963 英翻中 (663) The Ecclesiastes (十三) 傳道書(十三) 14/01/2025

963 英翻中 (663)               The Ecclesiastes (十三)                     傳道書(十三)                  14/01/2025

CHAPTER SEVEN   Ecclesiastes 6   IS LIFE A DEAD-END STREET?                                                    第七章                       傳道書        6   人生是一條死路嗎？                                                                        It’s interesting to read the different expressions people use to picture futility. Solomon compared the futility of life to a soap bubble (“vanity of vanities”) and to “chasing after the wind.” I have read statements like “As futile as watering a post,” “As futile as plowing the rocks,” “As futile as singing songs to a dead horse” (or “singing twice to a deaf man”), and “As futile as pounding water with a mortar” (or “carrying water in a sieve”).                                                                                                      閱讀人們用來描繪徒勞的不同表達方式是很有趣的。所羅門將人生的徒勞比喻為肥皂泡（「虛空的虛空」）和「捕風」。我讀過這樣的說法：「就像給柱子澆水一樣徒勞」、「就像犁石一樣徒勞」、「就像給死馬唱歌一樣徒勞」（或「給聾子唱兩遍」）、「就像給聾子唱兩次」一樣徒勞無功。就像用研缽搗水一樣」（或「用篩子挑水」）。                                                                    In his poem “The Task,” the hymn writer William Cowper (“There Is a Fountain”) pictured futility this way:                                                                                                                                                                讚美詩作家威廉·考珀（William Cowper）（《有一個噴泉》）在他的詩《任務》中這樣描繪了徒勞：                                                                                                                                                                                    The toil of dropping buckets into empty wells,                                                                                             把水桶扔進空井的辛勞，                                                                                                                          and growing old in drawing nothing up.                                                                                                         在什麼也打不上來的過程中變老。

          If Cowper were alive today, he might look at our “automobile society” and write,                                      如果考珀今天還活著，他可能會看看我們的「汽車社會」並寫道：

                                                          As futile as blind men driving cars                                                                                                                就像盲人在擁擠的死胡同裡開車                                                                                                               down crowded dead-end streets.                                                                                                                   一樣徒勞無功。

          Is life a dead-end street? Sometimes it seems to be, especially when we don’t reach our goals or when we reach our goals but don’t feel fulfilled in our achievement. More than one person in the Bible became so discouraged with life that he either wanted to die or wished he had never been born. This includes Moses (Num. 11:15), Elijah (1 Kings 19:4), Job (3:21; 7:15), Jeremiah (8:3; 15:10), and Jonah (4:3). Even the great apostle Paul despaired of life during a particularly tough time in his life (2 Cor. 1:8–11).                                                                                                                                                                   人生是一條死胡同嗎？有時似乎確實如此，尤其是當我們沒有達到目標或達到目標但對成就感到不滿足時。聖經中不只一個人對生活感到灰心喪氣，要麼想死，要麼希望自己從未出生。這包括摩西（民11:15）、以利亞（列王紀上19:4）、約伯（3:21；7:15）、耶利米（8:3；15:10）和約伯拿（4:3）。即使是偉大的使徒保羅，在他一生中特別艱難的時期也對生活感到絕望（哥林多後書 1：8-11）。                                                                                                                             Perhaps the basic problem is that life confronts us with too many mysteries we can’t fathom and too many puzzles we can’t solve. For life to be truly satisfying, it has to make sense. When it doesn’t make sense, we get frustrated. If people can’t see a purpose in life, especially when they go through deep suffering, they start to question God and even wonder if life is worthwhile.                                              也許最根本的問題是，生活讓我們面臨太多我們無法理解的奧秘，太多我們無法解決的難題。為了使生活真正令人滿意，它必須有意義。當它沒有意義時，我們會感到沮喪。如果人們看不到生命的目的，特別是當他們經歷深刻的痛苦時，他們就會開始質疑上帝，甚至懷疑生命是否值得。                                                                                                                                                             In Ecclesiastes 6, Solomon discussed three of life’s mysteries: riches without enjoyment (vv. 1–6), labor without satisfaction (vv. 7–9), and questions without answers (vv. 10–12).                                                 在傳道書第 6 章中，所羅門討論了生命的三個奧秘：沒有享受的財富（1-6 節）、沒有知足的勞苦（7-9 節）和沒有答案的問題（10-12 節）。

Riches Without Enjoyment (6:1–6)                                                                                                          沒有享受到的財富（6:1-6）                                                                                                                       What a seeming tragedy it is to have all the resources for a satisfying life and yet not be able to enjoy them for one reason or another. More than one person has worked hard and looked forward to a comfortable retirement only to have a heart attack and become either an invalid or a statistic. Or perhaps the peace of retirement is shattered by a crisis in the family that begins to drain both money and strength. Why do these things happen?                                                                                                          擁有滿足生活所需的一切資源，卻因為這樣或那樣的原因而無法享受它們，這看起來是多麼悲劇啊。不只一個人努力工作，期待舒適的退休生活，結果卻心臟病發作，要么成為病人，要么成為統計數字。或者，退休後的平靜可能被家庭危機打破，家庭危機開始耗盡金錢和體力。為什麼會發生這些事？                                                                                                                                            Solomon mentioned this subject in 5:19 and hinted at it in 3:13. To him, it was a basic principle that nobody can truly enjoy the gifts of God apart from the God who gives the gifts. To enjoy the gifts without the Giver is idolatry, and this can never satisfy the human heart. Enjoyment without God is merely entertainment, and it doesn’t satisfy. But enjoyment with God is enrichment and it brings true joy and satisfaction.                                                                                                                                                所羅門在5章19節提到這個主題，並在3章13節暗示它。對他來說，一個基本原則是，除了賜下恩賜的上帝之外，沒有人能夠真正享受上帝的恩賜。沒有賜予者而享受禮物就是偶像崇拜，這永遠不能滿足人心。沒有上帝的享受只是娛樂，並不能令人滿意。但與祂同在是一種豐富，祂帶來真正的喜樂和滿足。                                                                                                                        Verse 2 may describe a hypothetical situation, or it might have happened to somebody Solomon knew. The fact that God gave Solomon riches, wealth, and honor (2 Chron. 1:11) made the account even more meaningful to him. How fortunate a person would be to lack nothing, but how miserable if he or she could not enjoy the blessings of life.                                                                                                               第 2 節可能描述了一個假設的情況，或者它可能發生在所羅門認識的某人身上。上帝賜給所羅門財富、財富和榮譽（歷代誌下 1:11），這一事實使這個賬目對他來說更加有意義。一個人一無所有是多麼幸運，但如果不能享受生活的幸福，那是多麼悲慘。                                                     What would prevent this person from enjoying life? Perhaps trouble in the home (Prov. 15:16–17; 17:1), or illness, or even death (Luke 12:20). The person described in verse 2 had no heir, so a stranger acquired the estate and enjoyed it. It all seems so futile.                                                                                       什麼會阻止這個人享受生活？也許是家裡有麻煩（箴 15:16-17；17:1），或是疾病，甚至是死亡（路 12:20）。第 2 節中描述的人沒有繼承人，因此一個陌生人獲得了財產並享有它。這一切看起來都是那麼徒勞無功。                                                                                                                         What is Solomon saying to us? “Enjoy the blessings of God now and thank Him for all of them.” Don’t plan to live—start living now. Be satisfied with what He gives you and use it all for His glory.               所羅門對我們說什麼？ “現在就享受上帝的祝福，並為這一切感謝他。”不要計劃生活－現在就開始生活。對祂所賜給你的一切感到滿意，並用它來榮耀祂。                                                             Verses 3–6 surely deal with a hypothetical case, because nobody lives for two thousand years, and no monogamous marriage is likely to produce a hundred children. (Solomon’s son Rehoboam had eighty-eight children, but he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines—like father, like son. (See 2 Chronicles 11:21.) The Preacher was obviously exaggerating here in order to make his point: No matter how much you possess, if you don’t possess the power to enjoy it, you might just as well never have been born.                                                                                                                                                               第3-6節肯定涉及一個假設的情況，因為沒有人能活兩千歲，而且一夫一妻制的婚姻也不可能生育一百個孩子。 （所羅門的兒子羅波安有八十八個孩子，但他有十八個妻子和六十個妾－有其父必有其子。（參考  歷代誌下 11:21。）傳道者在這裡顯然誇大了他的觀點：不無論你擁有多少，如果你沒有能力享受它，你就不如從未出生過。                                                                             Here is a man with abundant resources and a large family, both of which, to an Old Testament Jew, were marks of God’s special favor. But his family does not love him, for when he died, he was not lamented. That’s the meaning of “he has no burial” (see Jer. 22:18–19). His relatives stayed around him only to use his money (5:11), and they wondered when the old man would die. When he finally did die, his surviving relatives could hardly wait for the reading of the will.                                                                    這是一個擁有豐富資源和一個大家庭的人，對舊約猶太人來說，這兩者都是上帝特別恩待的記號。但他的家人並不愛他，因為當他去世時，沒有人為他哀悼。這就是「他沒有埋葬」的意思（參考   耶利米書 22：18-19）。他的親戚留在他身邊只是為了用他的錢（5:11），他們想知道老人甚麼時候會死。當他最終去世時，他倖存的親屬迫不及待地等待宣讀遺囑。                            The rich man was really poor. For some reason, perhaps sickness, he couldn’t enjoy his money. And he couldn’t enjoy his large family because there was no love in the home. They didn’t even weep when the man died. Solomon’s conclusion was that it were better for this man had he never been born, or that he had been stillborn (see Job 3).                                                                                                                 這位富翁實在太窮了。由於某種原因，也許是疾病，他無法享受他的錢。他無法享受他的大家庭，因為家裡沒有愛。當那個人死時，他們甚至沒有哭泣。所羅門的結論是，這個人最好從未出生，或死產（參考約伯記 3）。