多比传 3:两篇祷告蒙垂听,拉斐尔被差遣

两位受苦者在同一天为求死而祷告,上帝便差遣拉斐尔去拯救他们二人。

多俾亚传

第3章

  1. 1.托比特的祷告 于是我在悲痛中哭泣,并在痛苦中祷告,说,Tobit’s Prayer Then in my grief I wept, and I prayed in anguish, saying,
  2. 2.主啊,你是公义的,你一切所行的和你一切所行的道都是慈爱和诚实,你按真理和公义审判,直到永远。“Righteous art thou, O Lord; all thy deeds and all thy ways are mercy and truth, and thou dost render true and righteous judgment for ever.
  3. 3.求你记念我,施恩与我,不要因我的罪和我无知的过犯,以及我列祖在你面前所犯的罪,惩罚我。Remember me and look favorably upon me; do not punish me for my sins and for my unwitting offenses and those which my fathers committed before thee.
  4. 4.因为他们违背了你的命令,你将我们交给了掠夺、俘虏和死亡,你使我们在所有分散我们到那里去的国家中成为讥笑和羞辱的对象。For they disobeyed thy commandments, and thou gavest us over to plunder, captivity, and death; thou madest us a byword of reproach in all the nations among which we have been dispersed.
  5. 5.现在,你许多的判决对我是真的,惩罚我的罪和我祖先的罪,因为我们没有遵守你的命令。因为我们没有在你面前行事为人忠诚。And now thy many judgments are true in exacting penalty from me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we did not keep thy commandments. For we did not walk in truth before thee.
  6. 6.现在按照你的心意对待我,命令我的灵魂被取去,好让我离开成为尘土。因为对我来说,死比活着更好,因为我听到了虚假的辱骂,我内心的悲伤很大。命令我现在从我的痛苦中解脱,前往永恒的居所;不要把你的脸背对着我。And now deal with me according to thy pleasure; command my spirit to be taken up, that I may depart and become dust. For it is better for me to die than to live, because I have heard false reproaches, and great is the sorrow within me. Command that I now be released from my distress to go to the eternal abode; do not turn thy face away from me.”
  7. 7.同一天,在米底的埃克巴塔那,也发生了这样的事:拉古珥的女儿撒拉被她父亲的婢女诬陷,Sarah Falsely Accused On the same day, at Ecbat′ana in Media, it also happened that Sarah, the daughter of Rag′uel, was reproached by her father’s maids,
  8. 8.因为她曾被给予七个丈夫,而恶魔亚斯摩德在她成为他们的妻子之前就杀死了他们。于是侍女对她说,“你难道不知道你会使你的丈夫丧命吗?你已经有了七个丈夫,却从中没有得到任何益处。because she had been given to seven husbands, and the evil demon Asmode′us had slain each of them before he had been with her as his wife. So the maids said to her, “Do you not know that you strangle your husbands? You already have had seven and have had no benefit from any of them.
  9. 9.你们为什么打我们呢?如果他们死了,就随他们去吧!愿我们永不见到你们的儿女!Why do you beat us? If they are dead, go with them! May we never see a son or daughter of yours!”
  10. 10.撒拉听见这些事以后,极其忧伤,甚至想到上吊自杀。但她说:“我是父亲的独生女,如果我这样做,将会给父亲带来耻辱,也会使他在悲伤中度过余生,带着悲痛进入坟墓。”Sarah’s Prayer for Death When she heard these things she was deeply grieved, even to the thought of hanging herself. But she said, “I am the only child of my father; if I do this, it will be a disgrace to him, and I shall bring his old age down in sorrow to the grave.”
  11. 11.于是她在窗边祷告说,主我的神啊,你是应当称颂的,你的圣洁荣耀的名也永远应当称颂。愿你所有的作为都永远称颂你。So she prayed by her window and said, “Blessed art thou, O Lord my God, and blessed is thy holy and honored name for ever. May all thy works praise thee for ever.
  12. 12.现在,主啊,我已经转向你,我的眼睛和脸都朝向你。And now, O Lord, I have turned my eyes and my face toward thee.
  13. 13.命令使我从地上释放出来,不再听见辱骂。Command that I be released from the earth and that I hear reproach no more.
  14. 14.主啊,你知道我与人无罪,Thou knowest, O Lord, that I am innocent of any sin with man,
  15. 15.并且我在被掳的土地上没有玷污我的名字和我父亲的名字。我是父亲唯一的孩子,他也没有其他子女来继承他的产业,也没有近亲或亲属的儿子需要我为他们守寡。已经有七个丈夫死在我面前。我为何还要活着?但是,如果你不愿意结束我的生命,请命令人们尊重我,怜悯我,不再让我听到羞辱的话。and that I did not stain my name or the name of my father in the land of my captivity. I am my father’s only child, and he has no child to be his heir, no near kinsman or kinsman’s son for whom I should keep myself as wife. Already seven husbands of mine are dead. Why should I live? But if it be not pleasing to thee to take my life, command that respect be shown to me and pity be taken upon me, and that I hear reproach no more.”
  16. 16.祷告的回答 他们两人的祷告都被伟大上帝的荣耀所垂听。An Answer to Prayer The prayer of both was heard in the presence of the glory of the great God.
  17. 17.拉法耳被派去治愈他们两人:去除托比特眼睛上的白翳;将拉古耳的女儿撒拉给托比特的儿子托比亚斯为妻,并捆绑恶魔阿斯摩德,因为托比亚斯有权拥有她。就在那一刻,托比特回来了,进入他的家,拉古耳的女儿撒拉从她上面的房间里下来。And Raph′ael was sent to heal the two of them: to scale away the white films of Tobit’s eyes; to give Sarah the daughter of Rag′uel in marriage to Tobi′as the son of Tobit, and to bind Asmode′us the evil demon, because Tobi′as was entitled to possess her. At that very moment Tobit returned and entered his house and Sarah the daughter of Rag′uel came down from her upper room.

这段经文的意思

本章设下一种结构上的平行:多比在刚刚失明并遭嘲讽后,于尼尼微悲痛祷告(3:1–6);与此同时,远在埃克巴塔那的拉革耳的女儿撒拉,也在自己的丧礼场景中祷告(3:7–15)。两篇祷告皆以承认上帝的公义开篇,继而转向恳求脱离苦难。多比承认他祖先和他自己的罪;撒拉则申明自己的清白,却承受着七位亡夫所带来的羞耻。这一文学手法将流散之地两端两位素不相识者并置,使上帝的一次行动同时回应双方。

上帝的回应在 3:16 简短却决然地陈述出来:'二人的祷告,在大上帝荣耀的面前,蒙了垂听。'第 17 节随即具体指明所要施行的拯救——多比的眼上的白翳要被除去,撒拉要嫁给多比的儿子多比亚,阿斯摩德要被捆绑。本章将神学(上帝垂听)与叙事机制(拉斐尔的使命)紧密相连,使读者在第 4 至 11 章的旅途故事展开之前,便已看见这层关联。

一个从属的主题是:以祈求死亡作结的哀叹本身具有其正当性。两篇祷告皆未受到责备,二者都蒙了垂听。然而,所得到的回应并非所求之死,而是带来生命复原的介入。本章将受苦中的祷告界定为并非错误的言语,反倒正是上帝救赎之作为得以显明之语境。

背景

所提供的人工策展注释仅说明多比的内容是在指定的 P0/P1 范围之外回填的,因此并未提供进一步的主题框架。本章立于多比哀叹其失明(第 2 章)与拉斐尔受命启程(第 4 至 6 章)之间的枢纽位置。撒拉的故事线同样开启了埃克巴塔那的相关情节,并在第 7 至 8 章的婚礼中达到高潮。

由于本章未提供交叉引用列表,也未提供原文词汇列表,故本参考页面不对希伯来文或亚兰文词汇作任何论断,也不引用任何平行经文。所有陈述仅限于本章文本自身所包含的内容。

常见问题

为何多比和撒拉在同一章中皆求死祷告?

本章藉此平行结构来铺陈上帝那一次唯一的回应。作者将两位互不相识的受苦者分置于不同城市,却在同一天各自发出相似的哀吟,由此将读者的注意力集中到第 16 节上帝同时垂听二人的那一刻,以及第 17 节拉斐尔为二人而被差遣之时。这种重复手法使二者的关联在第 4 至 11 章的旅程展开之前,便清晰可见。

本章是否认同受苦者可以自杀?

两篇祷告皆未受到谴责,但所求之事也未按所求的方式成就。两者都蒙了垂听,而所赐的回应是复原性的:多比的眼睛将得医治,撒拉将嫁为人妇。本章将包含求死之请的哀叹视为上帝所接纳的言语,却又将其重新引向生命。

拉斐尔是谁,他被差遣来做何事?

第 16 节说二人的祷告在大上帝荣耀的面前蒙了垂听,第 17 节则陈述拉斐尔受差遣。本章列出三项具体使命:除去多比眼上的白翳、将撒拉嫁给多比的儿子多比亚、并捆绑恶鬼阿斯摩德,因为多比亚本有权利娶她为妻。

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