1
1Ki 17:1-7.
英文原文
1Ki 17:1-7.
ELIJAH, PROPHESYING AGAINST AHAB, IS SENT TO CHERITH.
1. Elijah the Tishbite--This prophet is introduced as abruptly as Melchisedek--his birth, parents, and call to the prophetic office being alike unrecorded. He is supposed to be called the Tishbite from Tisbeh, a place east of Jordan.
who was of the inhabitants of Gilead--or residents of Gilead, implying that he was not an Israelite, but an Ishmaelite, as MICHAELIS conjectures, for there were many of that race on the confines of Gilead. The employment of a Gentile as an extraordinary minister might be to rebuke and shame the apostate people of Israel.
said unto Ahab--The prophet appears to have been warning this apostate king how fatal both to himself and people would be the reckless course he was pursuing. The failure of Elijah's efforts to make an impression on the obstinate heart of Ahab is shown by the penal prediction uttered at parting.
before whom I stand--that is, whom I serve
(De 18:5).
there shall not be dew nor rain these years--not absolutely; but the dew and the rain would not fall in the usual and necessary quantities. Such a suspension of moisture was sufficient to answer the corrective purposes of God, while an absolute drought would have converted the whole country into an uninhabitable waste.
but according to my word--not uttered in spite, vengeance, or caprice, but as the minister of God. The impending calamity was in answer to his earnest prayer, and a chastisement intended for the spiritual revival of Israel. Drought was the threatened punishment of national idolatry
(De 11:16, 17; 28:23).
2
無標題
2, 3. 耶和華的話臨到他說:你離開這裏,轉向東方等——起先,王或許把這預言當作狂熱之徒的囈語而嗤之以鼻;但當他發現旱災確實持續且日益嚴重時,便四處尋找以利亞。以利亞既需要遠離王的暴行或糾纏,神便指示他前往一個隱退之處,也許是「約旦河東邊的基立溪」旁的一個洞穴。按傳統所記,此地是伯善渡口下游一條小小的冬季溪流。
英文原文
2, 3. the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, &c.--At first the king may have spurned the prediction as the utterance of a vain enthusiast; but when he found the drought did last and increase in severity, he sought Elijah, who, as it was necessary that he should be far removed from either the violence or the importunities of the king, was divinely directed to repair to a place of retreat, perhaps a cave on "the brook Cherith, that is, before [east of] Jordan." Tradition points it out in a small winter torrent, a little below the ford at Beth-shan.
6
無標題
6. 烏鴉給他叼餅來——如此不潔而又貪食的飛鳥竟被用來供養先知,這觀念在許多人看來實在太奇特,因而他們費盡心力要證明 Orebim——在我們的譯本中譯作「烏鴉」——其實是「商人」
(如該詞在
Eze 27:27
所用);
或作「阿拉伯人」
(2Ch 21:16;
Ne 4:7);
或作伯善附近亞拉巴的居民
(Jos 15:6; 18:18)。
但我們認為,通用的譯法比這些臆測更為可取。倘若以利亞確實由烏鴉奇蹟般地供養,那麼追問餅和肉從何而來便是多餘的,因為神自會引導它們。一年之後,溪水乾了,這對以利亞的信心又是一個新的考驗。
英文原文
6. the ravens brought him bread--The idea of such unclean and voracious birds being employed to feed the prophet has appeared to many so strange that they have labored to make out the Orebim, which in our version has been rendered "ravens," to be as the word is used (in
Eze 27:27)
"merchants"; or Arabians
(2Ch 21:16; Ne 4:7);
or, the citizens of Arabah, near Beth-shan
(Jos 15:6; 18:18).
But the common rendering is, in our opinion, preferable to these conjectures. And, if Elijah was miraculously fed by ravens, it is idle to inquire where they found the bread and the flesh, for God would direct them. After the lapse of a year, the brook dried up, and this was a new trial to Elijah's faith.
8
1Ki 17:8-16.
1Ki 17:8-16.
他被差往撒勒法的寡婦那裏
8-16. 耶和華的話臨到他——撒勒法,即撒勒普塔,今稱蘇拉芬德,他所奉命前往的地方,遠在巴勒斯坦西海岸,位於西頓以南約九英里,正處在耶洗別那不敬虔之父的轄境之內,那裏也同樣有饑荒。他一進城便遇見了神護理所指派供養他的那個婦人,然而從她口中得知她的糧食已盡、正為自己和兒子預備最後一頓飯時,他的信心受到了嚴峻的考驗。神的靈既感動他求助,也感動她慷慨相助,她便得了先知的賞賜
(Mt 10:41, 42);
因她給他的一餐,神以奇蹟倍增那微薄的存糧,使她得了許多餐。
英文原文
1Ki 17:8-16.
HE IS SENT TO A WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH.
8-16. the word of the Lord came to him--Zarephath, Sarepta, now Surafend, whither he was directed to go, was far away on the western coast of Palestine, about nine miles south of Sidon, and within the dominions of Jezebel's impious father, where the famine also prevailed. Meeting, at his entrance into the town, the very woman who was appointed by divine providence to support him, his faith was severely tested by learning from her that her supplies were exhausted and that she was preparing her last meal for herself and son. The Spirit of God having prompted him to ask, and her to grant, some necessary succor, she received a prophet's reward
(Mt 10:41, 42),
and for the one meal afforded to him, God, by a miraculous increase of the little stock, afforded many to her.
17
1Ki 17:17-24.
1Ki 17:17-24.
他使她的兒子復活
17-24. 這婦人,就是房主的兒子,病了——一場嚴重的家庭災禍似乎使她以為,神既因先知的緣故封閉了犯罪之地的天,她如今受苦也是出於同樣的緣故。先知沒有回答她苦毒的責難,只把那孩子抱起來,放在自己床上,經過極其懇切的禱告之後,喜見孩子復原,也給寡婦的心和家庭帶來了歡樂。先知被差到這位寡婦這裏,不只是為了他自身的安全,更是因她的信心——為要堅固和促進這信心,他才被指引到她那裏,而不是到以色列許多寡婦那裏——那些寡婦本會在同樣免受饑荒之苦的特權條件下,樂意接待他。她肉體需要的解救,成了供應她屬靈缺乏的預備途径;藉著先知的教導,她和她的兒子得以清楚認識神,並堅定地信靠祂的話
(Lu 4:25)。
英文原文
1Ki 17:17-24.
HE RAISES HER SON TO LIFE.
17-24. the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick--A severe domestic calamity seems to have led her to think that, as God had shut up heaven upon a sinful land in consequence of the prophet, she was suffering on a similar account. Without answering her bitter upbraiding, the prophet takes the child, lays it on his bed, and after a very earnest prayer, had the happiness of seeing its restoration, and along with it, gladness to the widow's heart and home. The prophet was sent to this widow, not merely for his own security, but on account of her faith, to strengthen and promote which he was directed to go to her rather than to many widows in Israel, who would have eagerly received him on the same privileged terms of exception from the grinding famine. The relief of her bodily necessities became the preparatory means of supplying her spiritual wants, and bringing her and her son, through the teachings of the prophet, to a clear knowledge of God, and a firm faith in His word
(Lu 4:25).
1Ki 17:1-7.
以利亞預言攻擊亞哈,被遣往基立
1. 基列的提斯比人以利亞——這位先知出現的突兀,正如麥基洗德一樣——他的出生、父母和蒙召為先知,都同樣沒有記載。他被稱為提斯比人,大概是因為約旦河東的提斯比(Tisbeh)。
是基列的居民——或作「基列的寄居者」,暗示他並非以色列人,而是以實瑪利人,如 MICHAELIS 所推測,因為基列邊境有許多該種族的人。使用一個外邦人作非同尋常的使者,或許是為了責備並使背道的以色列民知恥。
對亞哈說——這位先知似乎一直在警告這位背道的君王,他所行的魯莽之路對他本人和百姓將有何等致命的後果。以利亞努力要在亞哈頑梗的心上留下印象卻歸於失敗,這一點從臨別時所說的刑罰預言中可見一斑。
我所侍立的——即我所事奉的
(De 18:5)。
這幾年必不降露也不下雨——並非絕對如此;而是露水和雨水不會按平常必要的份量降下。這樣的水分供應已足以達成神管教的目的,而絕對的乾旱則會把全國變成不可居住的荒野。
乃照我的話——並非出於怨恨、報復或任性,而是作為神的使者說出。這即將來臨的災禍,是應他懇切的禱告而臨到的,是為以色列屬靈復興而設的懲治。乾旱原是國家拜偶像所受的威脅之刑
(De 11:16, 17; 28:23)。