库克博士:鲍勃 我们下面要讲到 Dr. Cook: Bob, we're into the next division of Isaiah
《以赛亚书》下的一个部分 this great trunk of the material
即第44到48章 这部分内容较多 in Chapter 44 to 48
很快 几乎是一开篇 就有几篇诗歌 And pretty soon almost immediately we have several poems
是讲波斯王国的主宰者 居鲁士大帝 about this figure Cyrus, King Cyrus, the Head of the Persian Empire
波斯王国即将降临 This Empire that's going to come in
并且重塑整个我们已知的世界 and just reshape the whole known world
以色列已经沦陷于巴比伦 Israel has been captive of Babylonia
巴比伦即将沦陷于居鲁士大帝 Babylon's gonna fall to Cyrus
上帝称呼居鲁士大帝的言辞也十分惊人 And the language that God is using of Cyrus is quite striking
第44:28中上帝称呼他为 我的牧人 44:28 God calls him “my shepherd”
第45:1中我们看到皇室用语 and 45:1 you've got this royal language
天父搀扶这位被选中的君王的手 of the DAD taking the hand of the chosen King
我想问问居鲁士大帝是如何成为上帝的代理人的 Let me ask you about Cyrus, how is he one of God's agents?
他究竟背负着怎样的命运呢? What's going on here with him?
威尔森博士:他确实是上帝的代理人之一 Dr. Wilson: He certainly is one of God's agents
目前我们已经在以赛亚书中看到 And of all the agents
上帝有众多不同的代理人 we've looked at a number of different agents so far in Isaiah
都是为了能使神圣的旨意能够在世上得以执行 as the way in which the divine will gets worked in the world
在此之中 最为奇特的就要数居鲁士大帝了 this one's got to be one of the oddest ones
虽然亚述王西拿基立是对以色列施惩的代理人 It's one thing to talk about the Assyrian King Sennacherib
然而波斯的居鲁士大帝作为 as the agent of punishment on Israel it's quite another thing
履行对以色列的承诺 not just to talk about Persian King Cyrus
带领以色列回归故土的代理人 as the agent of Israel's return to the land
甚至获得了皇家称号 that is the fulfillment of the promise to Israel
那就又另当别论了 but to give Cyrus royal titles
你所提到的 The kinds of language that you referred to
将居鲁士称为 我的牧人 calling Cyrus “my shepherd”
这种言辞 是上帝使用的 this is the language that God is using of Cyrus
牧羊人 是传统的皇家称号 Shepherd is a traditional royal title
一般都是赋予君主的 It's one that is given to kings
君主有责任庇佑自己的人民 And they have the responsibility to shepherd their people
正如牧羊人照顾羊群 to take care of the sheep
居鲁士正是要重建耶路撒冷的人 And it is Cyrus that is going to rebuild Jerusalem
并不仅仅包括因巴比伦 it's not just capture Babylon
对耶路撒冷人民的所作所为 and punish Babylon
而对其施以侵占和惩罚 because of what they did to Israelites
更重要的是 but it's going to be...
作为百姓回归故土的代理人 Cyrus is going to be the agent of the people's return to land
他使得回归得以实现 He's going to enable this
并且历史上也确实如此 and indeed historically this is exactly what happened
在居鲁士大帝的统治下 that's under Cyrus' rule that Israel
以色列得以回归 is allowed to go back and fulfill the promises
实现了第40章中提到的 赋予以色列的承诺 that we've already had given to Israel in Chapter 40
库克博士:我会认为这对百姓来说 Dr. Cook: I would think that will a very hard pill for people to swallow...
是非常难以接受的...这位以色列国的新摩西 how about having this new Moses within Israel
是亚伯拉罕的后裔 one that is member of Abraham's posterity...
不是外国... not a foreign...
威尔森博士:实际应该把他看做一名当地的代理人 Dr. Wilson: You really like to see that as a sort of local agent
第40章也预见到了这一点 And indeed Chapter 40 envisions that
预见到了这个人群 有领袖会带领人民回归 It envisions this group being someone to lead the people back
上帝将亲自带领人民回归 God is personally going to lead the people back
耶路撒冷也被指派成为 Jerusalem is being commissioned to be
其自身救赎的宣告的代理人 an agent in the proclamation of its own salvation
这些都是诺言的宣告和实践的内在途径 These are all internal means of proclaiming and fulfilling the promise
目前看来 上帝已经选择了居鲁士大帝 What we have here is the idea that God has now chosen Cyrus
作为此处活跃的代理人 to be the active agent here
并且不仅如此 45章提到上帝还为居鲁士大帝 And not only that, God is going to do a lot of other things
做了很多其它的事情 for Cyrus in Chapter 45
事实上他被称作上帝的 受膏者 He is actually called the Anointed of God
上帝钦点他为君王 God has anointed him to be king
这是传统上大卫王室统治者才有权使用的语言 This is the language traditionally used for Davidic Rulers
库克博士:是的 受膏 在希伯来语中是mâšîah Dr. Cook: Well the anointement in Hebrew is mâšîah
威尔森博士:是的mâšîah Dr. Wilson: ... and that is mâšîah
他是弥赛亚 he is the messiah
真是奇异的语言 this is really strange language
人们会担忧 以赛亚第二书 One worries a little immediately about whether
是否将此视为 将临的皇室君王的圆满履行 the Second Isaiah sees this as the fulfillment of a royal king to come
在前面几章里 我们已经看到 We've already looked in those early passages
这或许与希西家王有关 可以肯定的是 and we saw that it might have to do may be with Hezekiah
至少跟一位大卫王室成员有关 but certainly a member of Davidic line
弥赛亚将来自于大卫王室谱系 The Messiah is going to come from the line of David
这一点似乎与之完全相悖 This seems to be totally counter to all of this
上帝将为居鲁士大帝成就了很多事情 God is going to do lots of things for Cyrus
将巴比伦及其倾国财富全部赐予居鲁士大帝 Give Cyrus the Babylonia Empire together with all of its treasures
不难理解的是 这一切激起了不少反对 Not surprisingly this seems to have generated a good bit of opposition
即使在以赛亚第二书本身的受众中也是如此 even within the Second Isaiah's own community
(书中)似乎有不少言论 And there is a lot of language that
都是应对这些反对的 seems to be responding to the objections
真是一种奇怪的现象 This is such a strange idea
库克博士:你是否认为 Dr. Cook: Do you think it so strange
出现这些问题就很奇怪了？ that even calling the question? ...
上帝是慈悲的 God's goodness...
我的意思是说 在45:7里 I mean in Verse 7 speaks of God as one
上帝被描绘为创造黑暗 甚至也降临灾祸 who creates darkness or even creates evil
威尔森博士:我认为这不是一句否定的陈述 Dr. Wilson: I don't think that is meant to be a negative statement
但这可能是整部以赛亚第二书中 It's probably the most troubling theological statement
最令人费解的神学陈述了 in the Second Isaiah
其表述的是 首先我们已经了解到 And what it is saying is that first of all, as we've already seen this
这是上帝规划的一部分 that this is part of God's plan
居鲁士大帝是上帝对整个世界的规划的一部分 Cyrus is somehow part of this plan that God has at work in the world
正是因为如此 我们也了解到 And for that reason we already know that there is no way
这个规划是无论如何不可能被终止的 in which that plan is going to be thwarted
这一切必将会发生 This is going to happen
因此上帝说道:我是耶和华 So God says: I am God
在我以外并没有别神 There is no other
除了我以外再没有神 Besides me, there is no other God
这是上帝开始向居鲁士大帝说明 God is now more or less explaining to Cyrus who it is
自己到底是什么人 是谁在向他发出指令 who is commissioning Cyrus to do this
因此 即使你不知我是谁 他们必知: So that even though you don't know me, they may know
从日出之地到日落之处 使人都知除我以外 That is everyone from the rising of the sun...in the west...
没有别神 我是耶和华 在我以外并没有别神 and to the west there is no one except me
由此 引出了下面这句一神论的最终宣言 And then this ultimate statement of a monotheism
我造光 又造暗 I am God. There is no other
我施平安 又降灾祸 I form light and I create darkness
造作这一切的是我耶和华 I make good and I create evil
这是一神论的合理引申 That is the logical extension of a monotheism
只有此书此处才能见到 and you don't get it anywhere else except right here
同时也是关于一神论 This is the first radical statement of
首次出现的 比较激进的陈述 that kind of monotheism
很明显对这句陈述的反对并不在少数 And there is obviously a great deal of objection to this line
多到 上帝不仅要说服居鲁士大帝 so much so that not only does God have to convince Cyrus
还要令其它人也信服 God apparently has to convince other people as well
第9节中写道 祸哉 那与造他的主争论的 In Verse 9 Woe to you who strive with your Maker
他不过是地上瓦片中的一块瓦片 the earth and vessels with the potter
泥土岂可对抟弄他的说 你做甚么呢？ Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, What are you making?
所做的物岂可说你没有手呢？ Or Your work has no handles
祸哉 那对父亲说 你生的是甚么呢 Woe to anyone who says to a father: What are you begetting?
这些似乎都是一种对人们的质疑的回应 This all seems to be directed at challenges to this idea
因为这种说法是非常令人难以接受的 which is so in difficult to live with
以赛亚的神学理论真的能够被接受吗？ Can one accept Isaiah's theology here?
我们知道 整个世界早已经被设定好了 We know that people have difficulty with the idea
而上帝或多或少对此负责 that the world is somehow totally determined
这种说法并不容易为人所接受 and that God is responsible for this in some way or another
不仅对于古时候 That was not only a hard position to accept
以赛亚书的受众来说是这样 in antiquity in the Isaiah community
对于现在的我们也是这样 it's a very hard idea to accept now
我们是否能够比以赛亚当时所面对的受众 And whether or not we have any easier time with this
更能接受这个说法 than the audience that Isaiah seems to be addressing
始终是个悬而未决的问题 is an open question but...
库克博士:我一直在想 这里是不是该有一个 Dr. Cook: I kept wondering that
积极的 精神层面上的见解 if there is not also a positive spiritual insight here
是不是说 上帝简直就是一种非道德的 If, if God is the one who seems to be almost amoral
神秘莫测的存在 certainly inscrutable
创造黑暗 扶持逻辑上本来 creating darkness, raising up Cyrus
不适合作为救赎者候选人的居鲁士大帝 who is not a logical candidate for a redeemer
这给人类带来的影响之一 One of the effects on human beings
就是让我们意识到 人类的思维 能力 is that one realizes that there is very clear limits
都有着非常明确的局限性 to human thought, to human ability
从一个角度来说 又是将人类推回了脆弱 In some way it's pushing one back into a stance of vulnerability
人性的立场中 and humanness
从另一个角度来说 这正是通往救赎之路 In some way it's a pathway to salvation
我是说 这也许不是我们所熟知的 I mean it's not your normal thinking
上帝实施救赎的常有途径 about how God brings Salvation
然而却也是一种存在的可能性 but it is a possible way of thinking about salvation
威尔森博士:确实如此 与之相关的还有 Dr. Wilson: That may well be that it has to do with the arguments
在书中反复出现的各种论点 内容包括 that seem to be going on back and forth in this text
这些代理人是否合适 上帝的力量 about the suitability of agents and God's power
以及两者之间的内部联系 and how these things relate to each other
还有人类受众如何适应上帝的规划... and how the human community fits into God's plans and ...
库克博士:想一想上帝 上帝的受众 Dr. Cook: Do you think of God and God's community
以及上帝如何拯救他们 and how God saves them?
我确实认为至少该欣赏一下 I do want to at least praise this language
这段一开头 that is used at the very beginning of this division
就将上帝描述为救世主的这种语言 about God as a redeemer
因为这种用词出现了不止一次 cause that terminology comes up more than once
威尔森博士:确实是这样 Dr. Wilson: It does indeed...
库克博士:我是指第44:24 Dr. Cook: I'm talking about Verse 24, Chapter 44
威尔森博士:这里说道 Dr. Wilson: That says
从你出胎 造就你的救赎主耶和华 等等 Lord is a redeemer who formed you in the womb and so on
救赎主这种语言 And this redeemer language
是上帝在以赛亚第二书中最钟爱的称呼 this is the favorite title that used of God in the Second Isaiah
这种救赎主的用词很有趣 The redeemer language is interesting
因为它首先指向的是家族范围 because the first thing that it points to is the orbit of the family
救赎是一种法律概念 它设立的目的就在于 The concept of redemption is a legal concept
将财产和家人保留在家族之中 and it was set in place in order to allow things like property and people
是维系家族的一种方式 to remain within the family, it's a way of preserving the family
因此当有人过世 就会有其它人来偿赎其财产 And so when people redeem property they pay for it against the dead
使其能够在家族中保留下来 in order to include it in the family, to keep it in the family
与之相似的是 如果有人卖身为奴 需要偿赎 Similarly, if people are sold in the slavery they are redeemed
其家庭成员有义务将人赎回 and there's an obligation of family members to redeem them
使家族再次变得完整 and bring them back so the family can again be whole
实在是一种不同寻常的叙述 This in a way is an incredible statement
过去我们探讨的是上帝与人类之间的合约关系 We've gone now from talking about God in covenant relationship
而现在上帝成为了家人 to an idea of God as family
上帝将会从流亡中救赎以色列 and God is going to redeem Israel and Exile
以此来维系家族的完整性 in order to maintain the integrity of the family
因为以色列人十分乐于接受这个救赎的概念 And so the notion of the Group of Israelites that is going to
也都是基于这个观点 enjoy this concept of redemption is very much behind this term
每次想到这个问题时 我们都应该注意 And anytime you think about it you have to think about redemption
上帝是作为这家族的一员 as God's efforts at maintaining the group of
努力使其完整 which God is personally a member
那么 这就包含了一个很广泛的范围了 And this sets into bold relief the way in which
包括上帝的子民里各种从属群体 subsequent groups of the people of God
教会 犹太教会 churches, synagogues, and so on
都可以认为他们属于同一个家庭 think of themselves as family together
并且上帝也是这个家庭中的一名现行成员 but also family in which God is an active participant