Genesis 42

标题：Genesis 42
年份：2020
尺寸：47.28 x 70.85 cm

Title: Genesis 42
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.

42 / 50.

42:1 雅各见埃及有粮食，就对儿子们说：“你们为甚么彼此对望呢？”42:2 他又说：“我听说埃及有粮食，你们下到那里去，给我们买些粮食，使我们可以活下去，不至饿死。”42:3 于是，约瑟的十个哥哥就下去了，要从埃及买五谷。42:4 但雅各并没有打发约瑟的弟弟便雅悯与哥哥们同去，因为雅各说：“恐怕他会遇到灾害。”42:5 以色列的众子也在前来买粮的人群中，因为迦南地也有饥荒。42:6 当时治理埃及地的官长是约瑟，卖粮给那地所有的人民的就是他。所以，约瑟的哥哥们来俯伏在地向他下拜。42:7 约瑟看见他的哥哥们，就认得他们，可是他装作陌生人，对他们说严厉的话，问他们：“你们是哪里来的？”他们回答：“我们是迦南地来买粮食的。”42:8 约瑟认得他的哥哥们，他们却不认得他。42:9 约瑟想起从前所作关于他们的两个梦，就对他们说：“你们是间谍，是来侦察本地的虚实。”42:10 他们对他说：“我主啊，不是这样，仆人们实在是来买粮食的。42:11 我们都是一个人的儿子，是诚实人；仆人们并不是间谍。”42:12 约瑟对他们说：“不是的，你们实在是来侦察本地的虚实。”42:13 他们说：“仆人们本是兄弟十二人，我们都是迦南地一个人的儿子。最小的现在与我们的父亲在一起，还有一个不在了。”42:14 约瑟对他们说：“我刚才对你们说：‘你们是间谍。’这话实在不错。42:15 我要这样试试你们：我指着法老的性命起誓，如果你们最小的弟弟不到这里来，你们就决不得离开这里。42:16 你们可以派你们中间一个人回去，把你们的弟弟带来；其余的人都要囚禁起来，好证明你们的话真实不真实。如果不真实，我指着法老的性命起誓，你们就是间谍。”42:17 于是，约瑟把他们收在监房里三天。42:18 到了第三天，约瑟对他们说：“我是敬畏　神的，你们要这样作，就可以活着；42:19 如果你们是诚实人，就叫你们兄弟中一个人囚禁在监里，你们其余的人可以带着粮食回去，解救你们家人的饥荒。42:20 然后把你们最小的弟弟带到我这里来，这样，就可以证明你们的话是真实的，你们就不必死了。”他们就照样作了。42:21 他们彼此说：“我们在对待弟弟的事上实在有罪。他向我们求情的时候，我们看见他心里的痛苦，却不肯听他，所以这次苦难临到我们身上了。”42:22 流本回答他们，说：“我不是对你们说过：‘不要伤害那孩子’吗？可是你们不肯听，现在流他血的罪要向我们追讨。”42:23 他们不知道约瑟听得明白，因为他们中间有人当传译。42:24 约瑟转身离开他们，哭了一阵，又回到他们那里，与他们说话。然后从他们中间拉出西缅来，在他们眼前把他捆绑起来。42:25 约瑟吩咐人把五谷装满他们的袋，把他们的银子放回各人的布袋里；又给他们路上用的食物。一切就照样办了。42:26 他们把粮食驮在他们的驴上，离开那里去了。42:27 到了住宿的地方，他们其中的一个人打开了布袋，要拿饲料喂驴的时候，才发现自己的银子还在袋口那里。42:28 于是对兄弟们说：“我的银子都归还了。你们看，就在我的布袋里。”他们就心里惊慌，彼此战战兢兢地说：“　神向我们作的是甚么呢？”42:29 他们回到迦南地他们的父亲雅各那里，把他们遭遇的一切事都告诉了他，说：42:30 “那地的主人对我们说了一些严厉的话，把我们当作侦察那地的间谍。42:31 我们对他说：‘我们是诚实人，并不是间谍。42:32 我们本是兄弟十二人，都是一个父亲的儿子；有一个不在了，最小的现在与我们的父亲一起在迦南地。’42:33 那地的主人对我们说：‘我用这个办法就可以知道你们是不是诚实人：你们兄弟中要留下一人在我这里，其余的人可以带着粮食回去，解救你们家人的饥荒。42:34 然后把你们最小的弟弟带到我这里来，我就知道你们不是间谍，而是诚实人了。这样，我就把你们的兄弟交还给你们，你们也可以在这地自由来往。’”42:35 后来他们倒布袋的时候，不料各人的银包仍然在各人的布袋里。他们和他们的父亲看见了银包，就都惧怕起来。42:36 他们的父亲雅各对他们说：“你们总是使我丧失儿子：约瑟没有了，西缅也没有了，你们还要把便雅悯带走；每一件事都是针对我。”42:37 流本对他父亲说：“如果我不把他带回来给你，你可以杀死我的两个儿子；只管把他交给我吧，我必把他带回来给你。”42:38 雅各说：“我的儿子不可与你们一同下去，因为他的哥哥死了，只剩下他一个；如果他在你们所走的路上遇到不幸，你们就使我这白发老人愁愁苦苦地下阴间去了。”

创世记 42

42:1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?”42:2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”42:3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.42:4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him.42:5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.42:6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.42:7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”42:8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.42:9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”42:10 “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food.42:11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”42:12 “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”42:13 But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”42:14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies!42:15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.42:16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”42:17 And he put them all in custody for three days.42:18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:42:19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households.42:20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do.42:21 They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.”42:22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.”42:23 They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.42:24 He turned away from them and began to weep, but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.42:25 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them,42:26 they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.42:27 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack.42:28 “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.” Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”42:29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said,42:30 “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land.42:31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.42:32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’42:33 “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go.42:34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade(Or move about freely) in the land.’ ”42:35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened.42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.”42:38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

Genesis 42

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