1
Jud 12:1-3.
英文原文
Jud 12:1-3.
THE EPHRAIMITES QUARRELLING WITH JEPHTHAH.
1. the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together--Hebrew, "were summoned."
and went northward--After crossing the Jordan, their route from Ephraim was, strictly speaking, in a northeasterly direction, toward Mizpeh.
the men of Ephraim . . . said unto Jephthah, Wherefore . . . didst [thou] not call us?--This is a fresh development of the jealous, rash, and irritable temper of the Ephraimites. The ground of their offense now was their desire of enjoying the credit of patriotism although they had not shared in the glory of victory.
2
無標題
2. 我呼召你們的時候，你們沒有從他們手中救我——耶弗他這坦率的回答表明他們的指控是不實的；他們埋怨未被當作同盟的夥伴來對待，完全沒有根據；而他們自誇願意效力，從一個故意拖延、直到危機過後才出現的人群中說出，實在不合體統。
英文原文
2. when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands--The straightforward answer of Jephthah shows that their charge was false; their complaint of not being treated as confederates and allies entirely without foundation; and their boast of a ready contribution of their services came with an ill grace from people who had purposely delayed appearing till the crisis was past.
3
無標題
3. 我見你們不來救我，我就拼命——這是東方常用的說法，指擔起極其危險的任務。耶弗他正是這樣做的：他僅憑基列的志願兵，便迎戰亞捫人並將其擊潰；耶和華既使他無需其他支派幫助就能得勝，以法蓮人又何必惱怒？他們本該因戰爭未經他們勞苦冒險便告終而歡喜感恩。
英文原文
3. when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands--A common form of speech in the East for undertaking a duty of imminent peril. This Jephthah had done, having encountered and routed the Ammonites with the aid of his Gileadite volunteers alone; and since the Lord had enabled him to conquer without requiring assistance from any other tribe, why should the Ephraimites take offense? They ought rather to have been delighted and thankful that the war had terminated without their incurring any labor and danger.
4
Jud 12:4-15.
Jud 12:4-15.
因「示播列」一語被認出，遭基列人擊殺。
4-6. 基列人擊殺以法蓮人，是因以法蓮人說，你們基列人在以法蓮瑪拿西中間，不過是逃民——耶弗他的反駁雖然合情合理、措辭溫和，卻不僅無濟於事，反而引來更惡毒的譏誚：河西瑪拿西人和以法蓮人都視基列人為敗類——是他們同族中的渣滓、棄民。這話正觸到一群格外敏感的人。爭端立刻爆發。基列人決意懲戒這公開的侮辱，便與他們交鋒；擊敗以法蓮人之後，將那些口出惡言卻怯懦的來犯者逐出境外。他們隨即衝向約旦河的渡口，截殺每一個逃亡者。辨認以法蓮人的辦法，是讓他們念一個因當前所在之地而自然提及的字詞。「示播列」意為「溪流」；「西播列」意為「麥穗」。看來河東支派對「示播列」的發音帶有方言土腔；以法蓮人卻無法用他們的發音器官發出此音。
英文原文
Jud 12:4-15.
DISCERNED BY THE WORD SIBBOLETH, ARE SLAIN BY THE GILEADITES.
4-6. the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim--The remonstrances of Jephthah, though reasonable and temperate, were not only ineffectual, but followed by insulting sneers that the Gileadites were reckoned both by the western Manassites and Ephraimites as outcasts--the scum and refuse of their common stock. This was addressed to a peculiarly sensitive people. A feud immediately ensued. The Gileadites, determined to chastise this public affront, gave them battle; and having defeated the Ephraimites, they chased their foul-mouthed but cowardly assailants out of the territory. Then rushing to the fords of the Jordan, they intercepted and slew every fugitive. The method adopted for discovering an Ephraimite was by the pronunciation of a word naturally suggested by the place where they stood. Shibboleth, means "a stream"; Sibboleth, "a burden." The Eastern tribe had, it seems, a dialectical provincialism in the sound of Shibboleth; and the Ephraimites could not bring their organs to pronounce it.
7
無標題
7. 耶弗他死了——治理六年之後，這位大能的勇士離世；他生平中雖有些段落我們難以理解，他卻因使徒的權威被列在古教會的偉人之列。其後繼任的是一連串次要的士師，所留記載僅關乎他們的家室與境況
[士12:8-15]。
英文原文
7. Jephthah died--After a government of six years, this mighty man of valor died; and however difficult it may be for us to understand some passages in his history, he has been ranked by apostolic authority among the worthies of the ancient church. He was followed by a succession of minor judges, of whom the only memorials preserved relate to the number of their families and their state
[Jud 12:8-15].
Jud 12:1-3.
以法蓮人與耶弗他爭鬧。
1. 以法蓮人聚集——希伯來文為「被召聚」。
向北行去——過約旦河之後，他們從以法蓮出發的路向，嚴格說來是朝東北方向，往米斯巴去。
以法蓮人……對耶弗他說，你為甚麼……沒有召我們？——這是以法蓮人嫉妒、急躁易怒性情的又一次顯露。他們如今發怒的緣由，是想要分享愛國的榮譽，儘管他們並沒有參與勝利的榮耀。