ISRAEL ｜ 以色列

ENISRAEL: the Hebrew nation, or Jewish people. As a nation or people, including all the sons of Jacob with their posterity; for this reason, as well as because of the change of Jacob's name by God Himself, the name Israel became their national designation. (References: Israel's sojourn in and departure from Egypt; the settlement in Canaan and the period of the Judges; God's purposes in the establishment of Israel; the Hebrew element in civilization—see The Bible Work, Vols. I-III.) Points of interest: Depressed and discouraged as were the Israelites in Egypt, they yet kept themselves as a community separate from their Egyptian masters, not acknowledging their gods nor coveting their greatness. The choice of Moses, which so impressed the imagination of the Christian apostle (Heb. 11:24 ff.), was, unconsciously but in a very essential way, the choice of the Hebrew people: otherwise they would have disappeared, long before the Exodus, among the multitudes of desert immigrants continually drawn into the insatiable maw of the empire of the Nile.

BSBHebrews 11:24, 25 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin.

中以色列：希伯来民族，即犹太民族。作为一个民族或百姓，包括雅各众子及其后裔；正因如此，又因神亲自为雅各改名，『以色列』遂成为他们民族的名号。（参引：以色列在埃及的寄居与出离；迦南的定居与士师时代；神设立以色列的旨意；文明中的希伯来元素——见《The Bible Work》第一至三卷。）要点：以色列人在埃及虽受压制、灰心丧气，却仍守住自己为一个与埃及主人分别的群体——不承认他们的神祇，不艳羡他们的显赫。摩西的抉择曾令基督使徒的想象深受震动（希伯来书 11:24 以下）；那抉择在不自觉之间、却以极本质的方式，也是希伯来民族的抉择：不然，早在出埃及以前，他们就会消失在源源被吸入尼罗河帝国那贪得无厌之巨口的沙漠移民群中了。

ENWe may divide the history of Canaan into three main periods. First, the time of general preparation—from the earliest antiquity up to and including the days of the Hebrew patriarchs—dominated by Babylonian political influence. Next, a period of special preparation: not only was the land of Canaan prepared for Israel, but Israel was prepared for the land of Canaan; this era is marked by controlling Egyptian influence. Finally came the time of the Hebrew occupation, marked by a gradual extension and absorption of the Canaanites, and the conversion of the country into Jehovah's land for Jehovah's people. The publication of the famous El Amarna letters—written to the Egyptian court, three hundred miles up the Nile, by Egyptian officials in Palestine, in the Babylonian language and script—has given us a rare glimpse into the life of Palestine two hundred years before the Exodus. This is the most remarkable literary fact of ancient history, showing that Babylonian civilization, literature and education followed upon the long Babylonian occupation of the West-land, and maintained their ground hundreds of years after the political influence of the empire of the Euphrates had entirely ceased. Babylonia conditioned the beginning of Israel, and the ending of its political existence. In the interval between its occupations of Canaan comes the Egyptian control, which itself, in the strange workings of Providence, was overruled so as to make a way for the people of Israel. Strange, that while Egypt within her own territory was preparing that people for their future career, she should also be preparing a home for them in another land! No wonder it was said, many ages afterward, by the mouth of a Hebrew prophet: "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt." Politically, Israel was always relatively unimportant among the nations; and the Hebrew tenure of the soil of Palestine was relatively short—of the four thousand years or thereabout before the Christian era through which we can follow the history of Western Asia, Palestine was held independently by the Hebrew race for only one eighth of the time. And yet the possession of this insignificant area by Israel determines ultimately the destiny of the whole wide earth. There was positively no other local habitation possible for the people of Jehovah, where they could work out the providential destiny which was to make them, instrumentally, the saviors of the world. J. F. McCurdy.

BSBHosea 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.

中迦南的历史可分为三大时期。其一，普遍预备期——自远古直到（并包括）希伯来列祖的时代——由巴比伦的政治影响主导。其二，特别预备期：不但迦南地为以色列被预备，以色列也为迦南地被预备；此期以埃及的支配性影响为标志。最后是希伯来人的占居期，以迦南人被逐步扩张吸纳、全地转化为『耶和华之民的耶和华之地』为标志。著名的埃勒–阿玛尔纳书简的刊布——那是驻巴勒斯坦的埃及官员用巴比伦语言文字写给尼罗河上游三百英里处埃及朝廷的信件——让我们难得地窥见出埃及之前两百年巴勒斯坦的生活。这是古代史上最引人注目的文献事实：它表明巴比伦的文明、文学与教育随着巴比伦对西土的长期占领而植根，并在幼发拉底帝国的政治影响完全消退之后仍维持了数百年。巴比伦制约了以色列的开端，也制约了其政治存在的终局。在巴比伦两度占有迦南之间的空档里，插入了埃及的控制；而这控制本身，在护理奇妙的运作之下，竟被扭转为给以色列人开路。奇哉：埃及一面在自己境内为那民预备将来的前程，一面竟又在另一块土地上为他们预备家园！难怪多少世代之后，借一位希伯来先知之口说出：『以色列年幼的时候我爱他，就从埃及召出我的儿子来。』就政治而论，以色列在列国中素来无足轻重；希伯来人对巴勒斯坦土地的据有也相对短暂——在公元前约四千年可考的西亚历史中，希伯来族独立据有巴勒斯坦的时间仅占八分之一。然而，以色列对这块弹丸之地的据有，最终决定了整个辽阔大地的命运。为耶和华的子民，实在不可能另有一处居所，可以让他们在其中成就那要使他们（作器皿）成为世界拯救者的护理性命定。麦柯迪（J. F. McCurdy）

ENBroad historical outlines of Israel's connection with Babylonia and Assyria, with Egypt and Syria—by Professor J. F. McCurdy (Homiletic Review, 1896). I. General Summary: a few far-reaching conclusions arrived at with the help of the lately exhumed monuments of Oriental antiquity. 1. The Old Testament is a history of the ancient Northern Semites, and among them especially of the people of Israel, to whom and by whom has come the knowledge of God's works and ways. 2. Viewed outwardly, the history of Israel is an episode in the larger history of the states of Western Asia. Israel was itself an offshoot of the race that controlled for thousands of years the whole great region between the Mediterranean and the Tigris; it shared with the kindred peoples some of its fundamental institutions—political, social, and religious; its destiny was determined also by the movements of the larger states dominant within that circle. 3. The great controlling factor among the nations, and the disposer of the destiny of Israel, was the dual empire and civilization of Babylonia and Assyria. With Babylonia the Old Testament history begins, and with it Israel's career as a nation ends. 4. Viewed from within, these relations of Israel were so ordered and disposed that they ministered materially to its higher life. Israel received the word of Jehovah; but only by prolonged and drastic discipline could the moral and spiritual truths of revelation be made real to its recipients. 5. The golden age of prophecy in Israel—the most active period of revelation, the most productive and influential era of Hebrew literature—was coincident with the time of the closest contact between Israel and the Eastern empire. To understand those relations is to hold a key to some of the priceless treasures of the Word of God. 6. The Babylonians and Assyrians were the best record-keepers of the ancient East: their surviving annals are fairly full and on the whole accurate, and serve at once to explain and to supplement the Hebrew records. They were also the best time-keepers of antiquity: their chronological notices furnish a framework for the Old Testament history. 7. Assyriology holds already a foremost place in Biblical apologetics: it furnishes by far the best tests of the historical accuracy of the Old Testament—(a) directly, by the actual record: all the numerous statements as to international events made in the historical books are verified by the cuneiform annals wherever the same topics are touched upon in the two literatures; (b) indirectly, through the larger interpretation of history: the many allusions in the Bible to peoples outside of Israel are shown by the reconstructed history of Western Asia to bear an essential part in the unfolding of the providential purpose displayed in the discipline and education of God's ancient people for the salvation of the race.

BSBRomans 3:2 Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

中以色列与巴比伦、亚述以及埃及、叙利亚关系的历史大纲——麦柯迪教授撰（《讲道评论》1896 年）。一、总论：借助新近出土的东方古代碑碣得出的几条影响深远的结论。1. 旧约是古代北闪族的历史，其中尤以以色列民为主——认识神的作为与法则的知识，正是临到他们、又借他们传开的。2. 从外部看，以色列的历史是西亚诸邦更大历史中的一段插曲。以色列本身就是那个数千年间控制着地中海与底格里斯河之间整片大区域之种族的支脉；它与诸同宗民族共有若干根本制度——政治的、社会的、宗教的；它的命运也由那圈同宗民族中居主导地位的大国的动向所决定。3. 列国间的最大支配因素、以色列命运的处置者，是巴比伦—亚述这对孪生帝国及其文明。旧约历史以巴比伦开篇，以色列的国族生涯也随巴比伦而落幕。4. 从内部看，以色列的这些国际关系被安排调度得恰恰实质性地服务于它更高的生命。以色列领受了耶和华的话；但唯有借漫长而剧烈的管教，启示中的道德与属灵真理才能对领受者变得真切。5. 以色列预言的黄金时代——启示最活跃的时期、希伯来文学最多产最有影响的年代——恰与以色列同东方帝国接触最密的时期重合。明白那些关系，就握住了打开神话语中若干无价珍藏的一把钥匙。6. 巴比伦人与亚述人是古代东方最好的记录者：他们存世的编年史相当完备、大体准确，恰可解释并补充希伯来的记载。他们还是古代最好的计时者：其纪年提供了旧约历史的年代框架。7. 亚述学在圣经护教学中已居前列：它为旧约的历史准确性提供了迄今最好的检验——（a）直接的，凭实际记录：历史书中关于国际事件的众多陈述，凡两种文献同涉一题之处，无不为楔形文字编年史所证实；（b）间接的，凭对历史的更大解读：圣经中对以色列以外诸民族的大量提及，经重建的西亚史显明，在神管教教育其古代子民以拯救人类这一护理旨意的展开中，占有本质性的一环。

ENII. Great points in Israel's history. International conditions which preserved Israelitish nationality: Canaan was not normally a country left to itself, open to chance invaders. On account of its international position and strategic advantages it was greatly coveted by the ruling powers of the ancient East, and usually occupied by one or the other of them. Thus the independent rule of Israel was but a brief interlude in the long and checkered history of the Holy Land—a history of national and racial vicissitude, of dependence and servitude. This somewhat startling fact brings out in strong relief the pre-eminent importance of the Hebrew regime in Palestine—so brief and politically so insignificant, and yet fraught with infinite and world-wide issues. Israel's occupation of the Promised Land was made possible through the retirement of Egypt, after the fierce conflicts with the Hittites had left either power incapable of holding a permanent empire in Western Asia. Both Hittites and Egyptians, however, followed a more ancient and powerful claimant: they were, so to speak, the residuary legatees of the Babylonians. For many centuries before the Egyptians ventured to set foot in Palestine, the Babylonians had colonized, ruled, and civilized the whole Mediterranean coastland. When either Babylonia or Assyria was unquestionably supreme in the East, the control of the West-land fell to it almost as a matter of course. But for centuries before and after the entrance of Israel into Canaan, Babylonia and Assyria were contending with one another as rivals upon nearly equal terms: this was accordingly the era of the conflicts of Egyptians and Hittites for the possession of the West, and of the appearance of Israel as one among the nations. This period of strife between the empires of the Euphrates and the Tigris involved also the era of Israel's growth as a people, of the rise of the monarchy, of the political, moral, and religious changes which conditioned the reception and progress of Revelation. Thus it came to pass that when Assyria reached undisputed predominance, the fate of Syria and Palestine was sealed, and one of the kingdoms of Israel was obliterated; and when Assyria in its turn gave way to the reviving Chaldean power, the other kingdom of Israel came to an end. Such are, in broadest outline, the conditions which made it possible for Israel to secure and retain a refuge and a home for itself and its religion in the intervals between larger international movements.

中二、以色列历史的大关节。保全以色列国族的国际条件：迦南在常态下并不是一块无主之地、任凭偶来的入侵者染指。因其国际位置与战略优势，它为古代东方的列强所艳羡，通常总被其中一强占据。因此，以色列的独立统治不过是圣地漫长而斑驳历史中的短暂插曲——那是一部民族与种族兴替、依附与奴役的历史。这个多少令人吃惊的事实，反而把希伯来政权在巴勒斯坦的超凡重要性衬托得分外鲜明——如此短促、政治上如此无足轻重，却孕育着无穷而及于全世界的后果。以色列得以占据应许之地，是因埃及的引退——与赫人的恶战使两强都无力在西亚维持长久的帝国。然而赫人与埃及人都跟在一个更古老更强大的先主之后：可以说，他们是巴比伦人的剩余遗产继承人。早在埃及人敢于踏足巴勒斯坦之前许多世纪，巴比伦人已在整个地中海沿岸殖民、统治、施化。每当巴比伦或亚述在东方独大无疑，西土的控制权几乎顺理成章归它。但在以色列进迦南前后的数百年间，巴比伦与亚述势均力敌、互为劲敌：这便是埃及人与赫人争夺西方、以色列借着定居巴勒斯坦而跻身列国的年代。幼发拉底与底格里斯两帝国相争的这一时期，也正是以色列作为民族成长、王国兴起、政治道德宗教诸变迁制约着启示之领受与进展的年代。于是，当亚述取得无可争议的优势，叙利亚与巴勒斯坦的命运便告注定，以色列两国之一（北国）被抹去；及至亚述又让位于复兴的迦勒底势力，以色列的另一国（犹大）也走到尽头。以上就是最粗线条的轮廓：正是这些条件，使以色列得以在更大国际运动的间隙里，为自己和自己的宗教夺得并保有一处避难所与家园。

ENIsrael's connections with Syria: Of Israel's closer rivals, the most influential were the Aramaeans ("Syrians") of Damascus. We meet here a very remarkable phenomenon: the degree of political influence exerted by the kindred peoples upon the Hebrews was in inverse ratio to their geographical nearness, and even to their family relationship. The nearest kindred of Israel—the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites—were often its fierce rivals; their function, however, was rather to hold in check and to chasten the people of Jehovah than permanently to affect their career. But the Aramaeans had a task to fulfill toward Israel which has given them their chief historical importance, and a conspicuous place in the history of Revelation: their relations with Israel largely determined the rise and development of a cycle of Old Testament prophecy. The Aramaeans came in force over the Euphrates after the wars between the Egyptians and Hittites. The Hebrews had scarcely been settled in Canaan before they had to undergo a term of subjection to Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. In the time of David we read of several powerful Aramaean communities reaching from the Euphrates to Damascus: this greatest and most enterprising king of Israel put them under tribute, and thus fixed the traditional and ideal limits of the "kingdom of David" for all coming time. But before the reign of Solomon was over, all trace of Aramaean subjection to Israel was gone. Half a century after the division of the kingdom, Asa of Judah even called in the aid of Benhadad I of Damascus against his rival, Baasha of Northern Israel—with the result that valuable Galilean territory was incorporated into the rising kingdom of Damascus. Henceforth, until the Assyrian came upon the West-land, the Aramaeans held the leading position; and such predominance would in all human probability have proved fatal to both kingdoms of Israel, had it not been put an end to by the intervention of the Assyrians.

BSB1 Kings 15:18, 19, 20 18 So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus: 19 “Let there be a treaty between me and you as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Now go and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.” 20 And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.

中以色列与叙利亚的关系：在以色列较近的对手中，影响最大的是大马士革的亚兰人（即圣经的『叙利亚人』）。我们在此遇见一个极堪注意的现象：同宗诸族对希伯来人施加的政治影响，与其地理的邻近程度、甚至与其血缘的亲疏，恰成反比。以色列血缘最近的亲族——以东人、摩押人、亚扪人——固然常是它凶悍的对头；但他们的功能，与其说是长久左右耶和华子民的前程，不如说是牵制并管教他们。亚兰人对以色列却负有一项使命——这使命给了他们主要的历史重要性，也给了他们在启示史中的显要位置：他们与以色列的关系，很大程度上决定了旧约一个预言系列的兴起与展开。埃及人与赫人的战争之后，亚兰人大举渡过幼发拉底。希伯来人在迦南立足未稳，就先受了米所波大米王古珊利萨田一个时期的辖制。到大卫的时代，我们读到从幼发拉底直到大马士革之间有数个强盛的亚兰邦：以色列这位最伟大、最有进取心的君王使它们纳贡称臣，从而为万代立定了『大卫之国』传统而理想的疆界。但所罗门在位未终，亚兰臣服以色列的痕迹已荡然无存。王国分裂半个世纪后，犹大的亚撒竟招引大马士革的便哈达一世来对付他的对头、北国的巴沙——结果加利利的宝贵疆土并入了方兴的大马士革王国。从此直到亚述人临到西土，亚兰人占据首位；这种优势，若非亚述人的干预将其终结，按人之常情推断，早晚必置以色列两国于死地。

ENObserve the principal stages in the providential process. Northern Israel was first made a strong, self-contained state by the genius of Omri, the founder of Samaria; it was he and his dynasty who maintained the independence of Israel against the Aramaeans. Three notable features mark the era of the house of Omri: the promotion of the Phoenician Baal-worship; the Syrian wars; and the ministry of the great political prophets, Elijah and Elisha—this last provoked and largely determined by the other two, and marking the beginning of that wide and keen interest in the external relations of Israel which is so essential an element in Hebrew prophecy. In the midst of the wars between Benhadad II of Damascus and Ahab of Israel, news suddenly came (854 B.C.) that Shalmaneser II of Assyria was marching down from the Euphrates. At once the kingdoms of the West-land laid aside their habitual strife and combined to meet the invader: foremost in the array stood the Aramaeans of Damascus; side by side with them—for the first and only time—stood the chariots and foot-soldiers of Israel. The confederacy was defeated; but it showed the intruders what the obstacles were to their westward march. The most critical period for Israel came with the fall of the house of Omri: the dynasty of Jehu was unable to withstand the onslaughts of the terrible regicide Hazael, under whom Damascus rose to a height of military power never equaled by any native community of Syria or Palestine. Northern Israel was almost obliterated, and the kingdom of Judah brought to terms of submission. How then was Israel rescued? The answers till lately lay under the earth. Now we learn that it was during a temporary withdrawal of the Assyrians that Hazael had scope for action in Palestine; a few years thereafter the Assyrians returned, and under Ramman-nirari III the city of Damascus itself was at length taken (797 B.C.), and thenceforward never took a leading place among the nations. This was the opportunity of both Israel and Judah—for the Assyrians themselves then remained inactive for nearly half a century. Thus we account for the prosperous reigns of Jeroboam II and Uzziah. One thing more we learn, of the very highest significance: at this period, when Israel was reaping the bitter fruits of its prosperity as well as of its adversity, Amos and Hosea came forward as the first of the great literary prophets. With them the high career of Damascus is a thing of the past; they look forward, with marvelous political and moral insight and foresight, to the return of the Assyrian hosts and the captivity of faithless, dissolute Israel. How different would have been the history of Israel and Judah—how different the course of Revelation itself—if Assyria had not done its brief but effective work upon Damascus!

BSBAmos 5:27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.

中请注意这护理进程的几个主要阶段。北国以色列先是靠撒玛利亚的奠基者暗利的雄才，被造成一个强固自立的邦国；正是他和他的王朝，在亚兰人面前维持了以色列的独立。暗利家的时代有三大标志：推广腓尼基的巴力崇拜；与叙利亚的战争；以及大政治先知以利亚、以利沙的职事——这末一项由前两项激发并大体决定，标志着对以色列对外关系那种广泛而敏锐的关切的开端，而这关切正是希伯来预言极本质的元素。在大马士革的便哈达二世与以色列的亚哈交战正酣之际，忽然传来消息（公元前 854 年）：亚述的撒缦以色二世正从幼发拉底挥师南下。西土诸国立刻搁下积年的争斗，联合御敌：阵列之首是大马士革的亚兰人；与他们并肩——史上第一次也是唯一一次——站着以色列的战车与步卒。联军战败了；但这一役让越河而来的入侵者看清了西进路上的障碍。以色列最危急的时期随暗利家的倾覆而至：耶户王朝抵挡不住弑君枭雄哈薛的猛攻；在哈薛手里，大马士革的军力升到叙利亚—巴勒斯坦任何本土政权从未企及的高度。北国以色列几被抹平，犹大国也被迫屈服请和。那么以色列是怎样获救的？答案直到不久前还埋在地下。如今我们得知：正是趁亚述人暂时撤离之机，哈薛才在巴勒斯坦有了用武之地；数年之后亚述人卷土重来，到拉曼尼拉里三世治下，大马士革城终于陷落（公元前 797 年），从此再未在列国中居于前列。这正是以色列与犹大共同的机会——因为亚述人自己随后偃旗息鼓近半个世纪。耶罗波安二世与乌西雅的盛世由此得解。我们还学到一件意义至高的事：正当以色列既收顺境的苦果又收逆境的苦果之时，阿摩司与何西阿挺身而出，成为大文学先知的先驱。在他们笔下，大马士革的煊赫已成过去；他们以惊人的政治与道德的洞察与远见，预见亚述大军的重来和不忠、放荡之以色列的被掳。倘若亚述不曾对大马士革做成那短促而有效的一击，以色列与犹大的历史将何等不同——启示本身的进程又将何等不同！

ENAssyria and Israel's first captivity. Next to the Assyrians and Babylonians themselves, the Aramaeans of Damascus were the most dangerous and persistent of all the foes of ancient Israel—for many years more than a mere rival, its superior in power, and seemingly its destined conqueror. Only one chance remained for Israel: that a nation greater still should hold these enemies in check. This was accomplished by the Assyrians. In their persistent attempts to subjugate the West, the Syrians of Damascus were almost the only people of consequence to oppose them; they waged an unequal contest, and the result determined the survival of Israel until the completion of its work for the world's religion. Soon there comes another period—the most momentous of all for the national and religious life of Israel: the aggressor now is the Assyrian himself. 2 Kings 15:29 tells of the first systematic invasion of Israelitish territory by the soldiers of Asshur. Northern Israel, in the time of its latest kings, fell a prey to moral and religious corruption and internal discord; in the reign of the usurping king Pekah it formed an unprecedented and anomalous combination with Damascus against the kingdom of Judah, then under the weak and idolatrous Ahaz; and Ahaz called in the help of the king of Assyria, with the result so disastrous to the northern kingdom. "Tiglath-Pileser . . . carried away captive": these words, looked at in the light now thrown upon them by the cuneiform inscriptions, stand for the most far-reaching political movement of the whole history of the ancient East. Tiglath-Pileser III was one of the few great leaders of men who have turned the course of the world's history: it was he who determined that there was to be an empire in Western Asia, instead of a multitude of petty states in perpetual conflict; by renewing Assyrian predominance he set the example of imperial rule which has since been followed by the founders of all the great empires of the Western world. (In v. 39 of the same chapter the Assyrian invader who had been bought off by Menahem is twice called "Pul"; all difficulty has been removed by evidence showing that Pul, or Pulu, was the original name of the great ruler, who assumed the other name in imitation of Tiglath-Pileser I. Thus the accuracy of the Biblical narrative is surprisingly attested.)

BSB2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.

中亚述与以色列的第一次被掳。除亚述人与巴比伦人自己之外，大马士革的亚兰人是古代以色列一切仇敌中最凶险、最持久的——多年间已不止是对手，而是实力在上、看似注定要作它征服者的强邻。以色列只剩一线生机：须有一个比叙利亚更大的国把这仇敌钳制住。这事由亚述人成就了。在亚述人锲而不舍征服西方的尝试中，大马士革的叙利亚人几乎是唯一有分量的抵抗者；他们打的是一场实力悬殊的仗，而其结局决定了以色列得以存活，直到完成它对世界宗教的工作。不久，另一个时期来临——对以色列的民族与宗教生命而言最为重大的时期：这一回，侵略者是亚述人自己。列王纪下 15:29 记载了亚述军队对以色列疆土的第一次系统入侵。北国在其末代诸王时期，沦为道德宗教败坏与内乱的猎物；篡位的比加王在位时，竟与大马士革结成史无前例的联盟，进攻当时由软弱拜偶像的亚哈斯统治的犹大国；亚哈斯招来亚述王相助，其结果对北国是灭顶之灾。『提革拉毗列色……掳去』——这几个字，放在楔形铭文如今投来的光中看，代表着整个古代东方历史上影响最深远的政治运动。提革拉毗列色三世是扭转过世界历史进程的少数伟大人物之一：正是他决定了西亚将出现一个帝国，而不是一群争斗不休的蕞尔小邦；他重振亚述霸权，立下了帝国统治的范例——此后西方世界一切大帝国的缔造者都步其后尘。（同章 19 节两次称那位被米拿现用金银买退的亚述侵略者为『普勒』；如今证据显明：普勒（Pulu）正是这位大君原来的名字，他后来仿效提革拉毗列色一世而改称今名——一切疑难涣然冰释，圣经叙事的准确性得到惊人的印证。）【OCR 注：原书 "v. 10" 依上下文推定为列王纪下 15:19。】

ENBut of far more significance than his achievements in war was the policy of which Tiglath-Pileser was the chief promoter: the method of dealing with subject peoples which he brought to a system. He made it his business to carry away to distant regions the inhabitants of countries which offered stubborn resistance. The device was not new; but hitherto it had not been employed as a matter of fundamental state policy. Our text gives the first instance of its application to the land of Israel. Henceforth a new factor was added to the political, social, and religious forces of Israel's national life; a new dread entered into the forebodings of the patriot, and a new prevision into the outlook of the prophet. As the great subverter of the nations went on irresistibly "removing the boundaries of the peoples" (Isa. 10:13), the thought of deportation and exile became ever more familiar to serious minds in Israel, and colored and molded all the subsequent literature. In the annals of the later Assyrian kings, the fate of Israel—its gradual dismemberment, its removal and dispersion—appears as but a commonplace instance of the working of a gigantic system; but these incidents are lifted out of historical commonplace by the universal significance of Israel's special struggle, its far-reaching, or rather its eternal, spiritual issues. How the prophets of Israel interwove them into the fabric of their discourse, no open-eyed reader can fail to observe. And while the annals of Tiglath-Pileser make mention of the very transactions recorded in our text, the whole movement was in the mind of a keen and watchful prophet of Israel more than twenty years before: "Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land" (Amos 7:17); "therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah" (Amos 5:27).

BSBAmos 7:17 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”

中然而比他武功更有分量的，是提革拉毗列色所首倡的政策：他把处置臣服民族的办法定成了制度。他把一件事当作本务：把顽强抵抗之地的居民迁往远方。这一手段并不新鲜，但在此之前从未被当作根本国策来推行。我们的经文正是这一制度施于以色列地的第一例。从此，以色列民族生活的政治、社会、宗教诸力量中添入了一个新因素；爱国者的忧惧里进驻了一种新的恐怖，先知的前瞻里进驻了一种新的预见。当这位列国的大颠覆者势不可挡地『挪移列国的地界』（以赛亚书 10:13）时，放逐与流亡的念头在以色列严肃的心灵中日益熟稔，并且浸染、塑造了此后的全部文学。在亚述后期诸王的编年史里，以色列的命运——被逐步肢解、被迁徙离散——不过是一部庞大制度运转中的寻常一例；但以色列独特争战的普世意义、其影响深远（毋宁说永恒）的属灵后果，把这些事件从历史的寻常里擎举出来。以色列的先知们如何把它们织入自己讲论的经纬，明眼的读者无不看见。而且，当提革拉毗列色的编年史提及我们经文所记的那些事时，整场运动早在二十多年前就已在以色列一位敏锐儆醒的先知心中：『以色列民定被掳去离开本地』（阿摩司书 7:17）；『所以我要把你们掳到大马士革以外，这是耶和华说的』（阿摩司书 5:27）。

ENAssyria and Hezekiah, king of Judah. Why does the Old Testament, as contrasted with the New, concern itself with secular history and with the politics even of Gentile nations? Why do the Benhadads, and Shalmaneser, and Sennacherib, and the Rabshakeh find a place in the sacred records along with Moses and Samuel and David and Isaiah? The reason is mainly this: that the progress of the kingdom of God among men depended essentially upon the preservation of the people of God as a nation. During the period of Old Testament revelation, Israel was working out, under its peculiar political and social system, the truth of God as it was being "spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners." The destruction of the Jewish state would annul these outward conditions. At the coming of the Christ, the Jewish Church had long been the depository, under the guardianship of powerful empires, of a revelation complete in itself; and when the new and fuller doctrine came to be given, the world had been providentially prepared for its wider propagation: the prophet was now replaced by the missionary. The true religion, being no longer confined to a single state, needed no longer a national arena or continuous political protection. The Northern Kingdom had fallen, never to be restored; the future of the kingdom of God was now committed to the smaller and weaker of the two kingdoms. Isaiah and Micah had watched with intensest interest the decline and fall of Samaria, and put on record the moral of that catastrophe. There rested ever upon the faithful the one overshadowing dread: that Assyria might complete the obliteration of Israel by the ruin of Judah and Jerusalem, and thus make an end of the worship of Jehovah and of His earthly dwelling-place.

BSBHebrews 1:1 On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.

中亚述与犹大王希西家。为什么旧约——与新约对照——如此关切世俗历史，甚至关切外邦列国的政治？为什么便哈达们、撒缦以色、西拿基立、拉伯沙基，能与摩西、撒母耳、大卫、以赛亚同列于圣册？原因主要在此：神的国在人间的进展，本质上有赖于神的子民作为一个国族得蒙保全。在旧约启示时期，以色列正是在其独特的政治社会体制之下，把神『多次多方晓谕列祖』的真理以实践而具示范性的方式活出来。犹太国一旦覆亡，这些外部条件便告作废。到基督降临时，犹太教会早已在列强的看护之下，作了一部自成完璧之启示的存放所；及至那更新更全的教义要赐下时，世界也已被护理预备妥当，可供其更广传布：先知的位置如今由宣教士接替。真宗教既不再局限于一国之内，便不再需要国族的舞台，也不再需要持续的政治保护。北国已倾覆，永不复国；神国的前途如今托付给两国中较小较弱的那一个。以赛亚与弥迦曾以最深切的关注注视撒玛利亚的衰亡，并把那场大祸的鉴戒笔之于册。忠信者头上始终悬着一重笼罩一切的恐惧：亚述或将以毁灭犹大与耶路撒冷来完成对以色列的抹除，从而终结耶和华的敬拜与他在地上的居所。

ENHow did the chances stand for the survival of Judah and Jerusalem? Ahaz had become a client of the great Tiglath-Pileser, and had introduced into the worship of Jehovah some of the more imposing features of Assyrian worship. Almost coincidently with the fall of Samaria occurred his death and the accession of young Hezekiah. In religious matters the prophets could direct the new ruler, thanks to the tutelage of the watchful Isaiah; but in political affairs Hezekiah was, for at least half of his reign, under the influence of a restless, intriguing war-party in Jerusalem, whose chief ally was the ambitious but unreliable empire of the Nile. During the former half of his reign the redoubtable Sargon controlled the affairs of Western Asia; the Assyrian monarch speaks of himself in one surviving document as the devastator of the land of Judah. When light falls again from the monuments, we find Jerusalem itself threatened with destruction, because it was in direct rebellion as a member of a league of disaffected states. There is no stage of Israel's history more satisfactorily illustrated by the cuneiform records than this most critical era: Jerusalem, Lachish; Hezekiah, Sennacherib, even the remote Merodach-baladan of Babylon—the parts played by all of these are set forth in the inscribed or sculptured memorials of Assyria. Sennacherib came to the throne in 705 B.C. Merodach-baladan, the usurping king of Babylon, an adventurous and heroic Chaldean, lost no time in advancing his aims against the Assyrian oppressor: he sent an embassy to Hezekiah with a letter and presents—the ostensible object, to congratulate him upon his recovery from sickness; the real purpose, to engage him in revolt. Hezekiah actively interfered among the Philistine cities to further the conspiracy, promoting a revolution in Ekron by seizing its kinglet, who was loyal to Sennacherib. Thus the policy of Judah had brought the kingdom, and with it the religion of Jehovah, to the extremest point of peril: it was a revolt stirred up from the Nile to the Tigris, and in it Hezekiah was an arch-mover and Jerusalem a center. If Assyria should be victorious—and Isaiah did not fail to proclaim aloud (chap. 10) the irresistible might of the Great King—the fate of Judah and Jerusalem must be exemplary and terrible.

BSBIsaiah 39:1 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness and recovery.

中犹大与耶路撒冷存亡的胜算如何？亚哈斯已作了大君提革拉毗列色的藩臣，并把亚述崇拜中一些较为堂皇的成分引进了耶和华的敬拜。几乎与撒玛利亚陷落同时，他去世，年轻的希西家即位。在宗教事务上，多亏儆醒的以赛亚从旁教导，先知们尚能引导新君；但在政治事务上，希西家至少有半朝之久受制于耶路撒冷一个躁动钻营的主战派——其头号盟友是野心勃勃却靠不住的尼罗河帝国。希西家前半朝，威名赫赫的撒珥根掌控西亚局势；这位亚述君主在一份存世文书中自称『蹂躏犹大地者』。当碑碣之光再次照亮时，我们看见耶路撒冷本身已面临毁灭的威胁——因为它作为不满诸国同盟的一员，公然反叛。以色列历史上没有哪个阶段，比这最危急的年代得到楔形文献更充分的印证：耶路撒冷、拉吉；希西家、西拿基立、甚至远在巴比伦的米罗达巴拉但——这些人物各自扮演的角色，都铭刻或雕绘在亚述的碑碣上。西拿基立于公元前 705 年即位。巴比伦的篡位之王米罗达巴拉但——一位敢作敢为、豪气纵横的迦勒底人——立刻着手推进他反抗亚述压迫者的图谋：他遣使团带书信礼物见希西家，名义上是恭贺其病愈，实则要拉他入伙反叛。希西家在非利士诸城中积极插手以推进密谋，靠劫持忠于西拿基立的以革伦小王，在那里策动了政变。这样，犹大的国策已把王国、连同耶和华的宗教，带到了危险的极点：这是一场从尼罗河煽到底格里斯河的大叛乱，希西家是主谋之一，耶路撒冷是一处中心。亚述若获胜——以赛亚并未讳言（第 10 章）那位『大王』势不可挡的威力——犹大与耶路撒冷的下场必将成为儆戒，必将惨烈。

ENSennacherib now proceeds to take his revenge. In the spring of 701 he marches with a great army down the western coastland; secures the allegiance of southern Phoenicia; then divides his forces—one part dealing with the revolted Philistine cities, the other advancing through the heart of Hezekiah's kingdom, taking one city after another by assault, devastating wherever they moved. One glimpse of their march is given us by Isaiah, as he describes in graphic and unusually excited language (chap. 10:28-32) the progress of the relentless enemy through the pass of Michmash to the very environs of Jerusalem. Our text (2 Kings 18:13) is the only reference in the historical books to this awful campaign of carnage, desolation, and distress; now we may compare the Assyrian account, given in the name of Sennacherib himself: "Hezekiah the Judaite, who had not submitted to my yoke—forty-six of his fenced cities, and fortresses, and small towns in their vicinity without number, by battering-rams and the assaults of the breach-stormers and the strokes of axes, I besieged and took; 200,150 persons, small and great, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, large cattle and small cattle without number, I brought forth from the midst of them and allotted as spoil." Much more do the monuments record: the surrender by the overawed Hezekiah of the captive king of Ekron; the blockade of Jerusalem; the submission of Hezekiah; his payment of tribute; the inroad of the Egyptian army of relief and its crushing defeat; the capture of Ekron, Askalon, and Lachish—the last set forth in pictorial sculpture. No less instructive are the significant omissions of the official Assyrian report: the failure to tell of the second investment of Jerusalem and its sudden termination; of the plague-stroke in the marshes of Pelusium; and of the ignominious retreat from Palestine. We apprehend now, as never in any intervening age, the chances of Judah's destruction—from the resentment of the invincible king against an obstinate rebel, from the ruin and desolation of the territory, from the utter helplessness of the isolated capital and of the impoverished ruler who sat upon the tottering throne of David. And above and controlling all is revealed, closer and stronger than ever before, the arm of Jehovah, stretched out to smite and to save. J. F. McCurdy. (These outlines are filled out in "History, Prophecy, and the Monuments," by Professor J. F. McCurdy, University of Toronto.)

BSB2 Kings 19:35 And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!

中西拿基立于是着手复仇。公元前 701 年春，他率大军沿西部沿海地带南下；先收服南腓尼基的效忠；随后分兵——一路对付反叛的非利士诸城，另一路穿犹大腹地推进，逐城强攻，所过之处尽行蹂躏。以赛亚给我们留下了他们进军的一瞥：他用生动而异常激越的笔触（第 10 章 28-32 节）描绘那冷酷之敌穿过密抹隘口、直逼耶路撒冷城郊。我们的经文（列王纪下 18:13）是历史书中关于这场血腥杀伐、荒残离乱之役的唯一记载；如今可以对读以西拿基立本人名义留下的亚述记述：『犹大人希西家，不肯负我的轭——他的坚城四十六座，连同其境内不可胜数的堡垒与小镇，我用撞城槌、用破墙勇士的强攻、用斧钺的劈斫，围而克之；男女老幼二十万零一百五十口，马、骡、驴、驼，大畜小畜不可胜数，我从其中掳出，分为战利。』碑碣所记远不止此：被震慑的希西家交出所扣押的以革伦王；耶路撒冷被封锁；希西家屈服；纳贡；埃及援军的入境及其惨败；以革伦、亚实基伦、拉吉的陷落——末一项且有浮雕图绘传世。同样发人深省的，是亚述官方报告意味深长的缺笔：绝口不提对耶路撒冷的第二次围困及其戛然而止；不提培琉喜阿沼泽中的瘟疫一击；不提从巴勒斯坦的仓皇败退。如今我们比此前任何时代都更真切地体认犹大覆亡的几率何等之大——不可战胜的王对顽抗叛臣的震怒、疆土的残破荒凉、孤城的全然无助、坐在大卫摇摇欲坠宝座上那位穷竭受辱的君王的窘迫。而在这一切之上、统辖这一切的，是耶和华的膀臂——比以往任何时候都更近、更有力地显现出来：伸出来，为要击打，也为要拯救。麦柯迪（J. F. McCurdy）。（此纲要的详论见麦柯迪教授《历史、预言与碑碣》。）

ENSpecially noted points and passages—In the Old Testament: the extinction of the Kingdom of Israel by deportation and captivity, caused by rejection of God's covenant and flagrant, prolonged disobedience; the extinction of the Kingdom of Judah, the remnant carried into captivity, from like causes; the condition of the Jewish exiles during the Captivity; prophecies of dispersion among the nations (Jer. 15:4) and of return (Jer. 16:15); the preservation of the people of Israel through the centuries; the four centuries between the Testaments. In the New Testament—the place and mission of the Jewish people in relation to Christianity: John 4:22. Salvation is of the Jews. Acts 7:38. Who received living oracles to give unto us. Rom. 9:4, 5. Whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh. Rom. 11:11, 12, 15, 25, 26. See Kingdoms of Israelitish History.

BSBRomans 9:4, 5 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.

中特别标注的要点与段落——旧约方面：以色列国因弃绝神的约、悍然而长久的悖逆，被掳迁而亡国；犹大国因同类缘由而亡，余民被掳；被掳期间犹太流亡者的境况；分散列国的预言（耶利米书 15:4）与归回的预言（16:15）；以色列民历经诸世纪的保全；两约之间的四百年。新约方面——犹太民族对基督教的位置与使命：约翰福音 4:22 —— 救恩是从犹太人出来的。使徒行传 7:38 —— 领受活泼的圣言传给我们。罗马书 9:4-5 —— 那儿子的名分、荣耀、诸约、律法、礼仪、应许都是他们的。列祖就是他们的祖宗；按肉体说，基督也是从他们出来的。11:11-12, 15, 25-26。参主题词条：以色列历史中的诸国。

ENConcerning the future of the Jewish people: [The trend of Jewish migration at present is westward, farther than ever from the old land of Israel. There are about four times as many Jews now in New York City as in the whole of Palestine; tens of thousands are going to the Argentine Republic. They seem more and more torn loose from territorial attachments, and the great future of the Jewish race seems about to be wrought out in the free air of America. The return of the Jews is to be a spiritual return to Christ, their Messiah and Lord. The marvelous prophecies in Ezekiel 40-48, clothed in priestly language—speaking of a readjustment of the configuration of Palestine, of a temple a mile square, of a sacred "oblation" fifty miles square—clearly refer, in splendid imagery, to the future glories of the Church of Jesus Christ; and the "waters" flowing from beneath the sanctuary point to the life-giving streams of the Gospel dispensation, destined to vitalize and bless all mankind. A literal fulfillment of those extraordinary prophecies is manifestly physically impossible without the most stupendous miracle ever performed; the literal interpretation of the prophecies of the "return" is therefore extremely improbable. According to the New Testament, "he is not a Jew which is one outwardly"; "they are not all Israel which are of Israel." When a Jew believes in Christ, he becomes by faith a son of Abraham. The Christian Church to-day is the Israel of God. Two lines of prophecy run through the Old Testament—one pointing to the Messiah, the other to the future of the Jews. If we take one literally, we must take the other literally; if we take one spiritually, we must the other. If we say that the Jews are to return to Palestine, rebuild Jerusalem, reconstruct the temple with its altars, ritual, and ceremonies—then we are bound to say that the Messiah was to be an earthly king, and that He has never come. But if we claim that Jesus of Nazareth was the true Messiah, our atoning High Priest; and if the Epistle to the Hebrews rightly declared the whole Jewish dispensation, with its types, symbols, and rites, to have been fulfilled in Christ, and done away forever in Christ, the only Priest and Sacrifice—then we must believe that all the figurative glorious language with regard to the return of the Jews refers to their spiritual return to Christ their Saviour, and their reception by faith into the great company of Christ's disciples. The Apostle Paul says of Israel's future that "when the fullness of the Gentiles shall have come in, then all Israel shall be saved." Surely this is a more glorious future than a deportation to the narrow confines of Palestine, to set up again the old scaffolding of sacrifices and burnt offerings, which was torn down forever when the veil of the temple was rent as Christ our Saviour died on the Cross. Before the times of Jesus of Nazareth, Judaism led to Christ; since His advent, it leads away from Christ. God in His providence has made very clear the duty of the Church with regard to the Jews: He is locating them in the centers of Christian light and liberty, and preparing the way for their evangelization. The Jews are our fellow-citizens, neighbors, and friends; many of them are men of true nobility of character. They admit the beauty of the character of Jesus of Nazareth, and need only the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit to accept Him as their Messiah. God is bringing them to this continent in multitudes, and laying the burden of their salvation upon the heart of the Church of Christ. H. H. Jessup.]

BSBRomans 11:25, 26 25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob.

中论犹太民族的前途：〔当前犹太人迁徙的走向是向西，比任何时候都更远离以色列故土。如今纽约一城的犹太人约为全巴勒斯坦的四倍；数以万计的人正涌向南美的阿根廷共和国。他们似乎越来越挣脱了地域的系恋，犹太种族伟大的将来，看来要在美洲的自由空气里铸成。犹太人的『归回』，当是灵里归向基督——他们的弥赛亚与主。以西结书 40-48 章那些奇妙的预言，披着祭司体的语言与意象——说到巴勒斯坦地形的重新调配、一座一平方英里的圣殿、一块五十英里见方的圣『供地』——显然是以壮丽的图景指向耶稣基督教会将来的荣耀；从圣所底下涌流的『活水』，指向福音时代那注定要滋润、祝福全人类的生命江河。那些非常预言的字面应验，若无有史以来最惊天的神迹，在物理上显然不可能；因此对『归回』预言的字面解释极不可取。按新约：『外面作犹太人的，不是真犹太人』；『从以色列生的，不都是以色列人』。犹太人一信基督，便因信作了亚伯拉罕的子孙。今日的基督教会就是神的以色列。旧约里贯穿着两条预言线——一条指向弥赛亚，一条指向犹太人的将来。取其一为字面，则另一条也必须按字面取；取其一为属灵，则另一条亦然。我们若说犹太人要重返巴勒斯坦、重建耶路撒冷、重修圣殿连同祭坛礼仪——那就不得不说弥赛亚本当是地上的君王、而他从未来过。但我们若确认拿撒勒人耶稣是真弥赛亚、是我们赎罪的大祭司；若希伯来书宣告整个犹太制度连同其预表、象征与礼仪都已在基督里成全、并在独一的祭司与祭物基督里永远废去——那么我们就必须相信：旧约关于犹太人归回的一切华彩比喻之辞，指的都是他们灵里归向救主基督，因信被接入基督门徒的大群体。使徒保罗论以色列的将来说：『等到外邦人的数目添满了……以色列全家都要得救。』这前景，岂不远比把他们迁回巴勒斯坦的狭窄疆界、重新支起那座献祭燔祭的旧脚手架更荣耀吗——那脚手架早在我们的救主基督死于十字架、殿里幔子裂开之时，就被永远拆掉了。在拿撒勒人耶稣的时代以先，犹太教引人归向基督；自他降临以后，它引人离开基督。神在护理中已把教会对犹太人的本分显明：他正把他们安置在基督之光与自由的诸中心，为他们的福音化铺路。犹太人是我们的同胞、邻舍与朋友；其中许多人品格高贵。他们承认拿撒勒人耶稣品格之美，只待圣灵光照的大能，便可接受他为自己的弥赛亚。神正把他们成群带到这片大陆，把他们得救的担子放在基督教会的心上。耶瑟普（H. H. Jessup）〕