1
1Ki 18:1-16.
英文原文
1Ki 18:1-16.
ELIJAH MEETS OBADIAH.
1. the third year--In the New Testament, it is said there was no rain "for the space of three years and six months"
[Jas 5:17].
The early rain fell in our March, the latter rain in our October. Though Ahab might have at first ridiculed Elijah's announcement, yet when neither of these rains fell in their season, he was incensed against the prophet as the cause of the national judgment, and compelled him, with God's direction, to consult his safety in flight. This was six months after the king was told there would be neither dew nor rain, and from this period the three years in this passage are computed.
Go, show thyself unto Ahab--The king had remained obdurate and impenitent. Another opportunity was to be given him of repentance, and Elijah was sent in order to declare to him the cause of the national judgment, and to promise him, on condition of his removing it, the immediate blessing of rain.
2
無標題
2. 以利亞就去——這位先知天然的膽識、道德上的勇氣,以及對神護理之眷顧毫不動搖的信心,在此得了奇妙的明證——他竟敢去見那頭暴怒的獅子。
撒瑪利亞有大饑荒——以利亞發現饑荒在京城一帶極其嚴重。百姓的糧食想必是從埃及或鄰近各國運來,否則三年之久性命無以維持;但亞巴仍帶著宮廷總管親自出外為牲畜尋找牧草。溪流兩岸本該自然長出青草嫩芽;但水既乾涸,青翠之色也就消失了。在東方的畜牧地區,君王或首領親自帶領這樣的搜尋行動,至今仍被視為十分合宜的事。亞巴走遍一大片地域,走過一個分區,俄巴底走過另一個。
英文原文
2. Elijah went--a marvellous proof of the natural intrepidity of this prophet, of his moral courage, and his unfaltering confidence in the protecting care of God, that he ventured to approach the presence of the raging lion.
there was a sore famine in Samaria--Elijah found that the famine was pressing with intense severity in the capital. Corn must have been obtained for the people from Egypt or the adjoining countries, else life could not have been sustained for three years; but Ahab, with the chamberlain of his royal household, is represented as giving a personal search for pasture to his cattle. On the banks of the rivulets, grass, tender shoots of grass, might naturally be expected; but the water being dried up, the verdure would disappear. In the pastoral districts of the East it would be reckoned a most suitable occupation still for a king or chief to go at the head of such an expedition. Ranging over a large tract of country, Ahab had gone through one district, Obadiah through another.
3
無標題
3. 俄巴底甚是敬畏耶和華——他雖沒有像那個時代許多利未人和敬虔的以色列人那樣,遷往猶大
(2Ch 11:13-16),
卻是一個暗中真誠敬拜神的人。他或許認為當時政權的暴虐本性,以及自己能為受逼迫的神百姓做些善事的影響力,足以成為他沒有前往耶路撒冷敬拜的正當理由。
英文原文
3. Obadiah feared the Lord greatly--Although he did not follow the course taken by the Levites and the majority of pious Israelites at that time of emigration into Judah
(2Ch 11:13-16),
he was a secret and sincere worshipper. He probably considered the violent character of the government, and his power of doing some good to the persecuted people of God as a sufficient excuse for his not going to worship in Jerusalem.
4
無標題
4. 一百個先知——並非擁有先知職分特殊恩賜的人,而是獻身於事奉神、講道、禱告、讚美等的人
(1Sa 10:10-12)。
拿餅和水養活他們——這些物品常被用來包括各樣的食物。他冒著喪失官位甚至性命的危險來救助他們,足以證明他對真宗教的忠誠。
英文原文
4. an hundred prophets--not men endowed with the extraordinary gifts of the prophetic office, but who were devoted to the service of God, preaching, praying, praising, &c.
(1Sa 10:10-12).
fed them with bread and water--These articles are often used to include sustenance of any kind. As this succor must have been given them at the hazard, not only of his place, but his life, it was a strong proof of his attachment to the true religion.
7
無標題
7-16. 俄巴底在路上……以利亞遇見他——先知認為不宜貿然闖到亞巴面前,便請俄巴底先向亞巴通報他的歸來。俄巴底以極為動人的言辭婉拒了這差事,其中含蓄地提到他過去為救護神僕人所冒的險,認為這差事既不體貼又格外危險。但以利亞既消除了他對聖靈或會把他提走的種種顧慮,俄巴底便答應去把先知的話傳給亞巴,請他接見。但亞巴一心報仇,或是急於要見雨降下,竟親自去迎見以利亞。
英文原文
7-16. Obadiah was in the way . . . Elijah met him--Deeming it imprudent to rush without previous intimation into Ahab's presence, the prophet solicited Obadiah to announce his return to Ahab. The commission, with a delicate allusion to the perils he had already encountered in securing others of God's servants, was, in very touching terms, declined, as unkind and peculiarly hazardous. But Elijah having dispelled all the apprehensions entertained about the Spirit's carrying him away, Obadiah undertook to convey the prophet's message to Ahab and solicit an interview. But Ahab, bent on revenge, or impatient for the appearance of rain, went himself to meet Elijah.
17
無標題
17, 18. 使以色列遭災的就是你麼——雙方發生了激烈的爭辯。亞巴想以威勢使他屈服,但先知卻坦然無隱地告訴王,國家的災禍主要可追溯到他自己和他一家對偶像崇拜的庇護與實行。然而以利亞在責備罪惡的同時,仍對犯罪者的高位給予應有的尊敬。他力勸王以王命召集公開的大會,好在會眾面前莊嚴地裁定誰才是使以色列遭災的人。這要求無從推辭,亞巴不論出於何種動機,都答應了這提議。神引導並主宰了這事的結局。
英文原文
17, 18. Art thou he that troubleth Israel--A violent altercation took place. Ahab thought to awe him into submission, but the prophet boldly and undisguisedly told the king that the national calamity was traceable chiefly to his own and his family's patronage and practice of idolatry. But, while rebuking the sins, Elijah paid all due respect to the high rank of the offender. He urged the king to convene, by virtue of his royal mandate, a public assembly, in whose presence it might be solemnly decided which was the troubler of Israel. The appeal could not well be resisted, and Ahab, from whatever motives, consented to the proposal. God directed and overruled the issue.
19
無標題
19. 召集……巴力的先知……亞舍拉的先知——從下文看,似乎只有前者來了。後者預料會有不祥,便違避了王的命令。
吃耶洗別飯的——即不是在她自己用膳的御席上吃,而是由她的廚房供養(參
1Sa 20:25
及
1Ki 4:22
的註釋)。
他們是西頓女神亞斯他錄的祭司。
英文原文
19. gather . . . the prophets of Baal . . . the prophets of the groves--From the sequel it appears that the former only came. The latter, anticipating some evil, evaded the king's command.
which eat at Jezebel's table--that is, not at the royal table where she herself dined, but they were maintained from her kitchen establishment (see on
1Sa 20:25
and
1Ki 4:22).
They were the priests of Astarte, the Zidonian goddess.
20
無標題
20. 迦密山——是一座險峻的海角,從巴勒斯坦西海岸亞柯灣向東延伸許多英里,直達撒瑪利亞中部山岡。它是一道長長的山脈,有許多山峰,其間縱橫著許多小山谷。爭戰發生的地點在山脈的東端,也是整道山脊的最高點。這地叫埃爾穆哈拉卡,意即「燃燒之地」或「被焚之地」。沒有別處比這裏更適合讓成千的以色列人排列站在那些平緩的山坡上。在以斯德倫平原的那一面,岩石幾乎垂直地拔起,形成一面二百多英尺高的峭壁。這峭壁使全平原以及周圍所有高地——那是聚集觀望的群眾所站之處——都看得見此山。
英文原文
20. mount Carmel--is a bold, bluff promontory, which extends from the western coast of Palestine, at the bay of Acre, for many miles eastward, to the central hills of Samaria. It is a long range, presenting many summits, and intersected by a number of small ravines. The spot where the contest took place is situated at the eastern extremity, which is also the highest point of the whole ridge. It is called El-Mohhraka, "the Burning," or "the Burnt Place." No spot could have been better adapted for the thousands of Israel to have stood drawn up on those gentle slopes. The rock shoots up in an almost perpendicular wall of more than two hundred feet in height, on the side of the vale of Esdraelon. This wall made it visible over the whole plain, and from all the surrounding heights, where gazing multitudes would be stationed.
21
無標題
21-40. 以利亞對眾民說:你們心持兩意要到幾時呢?——他們長久以來一直想同時事奉神又事奉巴力。這樣的結合是不可能實現的;百姓或因自覺愚昧,或因畏懼王的不悅,以致「一言不答」。以利亞提議為他們解決神與巴力之間的爭論,不是訴諸律法的權威——因為那毫無分量——而是藉著從天而降的可見記號。火既被視為巴力所主管的元素,以利亞便提議宰兩頭牛犢,分別放在木柴的壇上,一壇歸巴力,一壇歸神。火從哪一壇降下來燒盡祭物,就由那事判定誰是真神,他們就有責任事奉祂。這提議看來各方面都合理,百姓一致贊同。巴力的祭司以呼求他們的神開始儀式。他們從早到午、從午到晚,不住地呼求那無知覺的神明,發出最尖銳的喊叫,做出最狂亂的動作,將自己的血與祭物混在一起——卻都徒然。沒有回應。沒有火降下。以利亞以最嚴厲的譏誚揭穿他們的愚昧和欺詐,見日頭將西,便開始他的作為。他邀請百姓前來觀看全部過程,先修築了一座耶和華的舊壇——那曾被耶洗別拆毀的。然後把牛犢切成的肉塊擺好,命人把四桶水倒在壇上和周圍的溝裏。這預防措施一連行了三次;隨後他獻上懇切的禱告,奇蹟的火便降下來
(Le 9:24;
Jud 6:21; 13:20;
1Ch 21:26;
2Ch 7:1),
不但燒盡了祭物,連壇的石頭也燒掉了。百姓心中的印象是敬佩與敬畏交織;他們異口同聲地承認耶和華為至高無上的真神。以利亞趁他們情緒激動之際,呼籲他們拿住那些祭司騙子,用他們的血注滿因拜偶像而乾涸的(基順)河道——這命令看似嚴厲無情,卻是他作為神的僕人應盡的本分
(De 15:5; 18:20)。
這山的地勢特徵與此記載的細節完全吻合。設有祭壇的顯著山峰,海拔一千六百三十五英尺,其上有寬闊的平地,足以讓王和巴力的祭司站在一邊、以利亞站在另一邊。那是多石的地質,有大量鬆動的石頭可用來築壇所需的十二塊石頭;也有厚實的土層可以挖溝;但土質又不至於鬆軟到傾倒的水會被完全吸收;在祭壇高地以下二百五十英尺處,有一道常年不竭的泉水,因離耶和華的壇很近,百姓或許無法取用;因此即使在嚴重乾旱的季節,以利亞仍可從那裏取得他傾倒在壇上的大量水。這泉與祭壇舊址之間的距離極短,來回三次完全可行;而要在一個下午從海裏取水——哪怕一次——也是不可能的〔VAN DE VELDE〕。山頂比基順河高一千英尺;基順河沒有任何地方像在埃爾穆哈拉卡正下方那樣,流得離山腳如此之近;因此巴力的祭司可在幾分鐘內被帶到溪(急流)旁,在那裏被殺。
英文原文
21-40. Elijah said unto all the people, How long halt ye?--They had long been attempting to conjoin the service of God with that of Baal. It was an impracticable union and the people were so struck with a sense of their own folly, or dread of the king's displeasure, that they "answered not a word." Elijah proposed to decide for them the controversy between God and Baal by an appeal, not to the authority of the law, for that would have no weight, but by a visible token from Heaven. As fire was the element over which Baal was supposed to preside, Elijah proposed that two bullocks should be slain and placed on separate altars of wood, the one for Baal, and the other for God. On whichever the fire should descend to consume it, the event should determine the true God, whom it was their duty to serve. The proposal, appearing every way reasonable, was received by the people with unanimous approval. The priests of Baal commenced the ceremony by calling on their god. In vain did they continue invoking their senseless deity from morning till noon, and from noon till evening, uttering the most piercing cries, using the most frantic gesticulations, and mingling their blood with the sacrifice. No response was heard. No fire descended. Elijah exposed their folly and imposture with the severest irony and, as the day was far advanced, commenced his operations. Inviting the people to approach and see the entire proceeding, he first repaired an old altar of God, which Jezebel had demolished. Then, having arranged the cut pieces of the bullock, he caused four barrels or jars of water to be dashed all over the altar and round in the trench. Once, twice, a third time this precaution was taken, and then, when he had offered an earnest prayer, the miraculous fire descended
(Le 9:24; Jud 6:21; 13:20; 1Ch 21:26; 2Ch 7:1),
and consumed not only the sacrifice, but the very stones of the altar. The impression on the minds of the people was that of admiration mingled with awe; and with one voice they acknowledged the supremacy of Jehovah as the true God. Taking advantage of their excited feelings, Elijah called on them to seize the priestly impostors, and by their blood fill the channel of the river (Kishon), which, in consequence of their idolatries, the drought had dried up--a direction, which, severe and relentless as it seems, it was his duty as God's minister to give
(De 15:5; 18:20).
The natural features of the mount exactly correspond with the details of this narrative. The conspicuous summit, 1635 feet above the sea, on which the altars were placed, presents an esplanade spacious enough for the king and the priests of Baal to stand on the one side, and Elijah on the other. It is a rocky soil, on which there is abundance of loose stones, to furnish the twelve stones of which the altar was built--a bed of thick earth, in which a trench could be dug; and yet the earth not so loose that the water poured into it would be absorbed; two hundred fifty feet beneath the altar plateau, there is a perennial fountain, which, being close to the altar of the Lord, might not have been accessible to the people; and whence, therefore, even in that season of severe drought, Elijah could procure those copious supplies of water which he poured over the altar. The distance between this spring and the site of the altar is so short, as to make it perfectly possible to go thrice thither and back again, whereas it would have been impossible once in an afternoon to fetch water from the sea [VAN DE VELDE]. The summit is one thousand feet above the Kishon, which nowhere runs from the sea so close to the base of the mount as just beneath El-Mohhraka; so that the priests of Baal could, in a few minutes, be taken down to the brook (torrent), and slain there.
41
1Ki 18:41-46.
1Ki 18:41-46.
以利亞藉禱告求得雨水。
英文原文
1Ki 18:41-46.
ELIJAH, BY PRAYER, OBTAINS RAIN.
42
無標題
42. 亞巴就上去吃喝——亞巴因那慘烈場面而痛苦激動,整日未曾進食。人勸他立即進食補充體力;當王如此進食時,先知非但不休息,反而全神貫注地禱告,求神應驗祂的應許
(1Ki 18:1)。
屈身在地,將臉伏在兩膝之中——這是一種懇切祈求的姿勢,至今仍有人使用。
英文原文
42. Ahab went up to eat and to drink--Ahab, kept in painful excitement by the agonizing scene, had eaten nothing all the day. He was recommended to refresh himself without a moment's delay; and, while the king was thus occupied, the prophet, far from taking rest, was absorbed in prayer for the fulfilment of the promise
(1Ki 18:1).
put his face between his knees--a posture of earnest supplication still used.
43
無標題
43. 你現在上去,向海觀看——從敬拜之處有一個小高地,在西面和西北面擋住了海上的視線〔STANLEY;VAN DE VELDE〕。幾分鐘即可登頂,並可眺望地中海的廣闊景色。僕人上去六次,天空卻一片晴朗——海面平靜。第七次他才看見下雨將至的徵兆
[1Ki 18:44]。
英文原文
43. Go up now, look toward the sea--From the place of worship there is a small eminence, which, on the west and northwest side, intercepts the view of the sea [STANLEY; VAN DE VELDE]. It can be ascended in a few minutes, and presents a wide prospect of the Mediterranean. Six times the servant went up, but the sky was clear--the sea tranquil. On the seventh he described the sign of approaching rain
[1Ki 18:44].
44
無標題
44. 看哪,有一小片雲從海裏上來,不過如人手那樣大——天空晴朗使最小的斑點也清晰可見;這在巴勒斯坦是下雨的一致先兆。它越升越高,越變越大,速度快得驚人,直到整個天空都黑了,雲層便以傾盆大雨傾瀉而下。
套上車,下去罷,免得被雨阻擋——或因基順河突然暴漲無法渡過,或因乾旱平原上厚厚的塵土變成深泥,使車輪難行。
英文原文
44. Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand--The clearness of the sky renders the smallest speck distinctly visible; and this is in Palestine the uniform precursor of rain. It rises higher and higher, and becomes larger and larger with astonishing celerity, till the whole heaven is black, and the cloud bursts in a deluge of rain.
Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not--either by the river Kishon being suddenly so swollen as to be impassable, or from the deep layer of dust in the arid plain being turned into thick mud, so as to impede the wheels.
45
無標題
45. 亞巴乘車,到了耶斯列——今澤林,距離約十英里。這趟行程是在暴雨中完成的。但人人都為之歡喜,因它給整個耶斯列地帶來了及時的清爽。
英文原文
45. Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel--now Zerin, a distance of about ten miles. This race was performed in the midst of a tempest of rain. But all rejoiced at it, as diffusing a sudden refreshment over all the land of Jezreel.
46
無標題
46. 以利亞……束上腰,在亞巴前頭跑——古時,如今東方一些國家仍然如此,君王和貴族在車前有跑步的先行者,他們為此目的緊束腰帶。先知如他故鄉基列的貝都因人一樣,受過跑步的訓練;而且主與他同在,他便以不衰的敏捷和力量持續前行。在這情形下,這是以利亞所應盡的最恰當的服事。它有助於加強亞巴心中已有的良好印象,也為耶洗別的挑剔提供了答覆——因為這表明那在事奉神上如此熱心的人,同時對自己的王也是忠心耿耿的。這場莊嚴而決定性的較量,其結果對偶像崇拜的事業是沉重的打擊和極大的挫折。但後來的事件似乎證明,那些印象雖深,卻只是局部而短暫的。
英文原文
46. Elijah . . . girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab--It was anciently, and still is in some countries of the East, customary for kings and nobles to have runners before their chariots, who are tightly girt for the purpose. The prophet, like the Bedouins of his native Gilead, had been trained to run; and, as the Lord was with him, he continued with unabated agility and strength. It was, in the circumstances, a most proper service for Elijah to render. It tended to strengthen the favorable impression made on the heart of Ahab and furnished an answer to the cavils of Jezebel for it showed that he who was so zealous in the service of God, was, at the same time, devotedly loyal to his king. The result of this solemn and decisive contest was a heavy blow and great discouragement to the cause of idolatry. But subsequent events seem to prove that the impressions, though deep, were but partial and temporary.
1Ki 18:1-16.
以利亞遇見俄巴底
1. 第三年——在新約中,說「三年零六個月」沒有下雨
[Jas 5:17]。
早雨降在我們公曆三月,晚雨降在十月。亞哈起初或許嘲笑以利亞的宣告,但當這兩場雨都未按時降下,他便惱怒這位先知,視他為這國災的禍首,並在神的指示下迫使先知逃命以保安全。這是在王被告知必不降露也不降雨之後六個月,本段經文中的三年便是從這時起算的。
你去,向亞哈顯現——王依然頑梗不悔改。還要再給他一次悔改的機會,於是差遣以利亞,為要向他宣告這國災的因由,並應許他只要除去這因由,就立即賜下雨水的福氣。