《智慧篇》第11章——智慧在管教中的怜悯
《智慧篇》第11章叙述上帝如何引导以色列人经过旷野，并以磐石出水满足他们的干渴，同时用埃及自身的手段惩罚埃及，随后扩展为对神圣怜悯、克制以及对受造界普世之爱的默想。
智慧篇
第11章
- 1.智慧引领以色列人穿过旷野，智慧通过一位圣洁先知的手使他们的工作繁荣。Wisdom Led the Israelites through the Desert Wisdom prospered their works by the hand of a holy prophet.
- 2.他们穿过无人居住的荒野，并在无人践踏的地方搭建帐篷。They journeyed through an uninhabited wilderness, and pitched their tents in untrodden places.
- 3.他们抵挡敌人，击退仇敌。They withstood their enemies and fought off their foes.
- 4.他们口渴的时候，向你求助，你就使他们从坚硬的岩石中得水，解除了他们的口渴，从坚硬的石头中得水。When they thirsted they called upon thee, and water was given them out of flinty rock, and slaking of thirst from hard stone.
- 5.他们正是通过那些用来惩罚敌人的事，反而在自己的需要中得到了益处。For through the very things by which their enemies were punished, they themselves received benefit in their need.
- 6.不是永不枯竭的河流泉源，却被搅动并被血污染了Instead of the fountain of an ever-flowing river, stirred up and defiled with blood
- 7.因着斥责杀害婴儿的命令，你使他们意外地获得了丰富的水源，in rebuke for the decree to slay the infants, thou gavest them abundant water unexpectedly,
- 8.当时他们的口渴表明你是怎样惩罚他们的敌人。showing by their thirst at that time how thou didst punish their enemies.
- 9.因为当他们受试炼的时候，虽然他们是在怜悯中受管教，却也学到了不虔诚的人在忿怒中受判断时是怎样受痛苦的。For when they were tried, though they were being disciplined in mercy, they learned how the ungodly were tormented when judged in wrath.
- 10.你像父亲一样警戒他们，但像严厉的君王一样审判恶人。For thou didst test them as a father does in warning, but thou didst examine the ungodly as a stern king does in condemnation.
- 11.不管是否在场，他们都同样感到痛苦，Whether absent or present, they were equally distressed,
- 12.他们被双重的悲痛所支配，并为所发生的事情的记忆而叹息。for a twofold grief possessed them, and a groaning at the memory of what had occurred.
- 13.因为他们听说义人通过自己的惩罚得到了益处，他们就知道这是上帝所做的。For when they heard that through their own punishments the righteous had received benefit, they perceived it was the Lord’s doing.
- 14.因为他们虽然曾经轻视和拒绝了早已被抛弃和揭露的人，但是在事件的结尾，他们却对他感到惊奇，因为他们的渴望与义人是不一样的。For though they had mockingly rejected him who long before had been cast out and exposed, at the end of the events they marveled at him, for their thirst was not like that of the righteous.
- 15.恶人受罚 因为他们愚蠢和邪恶的思想，使他们误入歧途，去崇拜不理性的蛇和无价值的动物，你派遣大量不理性的生物来惩罚他们，Punishment of the Wicked In return for their foolish and wicked thoughts, which led them astray to worship irrational serpents and worthless animals, thou didst send upon them a multitude of irrational creatures to punish them,
- 16.使他们知道，人都是被自己所犯的罪恶所惩罚。that they might learn that one is punished by the very things by which he sins.
- 17.因为你那无所不能的权能手，从无形之物创造了世界，绝不会缺乏方法，派遣许多熊，或是凶猛的狮子来攻击他们，For thy all-powerful hand, which created the world out of formless matter, did not lack the means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or bold lions,
- 18.或者是新造的、充满愤怒的未知野兽，或者是那些呼出火焰的气息，或者是那些从口中喷出浓厚的烟雾，或者是那些从眼睛里闪出可怕的火花；or newly created unknown beasts full of rage, or such as breathe out fiery breath, or belch forth a thick pall of smoke, or flash terrible sparks from their eyes;
- 19.不仅它们的伤害能够消灭人类，而且仅仅是看到它们就能吓死人。not only could their damage exterminate men, but the mere sight of them could kill by fright.
- 20.即使除去这些，人也会在追求正义和被你权力的气息驱散时，在一口气中倒下。但你用尺度、数目和重量安排了万事。Even apart from these, men could fall at a single breath when pursued by justice and scattered by the breath of thy power. But thou hast arranged all things by measure and number and weight.
- 21.因为在你手中有显大力量，谁能抵挡你手臂的能力呢？God Is Powerful and Merciful For it is always in thy power to show great strength, and who can withstand the might of thy arm?
- 22.因为你面前整个世界就像秤上的尘埃，又像早晨的露珠落在地上。Because the whole world before thee is like a speck that tips the scales, and like a drop of morning dew that falls upon the ground.
- 23.你对万物都有怜悯，因为你能做万事，又宽恕人的罪恶，使他们得以悔改。But thou art merciful to all, for thou canst do all things, and thou dost overlook men’s sins, that they may repent.
- 24.因为你爱所有存在的事物，也不憎恶你所创造的任何事物，因为如果你憎恶它，就不会创造它。For thou lovest all things that exist, and hast loathing for none of the things which thou hast made, for thou wouldst not have made anything if thou hadst hated it.
- 25.若非你愿意，什么都不能持久；若非你所召唤，什么都不会被保存。How would anything have endured if thou hadst not willed it? Or how would anything not called forth by thee have been preserved?
- 26.你怜恤万物，因为它们都是你的，主啊，你爱一切有生之物。Thou sparest all things, for they are thine, O Lord who lovest the living.
这段经文的意思
这一章刻意对比两个群体：受管教“在怜悯中”的以色列（第9节），以及在“定罪”中受审察的不敬虔埃及人（第10节）。同一段旷野经历成了一面镜子——对以色列而言，干渴带来了磐石出水的神迹（第4节）；对他们的仇敌而言，这段经历则显明了他们所加害的灾殃背后的公义。第16节说“使他们知道，人用什么犯罪，就受什么惩罚”，点明了作者希望读者领会的原则：犯罪的工具成为审判的工具。
关于受造物刑罚的段落（第15–20节）具体阐释了这一原则。那些敬拜“无理性的蛇类和毫无价值的走兽”的人，得到的回应是“成群无理性的生物”（第15节）。作者列举了可能的恐怖——熊、狮子、喷火的野兽——只是为了得出结论：根本无需这样的清单；从神圣公义发出的一口气息就已足够（第20节）。修辞的高潮是“你以尺度、数目和重量安排了万物”，强调即便审判也是在有序的界限内运作，而非任意暴怒。
第21–26节转向一首论神圣怜悯的赞美诗。上帝“爱一切存在之物”，且“若恨恶什么，就不会造它”（第24节）。世界如“使天平倾斜的一粒微尘”和“清晨的一滴露水”这一著名意象（第22节），把普世之爱奠基于造物主的权能，而非无知或冷漠。怜悯并非软弱，而是那位“能行万事”、因此无需毁灭者的刻意选择（第23节）。反复出现的句子“你怜恤万物，因为万物都是你的”（第26节）把保存与关系性的归属联系在一起。
背景
所提供的材料只包含第11章的经文以及一条简短说明，表明它是后来补入的。《智慧篇》第11章是全书第二大段落（大约第11–19章）的开端；在这一部分，作者从对以色列历史的反思，转入对出埃及期间上帝如何对待以色列与如何对待埃及的持续比较。
在这一章内部，叙事典故集中在三个出埃及主题上：磐石出水（第4、7节）、尼罗河变为血作为对埃及的惩罚（第6节），以及埃及长子的死亡——第7节以“杀害婴孩的命令”暗指此事。结尾的赞美诗（第21–26节）并不叙述具体事件，而是总结出从前文对比中引申出的创造与眷顾神学。
常见问题
为什么这一章说以色列人受“试验”，而不敬虔的人受“审察”（第10节）？
这一章把父亲的警告与君王的定罪区分开来：前者旨在纠正，后者旨在惩罚。两个群体都遭遇艰难，但目的不同：以色列所受的试炼是“在怜悯中”，而不敬虔的人则因自己的行为面对审判。
“人用什么犯罪，就受什么惩罚”（第16节）是什么意思？
第16节明确陈述的原则是：犯罪的工具成为审判的工具。埃及人敬拜受造之物，因此受造之物被派来攻击他们；他们使水变为血而流出，因此他们自己的河流成为责备。
结尾的赞美诗（第21–26节）如何与本章其余部分相连？
第21–26节把本章前面具体的对比加以普遍化。对埃及有节制的审判和对以色列怜悯的供应，被解读为一位上帝的作为之表达：他“以尺度、数目和重量”安排万物（第20节），并爱一切存在之物（第24节）。怜悯与克制被呈现为主权大能的自然结果。