Genesis 44

标题：Genesis 44
年份：2020
尺寸：47.28 x 70.85 cm

Title: Genesis 44
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.

44 / 50.

44:1 约瑟吩咐管家说：“把粮食装满这些人的布袋，要尽他们所能携带的，又把各人的银子放在他们的袋口；44:2 把我的银杯，放在最小的袋口，连同他买粮食的银子放进去。”管家就照着约瑟吩咐的话去作。44:3 早晨天一亮，那些人和他们的驴子都被打发走了。44:4 他们出了城，走了不远，约瑟就对管家说：“起来，追赶那些人；追上了，就对他们说：‘你为甚么以恶报善呢？44:5 这不是我主人喝酒和占卜用的杯吗？你们所作的，实在不对。’”44:6 管家追上了他们，就对他们说了这些话。44:7 他们对管家说：“我主为甚么说这样的话呢？你的仆人绝不会作这样的事。44:8 你看，我们从前在袋口发现的银子，尚且从迦南地带来还给你，我们又怎会从你主人的家里偷取金银呢？44:9 在你仆人当中，无论在谁那里搜出来，谁就要死，我们也要作我主的奴仆。”44:10 管家说：“现在就照你们的话作吧，只是在谁那里搜出来，谁就要作我的奴仆，其余的人都没有罪。”44:11 于是，他们急忙把自己的布袋卸在地上，各人打开自己的布袋。44:12 管家就搜查，从最大的开始，查到最小的。那杯竟在便雅悯的布袋里搜出来了。44:13 他们就撕裂自己的衣服，各人又把担子驮在驴上，回城去了。44:14 犹大和他的兄弟来到约瑟的家里，那时约瑟还在那里；他们就在他面前俯伏在地。44:15 约瑟对他们说：“你们所作的是甚么事呢？你们不知道像我这样的人必能占卜吗？”44:16 犹大说：“我们对我主可以说甚么呢？我们还有甚么可说的呢？我们怎能证明自己是清白的呢？　神已经查出你仆人们的罪孽了。看哪，我们和那在他手里搜出杯来的，都是我主的奴仆了。”44:17 约瑟说：“我绝不能这样作。在谁的手里搜出杯来，谁就要作我的奴仆；你们其余的人，可以平平安安地上你们父亲那里去。”44:18 犹大走近约瑟身边，说：“我主啊，求你容许仆人说一句话给我主听，请不要向仆人发烈怒，因为你好象法老一样。44:19 我主曾经问仆人们说：‘你们还有父亲或其他兄弟没有？’44:20 我们曾经回答我主：‘我们还有年老的父亲和最小的弟弟，是他年老时所生的。他的哥哥死了，他母亲只剩下他一个孩子，他父亲非常爱他。’44:21 你就对仆人们说：‘把他带下来到我这里，我要亲眼看看他。’44:22 我们对我主说：‘那孩子是不能离开他父亲的；如果离开了，他父亲必定死。’44:23 你对仆人们说：‘如果你们最小的弟弟不与你们一同下来，你们就不得见我的面。’44:24 于是，我们上到你仆人我们的父亲那里，就把我主的话告诉了他。44:25 后来我们的父亲说：‘你们再去替我们买些粮食回来吧。’44:26 我们就说：‘我们不能下去，如果有我们最小的弟弟与我们同去，我们就下去；因为我们最小的弟弟不与我们同去，我们就不得见那人的面。’44:27 你仆人我的父亲对我们说：‘你们知道我的妻子只给我生了两个儿子。44:28 一个已经离开我去了，我想他必定是被野兽撕碎了；直到现在，我也没有见过他。44:29 现在你们又要把这个从我面前带去，如果他遇到不幸，你们就使我这个白发老人，悲悲惨惨地下阴间去了。’44:30 我父亲的命与这孩子的命，是相连在一起的。现在我回到你仆人我的父亲那里，如果没有孩子与我们在一起，44:31 他一见没有孩子，就必定死；这样，你仆人们就使你仆人我们的父亲，这个白发老人，愁愁苦苦地下阴间去了。44:32 因为仆人曾经向父亲担保这孩子的安全，说：‘如果我不把他带回来交还给你，我就在父亲面前终生承担这罪。’44:33 现在求你容许仆人留下，代替这孩子作我主的奴仆，让这孩子与他的哥哥们一同上去。44:34 因为如果孩子没有与我同去，我怎能上去见我的父亲呢？恐怕我会看见灾祸临到我父亲身上。”

创世记 44

44:1 Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack.44:2 Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph said.44:3 As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.44:4 They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?44:5 Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.’ ”44:6 When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them.44:7 But they said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that!44:8 We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?44:9 If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”44:10 “Very well, then,” he said, “let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.”44:11 Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.44:12 Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.44:13 At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.44:14 Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him.44:15 Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?”44:16 “What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.”44:17 But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.”44:18 Then Judah went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.44:19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’44:20 And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’44:21 “Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’44:22 And we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’44:23 But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’44:24 When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.44:25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’44:26 But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’44:27 “Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.44:28 One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.44:29 If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.’44:30 “So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life,44:31 sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow.44:32 Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’44:33 “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.44:34 How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.”

Genesis 44

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