旧约 - 创世记(Genesis)第11章

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel--because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
This is the account of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.
And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.
And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.
And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.
And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.
And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.
And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.
And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.
And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.
While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth.
Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.
Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.
Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.
创世记第十一章   第 11 章 

  创 11:3-4> 自古以来,人类总是用各种的方法宣扬自己的成就。就个人而言,我也在做同样的事情吗? 

  11:3-4 巴别塔很可能是一座美索不达米亚的古庙,与当时巴比伦的建筑相似,形状像金字塔,四边有楼梯和斜坡,长宽均约九十公尺,是全城市的焦点。这段经文中记载的人为自己的伟大建造这座纪念塔,并要世人都看见它。 

  创 11:4> 以各种成就取代神是现代人的巴别塔,在我的生命中,有什么“巴别塔”没有? 

  11:4 巴别塔是人类伟大的成就、世界的奇迹,但它只是纪念人类自己,而不是纪念神。我们可能也会为自己树立一些标记,如贵重的衣饰、华丽的房子、名贵的汽车、伟大的工作等等,叫别人留意我们的成就。这些事本身也许并不错,但我们以这些东西来肯定自己的身分和价值时,它们就会取代了神在我们生命中的位置。我们在许多方面都可以自由发展,却不能以自己来代替神。 

  巴别塔 

  创 11:10-27> 祝福与咒诅延续于闪和迦南的后代中,为谁祝福?因何咒诅? 

  11:10-27 挪亚曾咒诅迦南( 9:24-27 ),迦南是含的儿子( 10:6 ),是邪恶的迦南人的始祖。这里记载了闪的后代( 10:22-31 ),他们得到挪亚的祝福( 9:26 )。亚伯拉罕和整个犹太民族都是出自闪,在约书亚时代,他们终能成功地攻取迦南地。 

  创 11:26-28> 亚伯兰在文明发达的吾珥成长,最后还是选择了顺服神而离开。今天我又选了什么? 

  11:26-28 迦勒底的吾珥是古时的一个重要城市。考古学家发现在亚伯兰的时代,吾珥已经文化昌盛,对外贸易发达,还有一个庞大的图书馆。亚伯兰在吾珥长大,想必受到良好的教育。 

  创 11:31> 等候,是信靠神最重要的功课,我是在上这一课吗? 

  11:31 他拉离开吾珥往迦南地去,却改在哈兰定居。他走到半路就停下定居,可能是由于健康不佳、气候不适或是恐惧。不过这些因素并没有改变神对亚伯兰的呼召( 12:1 )。亚伯兰尊敬父亲的领导,但当他拉死后,他就继续往迦南去。神的旨意可能是一步一步地向人显明。住在哈兰对亚伯兰来说,是过渡时期。神也给予我们过渡时期和等候时期,使我们倚靠祂、信赖祂所安排的时间。只要我们在等候时耐心地遵行神的旨意,我们就会有更好的准备来回应神的呼召。──《灵修版圣经注释》