Genesis 24

标题：Genesis 24
年份：2020
尺寸：47.28 x 70.85 cm

Title: Genesis 24
Year: 2020
Dimension: 47.28 x 70.85 cm

「Genesis」系列作品，一共五十幅，对应《圣经》创世纪的五十章。

The "Genesis" series consists of 50 works, corresponding to the 50 chapters of the Bible's Genesis.

24 / 50.

24:1 亚伯拉罕老迈了，年事已高，耶和华在一切事上都赐福给他。24:2 亚伯拉罕对他家中最老的，管理他所有产业的那仆人说：“请把你的手放在我的大腿底下。24:3 我要你指着耶和华天地的　神起誓，不可从我现在居住的迦南人中，为我的儿子娶他们的女子为妻。24:4 你却要到我的故乡、我的亲族那里去，为我的儿子以撒娶妻。”24:5 仆人问亚伯拉罕：“如果那女子不愿跟我到这地方来，我必须把你的儿子带回你原出之地去吗？”24:6 亚伯拉罕对他说：“你要谨慎，切不可带我的儿子回到那里去。24:7 耶和华天上的　神，就是领我离开我的父家和我亲族之地，曾经对我说话，又向我起誓的那位说：‘我必把这地赐给你的后裔。’他必在你前面差派他的使者，你就可以从那里为我的儿子娶妻。24:8 如果那女子不愿跟你来，我叫你所起的这誓就与你无关了。只是不可带我的儿子回到那里去。”24:9 于是，仆人把手放在他主人亚伯拉罕的大腿下，为这事向亚伯拉罕起誓。24:10 那仆人从他主人的骆驼里取了十匹骆驼，带着主人各样的美物，起程往两河之间的亚兰去，到了拿鹤的城。24:11 黄昏时分，女人出来打水的时候，那仆人就叫骆驼跪在城外的水井旁边，24:12 然后祷告说：“耶和华我主人亚伯拉罕的　神啊，求你今日使我遇见好机会，施慈爱给我的主人亚伯拉罕。24:13 我现在站在水泉旁边，城内居民的女儿正出来打水。24:14 我对哪一个少女说：‘请你放下水瓶来，让我喝点水。’如果她回答：‘请喝，我也给你的骆驼喝。’愿那少女就作你选定给你仆人以撒的妻子。这样，我就知道你施慈爱给我的主人了。”24:15 话还没有说完，不料，利百加肩头上扛着水瓶出来了。利百加是彼土利所生的。彼土利是亚伯拉罕兄弟拿鹤的妻子密迦的儿子。24:16 那少女容貌非常美丽，还是个处女，没有男人亲近过她。她下到水泉那里，打满了水瓶，又上来。24:17 仆人就跑去迎着她，说：“请你把瓶里的水给我喝一点。”24:18 那少女回答：“我主请喝。”就急忙把水瓶拿下来，托在手上给他喝。24:19 他喝足了，少女就说：“我也要为你的骆驼打水，直到牠们都喝足了。”24:20 于是急忙把水瓶里的水倒在槽里，又跑到井旁去打水，给他所有的骆驼打上水来。24:21 那人一句话也不说，只注视着她，要知道耶和华使他的道路亨通不亨通。24:22 骆驼喝足了，那人就拿出一个重近六克的金鼻环，戴在她的鼻子上，又拿出两个重一百一十四克的金手镯，套在她的手上，24:23 然后问她：“请你告诉我，你是谁的女儿？你父亲的家里有地方给我们住宿没有？”24:24 她回答：“我是密迦给拿鹤所生的儿子彼土利的女儿。”24:25 她又说：“我们有很多粮草和饲料，也有住宿的地方。”24:26 那人就跪下敬拜耶和华，24:27 说：“耶和华我主人亚伯拉罕的　神是应当称颂的，因为他不断以慈爱和信实待我的主人；耶和华也一路引导我，到了我主人的兄弟家里。”24:28 那少女就跑回去，把这些事都告诉了她母亲家里的人。24:29 利百加有一个哥哥，名叫拉班。24:30 他看见了妹妹的鼻环和手上的手镯，又听见了妹妹利百加说：“那人对我这样这样说”，就跑去见外面水泉旁边的那人。他来到那人跟前的时候，见他仍然站在骆驼旁边的水泉那里。24:31 拉班说：“你这蒙耶和华赐福的，请进来吧，为甚么站在外面呢？我已经收拾好了房间，也为骆驼预备了地方。”24:32 那人就进了拉班的家。拉班卸了骆驼，拿粮草和饲料给骆驼吃，又拿水给那人和与他同来的人洗脚。24:33 然后在他面前摆上食物，但那人说：“除非等我说完了我的事，我不会吃。”拉班说：“请说。”24:34 那人说：“我是亚伯拉罕的仆人。24:35 耶和华厚厚地赐福我主人，他就昌大起来；耶和华又赐给他羊群、牛群、金银、仆婢、骆驼和驴。24:36 我主人的妻子撒拉年老的时候，给我主人生了一个儿子。我主人也把他一切所有的都给了这个儿子。24:37 我主人要我起誓，说：‘你不可从我现在居住的迦南地中，为我的儿子娶迦南的女子为妻。24:38 你要到我的父家，和我的族人那里去，为我的儿子娶一个妻子。’24:39 我问我主人：‘如果那女子不愿跟我回来呢？’24:40 他回答：‘我行事为人都在他面前的耶和华，必差派他的使者与你同去，使你的道路亨通，你就可以从我的族人和我的父家，给我的儿子娶一个妻子。24:41 只要你到了我的族人那里去，我叫你起的誓就与你无关；他们若不把女子交给你，我叫你起的誓也与你无关。’24:42 我今天到了水泉那里，就说：‘耶和华我主人亚伯拉罕的　神啊，你若叫我所走的道路亨通，24:43 那么，我现在站在水泉旁边，但愿有一个少女出来打水，我要对她说：“请你把瓶里的水给我喝一点。”24:44 她若对我说：“你请喝，我还要打水给你的骆驼喝。”愿那女子就作耶和华给我主人的儿子所选定的妻子。’24:45 我心里的话还没有说完，利百加就肩头扛着水瓶出来了，她下到水泉那里去打水；我就对她说：‘请给我水喝。’24:46 她急忙从肩上拿下水瓶来，说：‘请喝，我还要给你的骆驼喝。’我喝了，她也打水给我的骆驼喝。24:47 于是我问她，说：‘你是谁的女儿？’她回答：‘我是密迦给拿鹤所生的儿子彼土利的女儿。’我就把鼻环戴在她的鼻子上，把手镯套在她的两手上。24:48 然后我跪下敬拜耶和华，称颂耶和华我主人亚伯拉罕的　神，因为他引导我走恰当的路，使我得到我主人的兄弟的孙女，作我主人的儿子的妻子。24:49 现在你们若愿意以慈爱和信实待我的主人，就请告诉我。如果不愿意，也请你们告诉我；使我可以知道怎样行。”24:50 拉班和彼土利回答，说：“这事既然出于耶和华，我们就不能对你说好说歹。24:51 看哪，利百加就在你面前，你可以把她带去，照着耶和华所说的，作你主人儿子的妻子。”24:52 亚伯拉罕的仆人听到了他们这些话，就俯伏在地敬拜耶和华。24:53 那仆人拿出金器、银器和衣服送给利百加，又把贵重的礼物送给她的哥哥和她的母亲。24:54 然后，仆人和与他同来的人才吃喝，并且住了一夜。他们早晨起来，仆人就说：“请打发我回到我主人那里去吧！”24:55 利百加的哥哥和母亲说：“让这女孩子和我们同住多几天，或是十天，然后她可以离去。”24:56 仆人回答他们：“你们不要挽留我，耶和华既然使我的道路亨通，就请打发我回到我主人那里去。”24:57 他们说：“我们可以把那女孩子叫来，问问她的意思。”24:58 他们把利百加叫了来，问她：“你愿意与这人同去吗？”她回答：“我愿意去。”24:59 于是，他们把自己的妹妹利百加，她的乳母和亚伯拉罕的仆人，以及同来的人，都打发走了。24:60 他们给利百加祝福，对她说：“我们的妹妹啊，愿你作千万人之母；愿你的后裔，占领仇敌的城门。”24:61 利百加和她的众使女就起来，骑上骆驼，跟着那人走；那仆人就带着利百加走了。24:62 那时，以撒刚从庇耳．拉海．莱回来，他原本是住在南地的。24:63 黄昏的时候，以撒出来田间默想。他举目观看，忽然看见来了些骆驼。24:64 利百加举目观看，看见了以撒，就下了骆驼，24:65 问那仆人：“在田间走来迎接我们的这人是谁？”仆人回答：“他是我的主人。”利百加就拿面纱蒙在面上。24:66 仆人把所作的一切事，都告诉以撒。24:67 以撒领利百加进了他母亲撒拉的帐棚，并且娶了她。利百加就作了以撒的妻子。以撒爱利百加。以撒自从他母亲去世后，这才得了安慰。

创世记 24

24:1 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.24:2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh.24:3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,24:4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”24:6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said.24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring(Or seed) I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.24:8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.”24:9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.24:10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim(That is, Northwest Mesopotamia) and made his way to the town of Nahor.24:11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.24:12 Then he prayed, “ Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.24:13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.24:14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”24:15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.24:16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.24:17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”24:18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.24:19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.”24:20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.24:21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.24:22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka(That is, about 1/5 ounce or about 5.7 grams) and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.(That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams)24:23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”24:24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.”24:25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”24:26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord,24:27 saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”24:28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things.24:29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring.24:30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring.24:31 “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”24:32 So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet.24:33 Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.” “Then tell us,” Laban said.24:34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.24:35 The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.24:36 My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns.24:37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,24:38 but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’24:39 “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’24:40 “He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family.24:41 You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’24:42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘ Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come.24:43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,”24:44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’24:45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’24:46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.24:47 “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ “She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’ “Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms,24:48 and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.24:49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”24:50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.24:51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.”24:52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.24:53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother.24:54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”24:55 But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you(Or she) may go.”24:56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”24:57 Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.”24:58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she said.24:59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.24:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.”24:61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.24:62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev.24:63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate,(The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.) and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching.24:64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel24:65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.24:66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done.24:67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Genesis 24

在科学可以近乎解释一切的这个时代，我们已经倾向于习惯这个世界发生的一切和周围的一切，无论它有多不可思议，甚至习以为常到不再思考它的不可思议性。

宇宙为何以及如何诞生？为何宇宙大爆炸有一个从无到有的“开始”？为何生命会从“无”诞生到“有”？为何会有复杂、精密的生命的存在？为什么人体内的 DNA 和细胞像微观世界一样复杂而精确，却以高度有序的方式完成其工作，就像被设计和编程的另一个宇宙一样？

无论是哈雷彗星的椭圆运行轨道，笛卡尔浪漫的心形函数，人体曼妙的黄金分割，天空飘零的六边雪花，甚至一片落叶飘落，都是一段美妙的函数方程。大如宇宙，小如雪花，都能在这些公式之中看到神性的秩序。

爆炸带来的皆是毁灭。最初，什么都没有，“大爆炸”却产生了时间、物质和空间，没有逐步的生成，没有过渡的形态，只是一种二元翻转，从“不存在”到“存在”。宇宙复杂且广阔，却能用高度有序的数学公式来描述，诞生了秩序甚至生命。仅凭这一点就令人难以置信，足以使人们终生寻求真理。

“存在可以从不存在而来”的这种“自然发生论”观念的证据何在？怎么从非生命体获得生命？为何我们还是不知道如何切实地从死物质创造出生命，却坦然地默认生命可以从非生命诞生？

宇宙背后的真理如此令人惊叹又神秘，生命是如此不可思议，我们却如此地习以为常，甚至不再感叹这一切的神奇。

「自从造天地以来，神的永能和神性是明明可知的，虽是眼不能见，但藉着所造之物就可以晓得，叫人无可推诿。」罗马书 1:20

“科学的尽头是神学。” 我认为，尽管科学有其局限性，而神学提供了答案，但神学并不是要解释科学的不足，仅靠科学也无法触及神学的核心。然而，科学和神学并非对立面，也并不妨碍我们在探索求知的路上保留着一颗敬畏之心。

「诸天述说神的荣耀，穹苍传扬祂的手段。」诗篇 19:1

大自然的壮丽景色，很容易让人心生敬畏，但是我发现即便日常最被人忽视的细微之景，也是“穹苍”的一部分。从“大”可以很自然地想到“大”，但如果从“小”也能看到“大”，“大”则更显荣耀。

在这个系列，我不是在试图回答上述问题或者阐述我对上述问题的世界观和立场，我只是在一些我们习以为常甚至忽略的细微场景中看到了“创造者”留下的“痕迹”和“威严”。

因此，我制定了一条规则：试图通过被忽视的日常细微之景，从敬畏和好奇中看到“大”与“小”之间的关系，以小尺度为窗口，探索和思考宇宙，生命，永恒与创造之间的关系。

In an era where science can nearly explain everything, we have become accustomed to everything that happens in this world and everything around us, no matter how incredible it is, or even accustomed to stop thinking about its incredibility.

Why and how did the universe come from? Why does the universe's big bang have a "start" from nothing? Why is life born from "nothing" to "life"? Why is there complex, sophisticated creatures? Why is the DNA and cells in our body as complex and precise as a microcosm, but complete its work in a highly orderly manner, just like another universe designed and programmed?

Whether it is the elliptical orbit of Comet Halley, the romantic heart-shaped function of Descartes, the graceful golden section of the human body, the Six-sided snowflake falling from the sky, or even a leaf falling, all are wonderful function equations. As big as the universe and as small as snowflakes, divine order can be seen in these formulas.

The explosion brought about destruction. Originally, there was nothing, but the "Big Bang" produced time, matter, and space. There was no gradual development, no transitional forms, but a binary flip, from "non-existence" to "existence." The universe is complex and vast, but it can be described by highly ordered mathematical formulas, gave birth to order and even life. This alone is unbelievable enough to let people explore the truth throughout their lives.

What is the evidence for the "abiogenesis", which is "something can come from nothing"? How to get life from non-life? Why do we still not know how to actually create life from dead stuff, but frankly assume that life can be born from non-life?

The truth behind the universe is so incredible and mysterious, life is so incredible, we are so accustomed to it, we are no longer lamenting the incredibility of all this.

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

"The end of science is theology." I believe that although science has its limitations and theology provides the answer, theology is not to explain the deficiency of science, and science alone cannot reach the core of theology. However, science and theology are not opposites, and they do not prevent us from remaining awed on the road to exploring knowledge.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1

The magnificent scenery of nature can easily make people awe-inspiring, but I find that even the most slight sceneries that are most overlooked in daily life are also part of the "skies". You can think of "big" naturally from "big", but if you can also see "big" from "small", "big" is even more glorious.

In this series, I am not trying to answer the above questions or to express my views and positions on the above questions. I just saw the "traces" and "majesty" left by the "creator" in some slight scenes that we are accustomed to and even ignore.

Therefore, I created a rule: trying to see "big" from "small" - with awe and curiosity, through daily neglected slight scenes, with “small scale” as the window, to explore and think about the relationship between the universe, life, eternity and creation.

- Boshan Zhou