依次”接续——此处的“也”字正是此意。
- 一切*等——意思是：“对耶路撒冷一切等候救赎的人”——实际上就是：你们所盼望的，都包裹在这婴孩之中。若这正是祷告之时、众人聚集圣殿之时，这便能解释她为何能有这番话所暗示的听众[阿尔福德]。
英文原文
38. coming in--"presenting herself." She had been there already but now is found "standing by," as Simeon's testimony to the blessed Babe died away, ready to take it up "in turn" (as the word rendered "likewise" here means).
to all them, &c.--the sense is, "to all them in Jerusalem that were looking for redemption"--saying in effect, In that Babe are wrapt up all your expectations. If this was at the hour of prayer, when numbers flocked to the temple, it would account for her having such an audience as the words imply [ALFORD].
39
无标题
简体中文
39. 最难的一件事，便是把博士来访、逃亡埃及并从埃及归来
(Mt 2:13-23)
与这里所记的基督受割礼和献于圣殿，按确切次序排列。这事最好留在它原有的隐晦之中，视为两份独立记载（若我们全知，本可轻易调和）的结果。
英文原文
39. Nothing is more difficult than to fix the precise order in which the visit of the Magi, with the flight into and return from Egypt
(Mt 2:13-23),
are to be taken, in relation to the circumcision and presentation of Christ in the temple, here recorded. It is perhaps best to leave this in the obscurity in which we find it, as the result of two independent, though if we knew all, easily reconcilable narratives.
40
无标题
简体中文
40. 他的心智发展与身体发育并驾齐驱，“神的恩”——神的恩宠——明显且日益加增地停留在他身上。见
Lu 2:52。
英文原文
40. His mental development kept pace with His bodily, and "the grace of God," the divine favor, rested manifestly and increasingly upon Him. See
Lu 2:52.
41
Lu 2:41-52.
简体中文
Lu 2:41-52.
初次有意识地访问耶路撒冷。
“三十年那一奇妙封闭的园子中独生的一朵花，恰好在明显的转机（十二岁）之处，那饱满的花苞绽为花朵之处摘下。指明这一点，正是这段记录的用意与意义所在”[斯蒂尔]。
英文原文
Lu 2:41-52.
FIRST CONSCIOUS VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
"Solitary flowered out of the wonderful enclosed garden of the thirty years, plucked precisely there where the swollen bud, at a distinctive crisis (at twelve years of age), bursts into flower. To mark that is assuredly the design and the meaning of this record" [STIER].
42
无标题
简体中文
42. 上去——“惯常上去”。虽然只有男子在三个年度节期有上耶路撒冷的义务
(Ex 23:14-17)，
但敬虔的妇女在家务许可时也上去，如哈拿
(1Sa 1:7)，
正如我们在此所见，耶稣的母亲也是如此。
十二岁的时候——在此年龄，每个犹太男孩被称为“律法之子”，要接受一段教导，受训练于禁食并参加公共敬拜，此外还要开始学一门手艺。所以我们的主正是在此年龄，首次被带到耶路撒冷，在三个年度节期中居首的逾越节之时。但是，啊，这位少年是怀着何等的思想与感觉上去的呢！远在得见那城之前，他无疑“早已爱慕你殿的所在，你荣耀居所之处”
(Ps 26:8)，
这份爱，我们可以确信，是由那“藏在心里的道”培养出来的，他日后对这道的熟稔便表明了这一点。当他首次访问的时辰临近，若有人能听见他少年灵魂的吐息，便可听见他低语：“神啊，我的心切慕你，如鹿切慕溪水。耶和华爱锡安的门，胜于雅各一切住处。人对我说：‘我们往耶和华的殿去’，我就欢喜。耶路撒冷啊，我们的脚站在你的门内！”
(Ps 42:1; 87:2; 122:1, 2)。
当一眼望见“他们严肃节期的城”，并在其中一切之上高高看见“神安息之所”时，我们听见他对自己说：“在北面居高华美，为全地所喜乐的，是大君王的城。从全美的锡安中，神已经发光了”
(Ps 48:2; 50:2)。
关于这节期八天之内他的感受或举动，经上一字未提。作为一个敬虔的孩子，他在父母身边一同经过那些礼仪，把心思留给自己。但我似乎听见他在那节期崇高礼仪之后，对自己说：“他带我入筵宴所，以爱为旗在我以上。我欢欢喜喜坐在他的荫下，他果子的滋味在我口中觉得甘甜”
(So 2:3, 4)。
英文原文
42. went up--"were wont to go." Though males only were required to go up to Jerusalem at the three annual festivals
(Ex 23:14-17),
devout women, when family duties permitted, went also, as did Hannah
(1Sa 1:7),
and, as we here see, the mother of Jesus.
when twelve years old--At this age every Jewish boy was styled "a son of the law," being put under a course of instruction and trained to fasting and attendance on public worship, besides being set to learn a trade. At this age accordingly our Lord is taken up for the first time to Jerusalem, at the passover season, the chief of the three annual festivals. But oh, with what thoughts and feelings must this Youth have gone up! Long ere He beheld it, He had doubtless "loved the habitation of God's house and the place where His honor dwelt"
(Ps 26:8),
a love nourished, we may be sure, by that "word hid in His heart," with which in afterlife He showed so perfect a familiarity. As the time for His first visit approached, could one's ear have caught the breathings of His young soul, he might have heard Him whispering, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem!"
(Ps 42:1; 87:2; 122:1, 2).
On catching the first view of "the city of their solemnities," and high above all in it, "the place of God's rest," we hear Him saying to Himself, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King: Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God doth shine"
(Ps 48:2; 50:2).
Of His feelings or actions during all the eight days of the feast not a word is said. As a devout child, in company with its parents, He would go through the services, keeping His thoughts to Himself. But methinks I hear Him, after the sublime services of that feast, saying to Himself, "He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste"
(So 2:3, 4).
43
无标题
简体中文
43. 回去的时候——若生活的职责必须让位给敬拜，那么敬拜也当依次让位给它们。耶路撒冷是好的，但拿撒勒也是好的；那以顾此为借口而忽彼的人，当深思这一幕。
在殿里……约瑟和他母亲并不知道——他们既已习惯了这少年的明达与顺服[奥尔肖森]，可能因此放松了警惕。
英文原文
43. as they returned--If the duties of life must give place to worship, worship, in its turn, must give place to them. Jerusalem is good, but Nazareth is good, too; let him who neglects the one, on pretext of attending to the other, ponder this scene.
tarried behind . . . Joseph and his mother knew not--Accustomed to the discretion and obedience of the lad [OLSHAUSEN], they might be thrown off their guard.
44
无标题
简体中文
44. 在亲族和熟人中间找他——在这些圣洁的旅程上，整村整片地区的人结队同行，一部分为着保护，一部分为着作伴；而心地良善的人会以善谈来消解途中的乏味，孩子耶稣必非沉默的听者，所以他们指望在这样的人群中找到他。
英文原文
44. sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances--On these sacred journeys, whole villages and districts travelled in groups together, partly for protection, partly for company; and as the well-disposed would beguile the tediousness of the way by good discourse, to which the child Jesus would be no silent listener, they expect to find Him in such a group.
45
无标题
简体中文
45, 46. 在三日忧愁之后，他们发现他仍在耶路撒冷，不是在观看建筑，也不是在察看繁忙的生活景象，而是在殿里——不是指“圣所”（如
Lu 1:9
中），那是只有祭司才能进去的，而是指圣殿周围的某个院落，拉比们或“博士”在那里教导他们的学生。
英文原文
45, 46. After three sorrowing days, they find Him still in Jerusalem, not gazing on its architecture, or surveying its forms of busy life, but in the temple--not the "sanctuary" (as in
Lu 1:9),
to which only the priests had access, but in some one of the enclosures around it, where the rabbins, or "doctors," taught their scholars.
46
无标题
简体中文
46. 听……问——问答法是拉比教导中惯用的形式；教者与学者轮流作问者与答者，这在他们现存著作中可见。这便为他“以他的聪明和应对使他们惊奇”的一切提供了充分的施展空间。这并不是说他充当了教导之职——“他的时候”尚“未到”，他这方面的装备也未完全；因为他还要在“身量”以及“智慧”上“增长”
(Lu 2:52)。
事实上，基督之榜样的美，很大程度上在于他从不于生命中的某一阶段去预作另一阶段的职责。一切都必以学者的风度与样式：“开口而喘息”。“他因时常切慕你的典章，心就消化”
(Ps 119:20)，
如今既初次置身于父的家中，这渴慕比从前更甚。然而他的问题中所藏的，远比他们的答案为多；若我们可取他们日后以那有七个丈夫之妇人一类琐屑问题来刁难他的事，作为他们今时琐碎问题的样本，那么我们若假定他如今反过来“问他们的问题”，正是日后那些使他们惊奇并哑口之深奥问题的雏形，也不致大错：“论到基督，你们的意见如何？他是谁的子孙？大卫既称他为主，他怎么又是大卫的子孙呢？“*诫命中哪是第一要紧的呢？”“谁是我的邻舍呢？”
英文原文
46. hearing . . . asking--The method of question and answer was the customary form of rabbinical teaching; teacher and learner becoming by turns questioner and answerer, as may be seen from their extant works. This would give full scope for all that "astonished them in His understanding and answers." Not that He assumed the office of teaching--"His hour" for that "was not yet come," and His equipment for that was not complete; for He had yet to "increase in wisdom" as well as "stature"
(Lu 2:52).
In fact, the beauty of Christ's example lies very much in His never at one stage of His life anticipating the duties of another. All would be in the style and manner of a learner, "opening His mouth and panting." "His soul breaking for the longing that it had unto God's judgments at all times"
(Ps 119:20),
and now more than ever before, when finding Himself for the first time in His Father's house. Still there would be in His questions far more than in their answers; and if we may take the frivolous interrogatories with which they afterwards plied Him, about the woman that had seven husbands and such like, as a specimen of their present drivelling questions, perhaps we shall not greatly err, if we suppose that "the questions" which He now "asked them" in return were just the germs of those pregnant questions with which He astonished and silenced them in after years: "What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? If David call Him Lord, how is He then his Son?" "Which is the first and great commandment?" "Who is my neighbour?"
49
无标题
简体中文
49. 我父的事——字面作“在我父的里面”或“在我父那里”，即“在我父的事上”或“在我父的院宇里”——他居住并可被寻见之处——可说就在他手边。包含前义的后者，也许才是真意。在此他觉得自己如同在家，呼吸着他自己本有的气息。他的话含着对他们迟钝的温和责备，因他们竟要他解释这事。“既到了这里，你们以为我会这样急于离开吗？普通的敬拜者守完节期便心满意足地走了；但你们对我所认识的，仅此而已吗？”我似乎觉得，我们在此得以窥见拿撒勒那神圣的私生活；因为他所说的他们应当知道的事，他必已给了他们凭据去知道。她告诉他，他的父亲和她何等忧心地找他。他却只讲一位父，意思就是：我的父并没有在找我；我一直与他同在；“王带我进了他的内室……他的左手在我头下，他的右手将我抱住”
(So 1:4; 2:6)。
你们怎么还不明白呢？
(Mr 8:21)。
英文原文
49. about my Father's business--literally, "in" or "at My Fathers," that is, either "about My Father's affairs," or "in My Father's courts"--where He dwells and is to be found--about His hand, so to speak. This latter shade of meaning, which includes the former, is perhaps the true one, Here He felt Himself at home, breathing His own proper air. His words convey a gentle rebuke of their obtuseness in requiring Him to explain this. "Once here, thought ye I should so readily hasten away? Let ordinary worshippers be content to keep the feast and be gone; but is this all ye have learnt of Me?" Methinks we are here let into the holy privacies of Nazareth; for what He says they should have known, He must have given them ground to know. She tells Him of the sorrow with which His father and she had sought Him. He speaks of no Father but one, saying, in effect, My Father has not been seeking Me; I have been with Him all this time; "the King hath brought me into His chambers . . . His left hand is under my head, and His right hand doth embrace me"
(So 1:4; 2:6).
How is it that ye do not understand?
(Mr 8:21).
50
无标题
简体中文
50, 51. 不明白——大概他从未明明说过这话，所以使他们困惑；然而这不过是他们在家中从他身上所见所闻许多事的真解释而已。（见
Joh 14:4
的注释。）
但为免人以为他如今要脱去为子之轭，从此作自己的主，也作他们的主，经上特意加上：“他就同他们下去，顺从他们。”这一降卑之奇处，在于它发生在这样的一幕之后，并在他对更高儿子身份的宣告之后；而这些话显然是要传达这意思。“从此我们不再见提及约瑟。我们下一次听见的是他的‘母亲和弟兄’
(Joh 2:12)；
由此可推，在我们的主公开事奉开始之前某时，约瑟去世了”[阿尔福德]，他如今已成就了双重的目的——作我们主童贞母亲的保护者，并让主自己有机会展现出一份对双亲无可比拟的顺服榜样。
英文原文
50, 51. understood not--probably He had never expressly said as much, and so confounded them, though it was but the true interpretation of many things which they had seen and heard from Him at home. (See on
Joh 14:4.)
But lest it should be thought that now He threw off the filial yoke, and became His own Master henceforth, and theirs too, it is purposely added, "And He went down with them, and was subject unto them." The marvel of this condescension lies in its coming after such a scene, and such an assertion of His higher Sonship; and the words are evidently meant to convey this. "From this time we have no more mention of Joseph. The next we hear is of his "mother and brethren"
(Joh 2:12);
whence it is inferred, that between this time and the commencement of our Lord's public life, Joseph died" [ALFORD], having now served the double end of being the protector of our Lord's Virgin--mother, and affording Himself the opportunity of presenting a matchless pattern of subjection to both parents.
52
无标题
简体中文
52. 见
Lu 2:40
的注释。
身量——或者按页边作“年纪”也许更佳，而这也含着另一义。这便是我们对那奇妙生命接下来十八年所拥有的全部记录。在那活泼的圣言上安静默想，与他的父有圣洁的相交——这是何等多的时节；一边从上头领受光、爱、能力的倾注，另一边发出为子之恳求、自由、爱、喜乐——这十八年该含着多少！而若如此度过，他虽热切渴望更直接地“办我父的事”，这些日子岂不仍像是“只有几天”吗？
英文原文
52. See on
Lu 2:40.
stature--or better, perhaps, as in the Margin, "age," which implies the other. This is all the record we have of the next eighteen years of that wondrous life. What seasons of tranquil meditation over the lively oracles, and holy fellowship with His Father; what inlettings, on the one hand, of light, and love, and power from on high, and outgoings of filial supplication, freedom, love, and joy on the other, would these eighteen years contain! And would they not seem "but a few days" if they were so passed, however ardently He might long to be more directly "about His Father's business?"
路 2:1-7.
基督降生.
1. 该撒亚古士督——罗马皇帝中的第一位皇帝。
天下人民——庞大的罗马帝国如此被称呼。
报名上册——登记，即自行登记注册。