旧约 - 创世记(Genesis)第37章

Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had:
We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."
His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"
His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem,
and Israel said to Joseph, "As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them." "Very well," he replied.
So he said to him, "Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me." Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. When Joseph arrived at Shechem,
a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"
He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?"
"They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.
But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
"Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other.
"Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."
When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said.
"Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe--the richly ornamented robe he was wearing--
and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.
So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.
He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?"
Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe."
He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days.
All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him.
Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.
创世记第卅七章   第 37 章 

  约瑟 

  创 37:3> 父母爱儿女是不争的事实,只是在中国人的家庭中,却有点难以启齿……你,是这样吗? 

  37:3 当时,人人都有一件长袍或外衣,穿在身上可保暖,旅行时可以当包袱把杂物包在里面,又可用来包裹婴孩,或者用来当坐垫,甚至在急需时可作为当头向人借钱。大多数外衣很朴素,短袖、长及膝,约瑟的外衣则可能是王子所穿──长袖、长及脚踝、色彩鲜艳的那一种。这件外衣成为雅各宠爱约瑟的标记,约瑟与哥哥们的关系已经不融洽,这件彩衣就使他们的关系更趋恶化了。偏心尽管难以避免,但是作父母的应当把子女们分裂的可能性减至最低;对所偏爱的儿女的感觉或许难以改变,但是父母可以改变对其他儿女的态度。 

  创 37:6-11> 因自夸而伤害了身边的人,又忘了将荣耀归给神…… 

  37:6-11 约瑟的哥哥们对他已经怀恨在心,不想让这个弟弟来管治他们。约瑟不成熟和趾高气昂的态度,更使他们火上加油,为了去除这根眼中钉,愤怒的哥哥们把约瑟卖到埃及去作奴隶。没有人喜欢吹牛的人,约瑟受了多年的磨炼,终于明白才能和知识都是从神而来,人应当感谢神,而不应自夸。后来,他也学会将荣耀归给神( 41:16 )。 

  创 37:19-20> 妒忌总是无孔不入,一不小心就钻进我心…… 

  37:19-20 妒忌曾叫你想杀人吗?在你回答“当然没有”以前,请先看看这个故事。哥哥们只因为约瑟的外袍和他所做的梦就要杀他,他们已被嫉妒和怒气所蒙蔽了。妒忌是很难辨别的,因为我们妒忌的原因看来十分合理。但一不留神,妒火中烧,就叫我们犯大错了。妒忌越深越难根除,所以,发现自己开始介意别人的成就时,就是该对付妒忌的时候了。 

  吕便 

  创 37:26-27> 有时候,人但求安心,而不计较所用的手段。我曾这样行吗? 

  37:26-27 约瑟的哥哥们不想承担杀害约瑟的罪,犹大就提出另一个可以除去杀人者内疚的不正确方法。我们有时为了解决问题,就在两种恶行中权衡,虽然取其较轻的一种,但仍然是不当的。当有人提出似乎是可行的解决办法时,我们要先想想:“这件事对不对?” 

  约瑟探望哥哥及被卖 

  创 37:28> 在无助时,神仍在约瑟身边;在危难时,你对神可有信心? 

  37:28 虽然约瑟的哥哥们没有立刻把他杀死,但是他们估计把他卖作奴隶的话,他也不会活多久。他们要借刀杀人。约瑟要在旷野走三十天的路程,大概是给锁链绑着步行往埃及,他只会被视为一件行李。一到埃及,他就会变成一件货物被出售。他的哥哥们以为再也不会见到他了,但是神掌管着约瑟的生命。 

  创 37:29-30> 吕便是关心约瑟,还是害怕?在困境中,我所关心的是…… 

  37:29-30 吕便回到坑边找约瑟,见弟弟已经不在坑里。虽然他撕裂衣服,但实际上他所关心的不是约瑟会怎样,而是他自己会如何。在困境中,你是否只顾自己呢?考虑最受影响的人,我们能较易找到解决问题的方法。 

  创 37:31-35> 当我知道罪的恶果是怎样时,我还能不谨慎吗? 

  37:31-35 约瑟的哥哥们为掩饰自己的恶行,就欺骗父亲,使他以为约瑟已经死了。雅各曾经多次欺骗别人,也包括他的父亲( 27:35 )。他虽然蒙神祝福,但仍然要面对犯罪的报应。雅各欺骗别人,神没有即时惩罚他,但他始终要承受犯罪的恶果,这恶果将一直伴随着他的余生。 

  创 37:34> 撕裂衣服表示什么? 

  37:34 撕裂衣服、束上麻布是哀悼的表示,跟今天我们穿丧服十分相似。 

  创 37:36> 面对异地文化的辉煌,约瑟仍看到人最需要的是神;今天,我们看什么是最重要的呢? 

  37:36 我们可以想像约瑟刚到埃及时所受到的文化冲击是多么的大。他本来过着游牧的生活,随家庭在乡间逐水草而居,照顾羊群。突然被迫进入当时最文明的世界里,看到雄伟的金字塔和美丽的房屋,接触老于世故的百姓和新的语言。当他看到埃及人最好的技艺与才智时,也看到他们在灵性上的愚蒙无知:他们敬拜无数的假神,只要跟生活有关的,他们就拜。──《灵修版圣经注释》