旧约 - 士师记(Judges)第11章

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.
Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?
And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.
And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.
And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:
And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.
But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.
And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.
And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.
And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
士师记第十一章   第 11 章 

  士 11:1-2> 人无法选择自己的出身,却可以选择对生活的态度,看耶弗他就可知── 

  11:1-2 耶弗他是基列的一个妾侍所生的,被同父异母的兄弟赶出家门。这并不是由于他本身做错了事,而是别人欺负他。尽管他们弃绝他,神却使用他。假使别人不公平的弃绝你,不要怨恨沮丧。要记住,耶弗他虽然陷于不公平的境地,仍然蒙神使用。你要知道,即使你真的被人弃绝,神也能使用你。 

  士 11:3> 对人的歧视有没有发生在我身边?我自己做得如何? 

  11:3 人不能控制的环境逼得耶弗他飘流在外,成为亡命之徒。现今,人也常常会把不合乎社会、群体标准的人逐出群体之外;基督徒也会同样对待教会的人。有许多时候,他们正如耶弗他的兄弟一样,只因为成见,不肯排除先入为主的错误想法,因此失去了可用之材。你要留意,看在你周围的人中,有没有可能成为耶弗他之人,因无法控制的因素而被冷落。基督徒应当知道,每一个人在神家中都各有其分。你能否尽力协助,使他们得蒙接纳,表现特色且发挥才能呢? 

  士 11:11> 耶弗他将自己的一切话陈明在耶和华面前,是什么意思? 

  11:11 古时人常在神庙里立约,好得到神只为证,书面的立约也常常存放在神庙里。耶弗他这样行很像是登基为王的仪式。 

  士 11:14-26> 耶弗他对亚扪人作出的回答,反映出他的哪些特质? 

  11:14-26 耶弗他打发人去见亚扪人的王,问他为什么要攻击基列地的以色列人( 11:12 )。亚扪王回答说,以色列人侵占这地,所以他要收回 (11:13) 。 

  耶弗他打发另一个使者去见亚扪王( 11:14-27 ),提出三点来反驳他的要求:( 1 )因为以色列人是从亚摩利人手中夺到基列地,而不是从亚扪人手中夺得的,所以它从起初就不属于亚扪( 11:16-22 )。( 2 )以色列人应当拥有他们的神所赐之土地,亚扪人也当拥有自己的神所赐的领土。( 3 )自从以色列人在三百年以前攻占那地以来,没有人和他们争过这地的主权( 11:25-26 )。 

  耶弗他想以不流血的方式解决这个问题,这是他的好作风,但是亚扪王不理他的解释,准备动武。 

  士 11:27> 士师的原意即为“审判者”,但真正的审判者是…… 

  11:27 以色列人在过去这些年中,经历了许多士师的领导,惟有耶弗他承认耶和华是众人的真正审判者(士师),是能真正的率领他们、帮助他们打败侵略者的独一真神。 

  士 11:30-31> 向神许愿绝非儿戏,因为── 

  11:30-31 按照神的律法来说,向祂许愿是向祂作出承诺,人不可以违背(参民 30:1-2 ;申 23:21-23 )。在圣经时代有很多人许过愿,有些人也像耶弗他一样,做得非常愚蠢。 

  士 11:30-31> 耶弗他是想把人献为燔祭吗?这…… 

  11:30-31 在耶弗他许愿的时候,他有否慎重地想过,在他回家的时候,是他家里的人,而不是山羊、绵羊会首先来迎接他呢?学者对这个问题意见不一。有些人认为耶弗他考虑到杀人献祭的可能,理由如下:( 1 )他来自异教地区,那里杀人献祭是平常的事,在他眼中似乎并不是罪。( 2 )可能出于没有宗教律法的背景,也许不知道神吩咐不准杀人献祭。 

  认为他不会想到杀人献祭的人,提出以下的凭证:( 1 )他既是以色列人的领袖,就必然清楚神的律法,杀人献祭是神明令禁止的(参利 18:21 ; 20:1-5 )。( 2 )如果他把人当作祭物献上的话,没有合法的祭司能帮他还所许的愿。 

  他究竟将女儿献上为燔祭没有呢?有些人认为献上了,因为他许的愿是把她献作燔祭。有些人认为没有,理由如下:( 1 )如果女孩子要死的话,她不会上山去度过最后的两个月。( 2 )神不会接受人依据恶俗所许的愿。( 3 ) 39 节说她从来没有结婚(终身没有亲近男子),并不是说她死了,这句话含有她被分别出来事奉神之意,并没有被杀的意思。 

  士 11:34-35> 从耶弗他许愿一事上,我得到教训了吗? 

  11:34-35 耶弗他冒失的许愿,使他有难以形容的哀伤。人在情绪激动,或是个人心境难平的时候,很容易向神作出愚昧的承诺。我们作出承诺,听起来可能非常属灵,但是我们勉强履行这些承诺,只会产生罪咎与挫折感。作属灵的“讨价还价”只令人失望。神不要人对未来作出承诺,只要人现在顺服。──《灵修版圣经注释》