旧约 - 士师记(Judges)第11章

Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute.
Gilead's wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family," they said, "because you are the son of another woman."
So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a group of adventurers gathered around him and followed him.
Some time later, when the Ammonites made war on Israel,
the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
"Come," they said, "be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites."
Jephthah said to them, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now, when you're in trouble?"
The elders of Gilead said to him, "Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be our head over all who live in Gilead."
Jephthah answered, "Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me--will I really be your head?"
The elders of Gilead replied, "The LORD is our witness; we will certainly do as you say."
So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.
Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: "What do you have against us that you have attacked our country?"
The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah's messengers, "When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably."
Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king,
saying: "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.
But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the desert to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh.
Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Give us permission to go through your country,' but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
"Next they traveled through the desert, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.
"Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, 'Let us pass through your country to our own place.'
Sihon, however, did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his men and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.
"Then the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his men into Israel's hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country,
capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.
"Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over?
Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess.
Are you better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them?
For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn't you retake them during that time?
I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the LORD, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites."
The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands,
whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD'S, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."
Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands.
He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.
When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.
When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break."
"My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.
But grant me this one request," she said. "Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry."
"You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.
After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. From this comes the Israelite custom
that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
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》