章节研读
Tobit 14 — Tobit's Final Counsel and the Fate of Nineveh
Tobit's final words direct his sons to Media, predict Nineveh's downfall and Jerusalem's future glory, and praise almsgiving and righteousness before his death at 158.
经文
- 1.托比特的最后劝诫 在这里，托比特结束了他的赞美之词。Tobit’s Final Counsel Here Tobit ended his words of praise.
- 2.他五十八岁时失明，八年后恢复视力。他施舍财物，并继续敬畏上帝，赞美他。He was fifty-eight years old when he lost his sight, and after eight years he regained it. He gave alms, and he continued to fear the Lord God and to praise him.
- 3.他年纪很大时，叫了他的儿子和孙子来，对他说，我的儿子，你带着你的儿子们来看我，我已经年纪很大了，快要离开这世界了。When he had grown very old he called his son and grandsons, and said to him, “My son, take your sons; behold, I have grown old and am about to depart this life.
- 4.去到米底亚，我的儿子，因为我完全相信约拿先知关于尼尼微所说的话，它将要被倾覆。但在米底亚有一段时间将会有平安。我们的弟兄将会从美好之地散布于全地，耶路撒冷将会变为荒凉。耶路撒冷中的神殿将会被烧毁，并且有一段时间将会成为废墟。Go to Media, my son, for I fully believe what Jonah the prophet said about Nin′eveh, that it will be overthrown. But in Media there will be peace for a time. Our brethren will be scattered over the earth from the good land, and Jerusalem will be desolate. The house of God in it will be burned down and will be in ruins for a time.
- 5.但上帝将再次怜悯他们，并使他们回到自己的土地上，他们将重建上帝的殿，虽然它不会像以前一样，直到世代的时期完成。之后，他们将从被掳的地方返回，并以荣耀重建耶路撒冷。在那里，上帝的殿将被重建，成为所有世代永远荣耀的建筑，正如先知们所说的那样。But God will again have mercy on them, and bring them back into their land; and they will rebuild the house of God, though it will not be like the former one until the times of the age are completed. After this they will return from the places of their captivity, and will rebuild Jerusalem in splendor. And the house of God will be rebuilt there with a glorious building for all generations for ever, just as the prophets said of it.
- 6.那时，所有的外邦人都会真心敬畏主神，并将他们的偶像埋葬。Then all the Gentiles will turn to fear the Lord God in truth, and will bury their idols.
- 7.万邦都要称赞主，主的子民要感谢神，主也必使他的子民得高升。凡爱主神、按真理和公义爱主的，都必欢喜，并要怜悯我们的兄弟。All the Gentiles will praise the Lord, and his people will give thanks to God, and the Lord will exalt his people. And all who love the Lord God in truth and righteousness will rejoice, showing mercy to our brethren.
- 8.现在，我的儿子，离开尼尼微， 因为约拿先知所说的话必定会实现。“So now, my son, leave Nin′eveh, because what the prophet Jonah said will surely happen.
- 9.只要遵守律法和诫命，存着慈悲和公义的心，事情就必顺利。But keep the law and the commandments, and be merciful and just, so that it may be well with you.
- 10.请你们把我和你们的母亲妥善地埋葬，然后不要再住在尼尼微了。看啊，我的儿子，拿答对待阿希卡尔的下场，阿希卡尔曾经养育他，拿答却把他从光明中带入黑暗，并以此来报答他。但阿希卡尔得救了，而拿道却自食其果，落入了黑暗中。阿希卡尔施舍济贫，于是逃脱了拿道为他设下的死局，而拿道却落入自己设下的陷阱并死去。Bury me properly, and your mother with me. And do not live in Nin′eveh any longer. See, my son, what Nadab did to Ahi′kar who had reared him, how he brought him from light into darkness, and with what he repaid him. But Ahi′kar was saved, and the other received repayment as he himself went down into the darkness. Ahi′kar gave alms and escaped the deathtrap which Nadab had set for him; but Nadab fell into the trap and perished.
- 11.现在，我的孩子们，想想施舍的功效和义行的益处。托比特说完这话，就死在他的床上。他一百五十八岁，托比亚斯为他举行了盛大的葬礼。So now, my children, consider what almsgiving accomplishes and how righteousness delivers.” As he said this he died in his bed. He was a hundred and fifty-eight years old; and Tobi′as gave him a magnificent funeral.
- 12.安娜死后，他将她与父亲一起埋葬。托比和安娜之死 随后，托比亚斯带着妻子和儿子回到埃克巴塔那，回到他的岳父拉古埃尔那里。And when Anna died he buried her with his father. Death of Tobit and Anna Then Tobi′as returned with his wife and his sons to Ecbat′ana, to Rag′uel his father-in-law.
- 13.他荣耀地老去，并为他的岳父和岳母举行了盛大的葬礼。他继承了他们的财产和他父亲托比特的财产。He grew old with honor, and he gave his father-in-law and mother-in-law magnificent funerals. He inherited their property and that of his father Tobit.
- 14.他在米底的埃克巴塔那死去，享年一百二十七岁。He died in Ecbat′ana of Media at the age of a hundred and twenty-seven years.
- 15.但在他死之前，他听说尼尼微被毁灭，尼布甲尼撒和亚哈随鲁已经攻占了尼尼微。在他死之前，他为尼尼微的毁灭感到高兴。But before he died he heard of the destruction of Nin′eveh, which Nebuchadnez′zar and Ahasu-e′rus had captured. Before his death he rejoiced over Nin′eveh.
这段经文的意思
The chapter functions as Tobit's deathbed testament, gathering the themes of the book — almsgiving, righteousness, fear of God, and fidelity to the law — into a final charge to his descendants (vv. 3, 9, 11). The summary statement that he was 58 when he lost his sight and regained it eight years later (v. 2) frames his life as one of testing followed by restoration, mirroring the book's larger movement from affliction to healing. Almsgiving is again singled out as the practice that delivers from death (v. 11), echoing the teaching given earlier by Raphael and by Tobit himself.
The second movement of the chapter is prophetic. Tobit tells his son to leave Nineveh and go to Media because Jonah's word against the city will certainly be fulfilled (vv. 4, 8). He then expands the horizon to Jerusalem: the holy city and its temple will be burned and lie desolate for a time, but God will have mercy, the exiles will return, and the house of God will be rebuilt in splendor for all generations (vv. 4–5). A universal turn of the Gentiles to the fear of the Lord, the abandonment of idols, and the rejoicing of those who love God in truth close the prophetic section (vv. 6–7).
The chapter closes with a narrative postscript. The story of Ahiqar's faithfulness versus Nadab's treachery is cited as proof that righteousness delivers (v. 10). Tobit dies in bed at 158, is given a magnificent funeral, and his wife Anna is later buried with him (v. 11–12). Tobias returns to Ecbatana, lives with honor, gives Raguel and Edna splendid funerals, inherits their estate along with his father's, dies there at 127, and is said to have heard of Nineveh's capture and rejoiced over it before his own death (vv. 12–15). The closing line thus confirms that Jonah's prophecy, which Tobit had cited, came to pass.
背景
The chapter sits at the end of a short deuterocanonical narrative whose main concerns have been Tobit's faithfulness in exile, the family restoration through his son Tobias, and the angel Raphael's hidden role. The narrative frame of Tobit's life — from the loss of sight at 58 to its recovery after eight years, and death at 158 — brackets the story with the numerical symmetry already established in earlier chapters.
Verse 10 introduces Ahiqar, a figure who does not appear elsewhere in the supplied material. Tobit uses his story, in which the faithful man is saved and the treacherous man Nadab falls into his own trap, as a concrete illustration of the principle that almsgiving and righteousness deliver (v. 11). The chapter also provides a brief narrative of Tobias's later life, his return to Ecbatana, and the report of Nineveh's capture, linking Tobit's words about Jonah to their fulfillment.
常见问题
Why does Tobit tell his son to go to Media?
Tobit predicts that Nineveh, where they live, will be overthrown as Jonah prophesied, and that Media will have peace for a time (vv. 4, 8). He therefore counsels his son to leave Nineveh and settle in Media with his wife's family.
What does Tobit say about Jerusalem and the temple?
He says the house of God in Jerusalem will be burned and remain in ruins for a time, but God will again have mercy, bring the people back, and the house of God will be rebuilt in glory for all generations, though not like the former one until the age is completed (vv. 4–5).
Why is the story of Ahiqar and Nadab mentioned here?
Tobit uses Ahiqar's faithfulness and Nadab's treacherous downfall as a concrete example of his closing principle that almsgiving and righteousness deliver from death (vv. 10–11).