章节研读

Wisdom 15 — True Worship vs. Idolatry

Chapter 15 contrasts the patient, merciful true God with the futile, lifeless idols fashioned by mortal artisans, exposing idolatry as both absurd and self-destructive.

经文

  1. 1.然而我们的神是仁慈和忠实的，耐心并用慈悲管制万事。Benefits of Worshiping the True God But thou, our God, art kind and true, patient, and ruling all things in mercy.
  2. 2.即使我们犯罪，我们也属于你，因为我们知道你的大能；但是我们不会犯罪，因为我们知道自己被算作是属于你的人。For even if we sin we are thine, knowing thy power; but we will not sin, because we know that we are accounted thine.
  3. 3.因为认识你就是全部的义，认识你的力量就是不死之根。For to know thee is complete righteousness, and to know thy power is the root of immortality.
  4. 4.因为人类艺术的恶意并没有误导我们，画家们徒劳的劳动，也没有用各种颜色污染的图像，For neither has the evil intent of human art misled us, nor the fruitless toil of painters, a figure stained with varied colors,
  5. 5.他们的外貌引起愚人的渴望，以至于他们渴望死像的无生命形态。whose appearance arouses yearning in fools, so that they desire the lifeless form of a dead image.
  6. 6.喜爱邪恶之事、并适合于此等希望之物的人，就是那些制作、渴望或崇拜它们的人。Lovers of evil things and fit for such objects of hope are those who either make or desire or worship them.
  7. 7.愚蠢的拜偶像行为 当一个陶工揉搓柔软的泥土，并辛苦地塑造每个器皿供我们使用时，他用同样的泥土制作出供洁净用途的器皿和供相反用途的器皿，以相同的方式制作所有器皿，但每个器皿的用途由陶工决定。The Foolishness of Worshiping Clay Idols For when a potter kneads the soft earth and laboriously molds each vessel for our service, he fashions out of the same clay both the vessels that serve clean uses and those for contrary uses, making all in like manner; but which shall be the use of each of these the worker in clay decides.
  8. 8.他白白劳碌，竟从同样的泥土中塑造出一个无用的偶像—— 这个人不久前还是由泥土造的，过了一会儿又要归回他所来的泥土，当他必须归还借给他的灵魂的时候。With misspent toil, he forms a futile god from the same clay— this man who was made of earth a short time before and after a little while goes to the earth from which he was taken, when he is required to return the soul that was lent him.
  9. 9.但他并不担心自己命不久长或生命短暂，而是与黄金和白银的工匠竞争，仿效铜匠，并且认为制造假神是自己的荣耀。But he is not concerned that he is destined to die or that his life is brief, but he competes with workers in gold and silver, and imitates workers in copper; and he counts it his glory that he molds counterfeit gods.
  10. 10.他的心像灰烬，他的希望比尘土还廉价，他的生命不如泥土值钱His heart is ashes, his hope is cheaper than dirt, and his life is of less worth than clay,
  11. 11.因为他不知道造他的主，也不知道赐他灵魂和呼吸，使他有了生气的神。because he failed to know the one who formed him and inspired him with an active soul and breathed into him a living spirit.
  12. 12.但他认为我们的存在是一场无聊的游戏，生命是一场为利润而举办的节日，因为他说人们必须不择手段地赚钱，即使是通过卑劣的手段。But he considered our existence an idle game, and life a festival held for profit, for he says one must get money however one can, even by base means.
  13. 13.对于这个人来说，比其他人更清楚的是，当他用泥土般的物质制作易碎的器皿和雕刻的偶像时，他知道自己在犯罪。For this man, more than all others, knows that he sins when he makes from earthy matter fragile vessels and graven images.
  14. 14.但所有欺压你子民的敌人，却比婴儿更愚笨，更可怜。But most foolish, and more miserable than an infant, are all the enemies who oppressed thy people.
  15. 15.因为他们以为所有的偶像都是神，虽然这些偶像没有眼睛看，没有鼻孔呼吸，没有耳朵听，没有手指感触，它们的脚对行走也没有用处。For they thought that all their heathen idols were gods, though these have neither the use of their eyes to see with, nor nostrils with which to draw breath, nor ears with which to hear, nor fingers to feel with, and their feet are of no use for walking.
  16. 16.因为这是人造的，是借着别人的灵形成的；因为没有人能造出一个像自己一样的神。For a man made them, and one whose spirit is borrowed formed them; for no man can form a god which is like himself.
  17. 17.他是会死的， 他用不法的手所作成的也是死的， 因为他比他所敬拜的物好， 他有生命， 那些物却永远没有。He is mortal, and what he makes with lawless hands is dead, for he is better than the objects he worships, since he has life, but they never have.
  18. 18.旷野中的蛇 你的子民的敌人竟然拜那些最可憎的动物，这些动物在智慧方面比其他动物更为低劣；Serpents in the Desert The enemies of thy people worship even the most hateful animals, which are worse than all others, when judged by their lack of intelligence;
  19. 19.即使作为动物，他们在外貌上也没有那么美丽，令人羡慕，但他们却同时逃避了上帝的赞美和祝福。and even as animals they are not so beautiful in appearance that one would desire them, but they have escaped both the praise of God and his blessing.

这段经文的意思

The opening verses affirm divine patience and mercy toward those who belong to God (vv. 1–2). Even when the faithful sin, knowledge of God's power restrains them; to know God is righteousness, and to know His power is the root of immortality (v. 3). The chapter frames true knowledge of God as both moral and existential: it produces holiness now and looks toward undendication later.

The polemic against idols shifts from the image itself to its maker (vv. 7–13). A potter shapes clay vessels for clean or unclean uses — the moral weight depends on the potter's intent. Yet the same craftsman, shortly destined to die, molds a futile god from that same earth. His heart is ashes, his hope cheaper than dirt (v. 10), because he failed to know the one who formed him, inspired him with an active soul, and breathed into him a living spirit (v. 11). Idolatry is therefore not merely a religious error but a failure to recognize one's own creatureliness.

The final section widens the charge to include the worst of pagan worship — even the most hateful animals that lack intelligence and have 'escaped both the praise of God and his blessing' (vv. 18–19). Whether the idol is a crafted figure or a creature, worshipping what a mortal has made reveals that the idolater has not discerned the living God who made both maker and image.

背景

The chapter divides into three movements: a confession of God's mercy and the righteousness that comes from knowing Him (vv. 1–6), a sustained polemic against the clay idol-maker whose own mortality contradicts his labor (vv. 7–17), and a closing judgment on those who worship the lowest creatures (vv. 18–19). Wisdom 15 builds directly on the contrast between God's living breath and the dead image shaped by human hands.

Within the chapter's own argument, the potter metaphor functions as the structural pivot. The same clay serves both clean and unclean vessels (v. 7), and the same clay becomes a futile god in the hands of one who 'is not concerned that he is destined to die' (vv. 8–9). The chapter thereby ties idolatry to a failure to recognize human creatureliness and the borrowed spirit within each person (v. 16).

常见问题

Why does the chapter call the idol-maker's heart 'ashes' and his hope 'cheaper than dirt'?

The imagery in verse 10 contrasts what the idolater is in himself (mortal, soon returning to dust) with what he trusts (a clay figure). Because he failed to know the one who 'formed him and inspired him with an active soul and breathed into him a living spirit' (v. 11), his inner life and his hope are both reduced to less than the very material he molds.

What is the point of comparing the potter who makes ordinary vessels with the one who makes a god?

The comparison in verse 7 establishes that the same clay can serve either clean or unclean purposes by the craftsman's intent. Applying that craft to producing a 'futile god' (v. 8) is not a misuse of material but a misuse of the artisan's own life — especially since he himself will soon return to that same earth (v. 8) and must return the soul that was lent him.

Why are worshippers of 'the most hateful animals' included with idol-makers?

Verses 18–19 extend the polemic: whether the object is a crafted figure or a creature 'judged by their lack of intelligence,' the common error is the same — worshipping what is below the worshipper rather than the Creator. Such animals 'have escaped both the praise of God and his blessing,' and so venerating them shares the same root failure as venerating handmade gods: missing the living God who gives breath and spirit.

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