966 英翻中 (666) The Ecclesiastes (十六) 傳道書(十六) 16/01/2025

966 英翻中 (666)             The Ecclesiastes (十六)                傳道書(十六)                16/01/2025

CHAPTER EIGHT             Ecclesiastes 7              HOW TO BE BETTER OFF                                      第八章                                傳道書 7                      如何過得更好

Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” Thomas Gray wrote those oft-quoted words in his poem “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College.” He pictured the students on the playing field and in the classroom, enjoying life because they were innocent of what lay ahead.                                                  當無知是福時，智慧卻是愚蠢的。湯瑪斯‧格雷(Thomas Gray)在他的詩《伊頓公學遠景頌》中寫下了這些經句，常被引用。他想像學生在操場上，和教室裡享受生活，因為他們對未來的事一無所知。

                  Alas, regardless of their doom,            唉，不管他們的命運如何，                                                          The little victims play!                        小受害者們還是在玩！                                                                  No sense have they of ills to come,     他們對未來的災難毫無感覺，                                                      Nor care beyond today.                        也不關心今天之後的事。

         His conclusion was logical: at that stage in life, it is better to be ignorant and happy, because there will be plenty of time later to experience the sorrows that knowledge may bring.                                               他的結論是合乎邏輯的：在人生的那個階段，最好是無知而快樂，因為以後有充足的時間去體驗知識可能帶來的悲傷。 

                   Yet ah! why should they know their fate?       然而啊！他們為什麼要知道自己的命運？                       Since sorrow never comes too late,                 因為悲傷來得太晚，                                                           And happiness too swiftly flies.                      幸福來得太快。                                                                   Thought would destroy their paradise.             思想會摧毀他們的天堂。                                                 No more; where ignorance is bliss,                  不再;無知是福，                                                                 ’Tis folly to be wise.                                         智慧卻是愚蠢。

          Solomon had come to a similar conclusion when he argued in 1:12–18 that wisdom did not make life worth living. “For in much wisdom is much grief,” he wrote in 1:18, “and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.”                                                                                                                             所羅門在 1 章 12-18 節中指出，智慧並不能使生活變得有價值，他也得出了類似的結論。他在 1 章 18 節中寫道：“智慧多，憂愁也多；增加知識的，也增加憂愁。”                                               But then the king took a second look at the problem and modified his views. In Ecclesiastes 7 and 8, he discussed the importance of wisdom in life (“wisdom” is found fourteen times in these two chapters); and he answered the question asked in 6:12, “For who knoweth what is good for man in this life?” The Preacher concluded that, though wisdom can’t explain all of life’s mysteries, it can make at least three positive contributions to our lives.                                                                                                         但隨後國王重新審視了這個問題並改變了他的觀點。在傳道書第7章和第8章中，他討論了生活中智慧的重要性（「智慧」在這兩章中出現了十四次）；他回答了 6 章 12 節中提出的問題：“誰知道人今生有何益處呢？”傳道者的結論是，雖然智慧不能解釋生命的所有奧秘，但它至少可以對我們的生活做出三項積極的貢獻。

Wisdom Can Make Life Better (7:1–10)                                                                                                 智慧可以使生活更美好（7:1-10）                                                                                                       “Better” is a key word in this chapter; Solomon used it at least eleven times. His listeners must have been shocked when they heard Solomon describe the “better things” that come to the life of the person who follows God’s wisdom.                                                                                                                           「更好」是本章的關鍵字。所羅門至少使用過十一次。當他的聽眾聽到所羅門描述遵循上帝智慧的人的生活中會出現「更好的事情」時，他們一定感到震驚.                                                                  Sorrow is better than laughter (vv. 1–4). If given the choice, most people would rather go to a birthday party than to a funeral, but Solomon advised against it. Why? Because sorrow can do more good for the heart than laughter can. (The word heart is used four times in these verses.) Solomon was certainly not a morose man with a gloomy lifestyle. After all, it was King Solomon who wrote Proverbs 15:13, 15; 17:22—and the Song of Solomon! Laughter can be like medicine that heals the broken heart, but sorrow can be like nourishing food that strengthens the inner person. It takes both for a balanced life, but few people realize this. There is “a time to laugh” (Eccl. 3:4).                                                                 憂愁勝過歡笑（1-4節）。如果可以選擇，大多數人寧願去參加生日聚會，也不願參加葬禮，但所羅門建議不要這樣做。為什麼？因為悲傷比笑對心臟更有好處。 （「心」這個字在這幾節經文中出現了四次。）所羅門當然不是一個生活方式陰鬱的悶悶不樂的人。畢竟，箴言 15 章 13 節、15 節是所羅門王寫的； 17:22－還有所羅門之歌！笑聲可以像良藥一樣治癒受傷的心靈，而悲傷則可以像滋養食物一樣增強內心的力量。平衡的生活需要兩者，但很少人意識到這一點。 「有笑的時候」（傳 3:4）。                                                                                                                 Let’s begin with Solomon’s bizarre statement that the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth (v. 1). This generalization must not be divorced from his opening statement that a person’s good reputation (name) is like a fragrant perfume. (There is a play on words here: “name” is shem in the Hebrew and “ointment” is shemen.) He used the same image in 10:1 and also in Song of Solomon 1:3.             讓我們從所羅門奇怪的說法開始，他說人死的日子比出生的日子好（1節）。這種概括不能脫離他的開場白：一個人的好名聲（名字）就像一個芬芳的香水。 （這裡有一個文字遊戲：“名字”在希伯來語中是“shem”，“香膏”是“shemen”。）他在《雅歌》10:1 和《雅歌》1:3 中使用了相同的圖像。                                                                                                                                                       Solomon was not contrasting birth and death, nor was he suggesting that it is better to die than to be born, because you can’t die unless you have been born. He was contrasting two significant days in human experience: the day a person receives his or her name and the day when that name shows up in the obituary column. The life lived between those two events will determine whether that name leaves behind a lovely fragrance or a foul stench. “His name really stinks!” is an uncouth statement, but it gets the point across.                                                                                                                                                       所羅門並沒有對比出生和死亡，也沒有暗示死亡比出生好，因為除非你出生，否則你不會死。他對比了人類經驗中兩個重要的日子：一個人收到他或她的名字的那一天，以及該名字出現在訃聞欄中的那一天。這兩件事之間的生活將決定這個名字是否留下可愛的香味或惡臭。 “他的名字真臭！”這是一個粗俗的說法，但它表達了要點。                                                                              If a person dies with a good name, his or her reputation is sealed and the family need not worry. In that sense, the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. The life is over and the reputation is settled. (Solomon assumed that there were no hidden scandals.) “Every man has three names,” says an ancient adage; “one his father and mother gave him, one others call him, and one he acquires himself.”                                                                                                                                                                若一個人死的時候名聲好，他的名譽就被封印了，家人就不用擔心了。從這個意義上說，一個人死亡的日子比一個人出生的日子好。人生已盡，名聲已定。 （所羅門認為不存在隱藏的掃描達爾。）有句古老的格言說：「每個人都有三個名字」；「每個人都有三個名字」。 “一個是他的父母給他的，一個別人這樣稱呼他，一個是他自己獲得的。”                                                          “The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot” (Prov. 10:7; and see Prov. 22:1). Mary of Bethany anointed the Lord Jesus with expensive perfume and its fragrance filled the house. Jesus told her that her name would be honored throughout the world, and it is. On the other hand, Judas sold the Lord Jesus into the hands of the enemy; and his name is generally despised (Mark 14:1–11). When Judas was born, he was given the good name “Judah,” which means “praise.” It belonged to the royal tribe in Israel. By the time Judas died, he had turned that honorable name into something shameful.                                                                                                                                            「義人的名譽必蒙福，惡人的名必朽壞」（箴 10:7；參考箴 22:1）。伯大尼的馬利亞用名貴的香膏膏主耶穌，香氣充滿了房子。耶穌告訴她，全世界都會尊崇她的名字，事實確實如此。另一方面，猶大卻把主耶穌賣到了仇敵手裡，他把主耶穌賣給了仇敵。他的名字普遍被輕視（可 14：1-11）。當猶大出生時，他被賦予了“猶大”這個好名字，意思是“讚美”。它屬於以色列的皇家部落。當猶大去世時，他已經把這個光榮的名字變成了可恥的東西。                                        In verses 2–4, Solomon advised the people to look death in the face and learn from it. He did not say that we should be preoccupied with death, because that could be abnormal. But there is a danger that we might try to avoid confrontations with the reality of death and, as a result, not take life as seriously as we should. “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Ps. 90:12).                                                                                                                                                            在 2-4 節中，所羅門建議人們正視死亡並從中學習。他並沒有說我們應該全神貫注於死亡，因為那可能是不正常的。但存在的危險是，我們可能會試圖避免面對死亡的現實，從而不認真看待生命。 「求你教導我們數算自己的日子，好使我們的心靈獲得智慧」（詩 90:12）。             The Preacher is not presenting us with an either/or situation; he is asking for balance. The Hebrew word for “laughter” in verse 3 can mean “the laughter of derision or scorn.” While there is a place for healthy humor in life, we must beware of the frivolous laughter that is often found in “the house of mirth” (v. 4). When people jest about death, for example, it is usually evidence that they are afraid of it and not prepared to meet it. They are running away.                                                                                            傳道者並沒有向我們呈現非此即彼的情況；而是在向我們展示一個非此即彼的情況。他要求平衡。第 3 節中的希伯來語「笑聲」的意思是「嘲笑或蔑視的笑聲」。雖然生活中存在著健康的幽默，但我們必須提防「歡樂屋」中經常出現的輕浮的笑聲（4節）。例如，當人們拿死亡開玩笑時，通常表示他們害怕死亡，並且沒有準備好面對它。他們正在逃跑。                                        The late Dr. Ernest Becker wrote in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Denial of Death, “… the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity— activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man” (Free Press, 1975, ix). King Solomon knew this truth centuries ago!                                                                                                                                                                        已故的歐斯特‧貝克爾(Ernest Becker) 博士在其普立茲獎的著作《否認死亡》中寫道：「…死亡的觀念和對死亡的恐懼，像其他動物一樣困擾著人類；它是人類活動的主要動力——這種活動主要是為了避免死亡的宿命，透過以某種方式否認死亡是人類的最終命運來克服死亡」（Free Press，1975，ix）。所羅門王幾個世紀前就知道這個真理！                                                            Rebuke is better than praise (vv. 5–6). King Solomon compared the praise of fools to the burning thorns in a campfire: you hear a lot of noise, but you don’t get much lasting good. (Again, Solomon used a play on words. In the Hebrew, “song” is shir, “pot” is sir, and “thorns” is sirim.) If we allow it, a wise person’s rebuke will accomplish far more in our lives than will the flattery of fools. Solomon may have learned this truth from his father (Ps. 141:5), and he certainly emphasized it when he wrote the book of Proverbs (10:17; 12:1; 15:5; 17:10; 25:12; 27:5, 17; 29:1, 15).                                          責備勝於讚美（5-6節）。所羅門王將愚人的讚美比喻為篝火中燃燒的荊棘：你聽到很多噪音，但你卻得不到多少持久的好處。 （所羅門再次使用了文字遊戲。在希伯來語中，“歌”是“shir”，“鍋”是“先生”，“荊棘”是“西里姆”。）如果我們允許，智者的責備將在我們的生活中取得更大的成就勝過愚人的阿諛奉承。所羅門可能從他父親那裡學到了這個真理（詩篇141:5），他在寫《箴言》時也確實強調了這一點（10:17；12:1；15:5；17:10；25:12 ； 27:5, 17; 29:1, 15)。                                                                                                                                                       British literary giant Samuel Johnson was at the home of the famous actor David Garrick, and a “celebrated lady” persisted in showering Johnson with compliments. “Spare me, I beseech you, dear madam!” he replied; but as his biographer Boswell put it, “She still laid it on.” Finally Johnson silenced her by saying, “Dearest lady, consider with yourself what your flattery is worth, before you bestow it so freely.”                                                                                                                                                                    英國文學巨匠(沙姆爾·約翰遜)在著名演員大衛·加里克的家中，一位“名媛”堅持對約翰遜大加讚美。 “饒了我吧，我求求你了，親愛的女士！”他回答說：但正如他的傳記作者博斯韋爾所說，“她仍然戴著它。”最後，約翰遜讓她閉嘴了，他說：“最親愛的女士，在你如此隨意地奉承你之前，先想想你的奉承到底值多少錢。”                                                                                                      The “long haul” is better than the shortcut (vv. 7–9). Beware of “easy” routes; they often become expensive detours that are difficult and painful. In 1976, my wife and I were driving through Scotland, and a friend mapped out a “faster” route from Balmoral Castle to Inverness. It turned out to be a hazardous one-lane road that the local people called “The Devil’s Elbow,” and en route we met a bus and a cement truck! “Watch and pray” was our verse for that day.                                                                    「長程」比捷徑好（7-9節）。謹防「容易」的路線；它們常常成為昂貴、困難和痛苦的彎路。 1976 年，我和妻子開車穿越蘇格蘭，一位朋友繪製了一條從巴爾莫勒爾堡到因弗內斯的「更快」路線。原來這是一條被當地人稱為「魔鬼肘」的危險單車道路，途中我們遇到了一輛巴士和一輛水泥車！ 「警醒禱告」是我們當天的詩句。                                                                              Bribery appears to be a quick way to get things done (v. 7), but it only turns a wise man into a fool and encourages the corruption already in the human heart. Far better that we wait patiently and humbly for God to work out His will than that we get angry and demand our own way (v. 8; see also Prov. 14:17; 16:32; James 1:19.)                                                                                                                                    賄賂似乎是一種快速完成任務的方法（第7節），但它只會使智者變成愚人，並助長人心中已經存在的腐敗。我們耐心而謙卑地等待神實現祂的旨意，遠比我們生氣並要求我們自己的方式要好得多（第8節；另見箴言14:17；16:32；雅各書1:19。）                                                                    “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning” applies when we are living according to God’s wisdom. The beginning of sin leads to a terrible end—death (James 1:13–15), but if God is at the beginning of what we do, He will see to it that we reach the ending successfully (Phil. 1:6; Heb. 12:2). The Christian believer can claim Romans 8:28 because he knows that God is at work in the world, accomplishing His purposes.                                                                                                                                   當我們按照上帝的智慧生活時，「就適用了事情的結束比事情的開始要好。」罪的開始會導致可怕的結局 — 死亡（雅各書 1:13-15），但如果上帝是我們所做事的開始，祂就會確保我們成功地到達結局（腓 1:6；來12: 2）。基督教信徒可以引用《羅馬書》8:28，因為他知道上帝在世界上工作，實現祂的目的。                                                                                                      An            Arab proverb says, “Watch your beginnings.” Good beginnings will usually mean good endings. The Prodigal Son started with happiness and wealth, but ended with suffering and poverty (Luke 15:11–24). Joseph began as a slave but ended up a sovereign! God always saves “the best wine” until the last (John 2:10), but Satan starts with his “best” and then leads the sinner into suffering and perhaps even death.                                                                                                                                                                     阿拉伯諺語說：“注意你的開始。”好的開始通常意味著好的結局。浪子以幸福和財富開始，但以痛苦和貧窮結束（路加福音15：11-24）。約瑟一開始是奴隸，但最後卻成為了君主！上帝總是把「最好的酒」留到最後（約翰福音2:10），但撒旦卻從他的「最好的酒」開始，然後帶領罪人陷入痛苦，甚至死亡。