Genesis 48

标题：Genesis 48
年份：2020
尺寸：47.28 x 70.85 cm

Title: Genesis 48
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.

48 / 50.

48:1 这些事以后，有人对约瑟说：“你的父亲病了。”约瑟就带着两个儿子玛拿西和以法莲同去。48:2 有人告诉雅各，说：“你的儿子约瑟到你这里来了。”以色列就勉强在床上坐起来。48:3 雅各对约瑟说：“全能的　神曾经在迦南地的路斯向我显现，赐福给我，48:4 对我说：‘我必使你繁衍增多，成为一大族；我必把这地赐给你的后裔，作永远的产业。’48:5 我未到埃及见你之前，你在埃及地生了两个儿子，现在他们算是我的；以法莲和玛拿西是我的，好象流本和西缅是我的一样。48:6 你在他们以后所生的子孙，都是你的；不过，在继承产业的事上，他们可以归在他们哥哥的名下。48:7 至于我，我从巴旦回来的时候，在迦南地的路上，那里到以法他还有一段路程，拉结就死在我身边；我在那里把她埋葬在以法他的路旁。以法他就是伯利恒。”48:8 以色列看见约瑟的儿子，就问：“他们是谁？”48:9 约瑟回答父亲：“他们是我的儿子，是　神在这里赐给我的。”以色列说：“把他们领到我这里来，我要给他们祝福。”48:10 以色列因为年老，眼睛昏花，看不清楚。约瑟领他们到他跟前去，他就与他们亲吻，拥抱他们。48:11 以色列对约瑟说：“我想不到可以看见你的面，现在　神竟使我见到你的后裔。”48:12 约瑟把两个儿子从以色列膝上抱下来，自己脸伏在地下拜。48:13 约瑟领着他们两个到以色列的跟前，以法莲在约瑟的右边对着以色列的左边；玛拿西在约瑟的左边对着以色列的右边。48:14 但是，以色列两手交叉，右手按在次子以法莲的头上，左手按在长子玛拿西的头上。48:15 他祝福约瑟，说：“愿我祖亚伯拉罕和以撒所侍候的　神，一生牧养我直到今日的　神，48:16 那救我脱离一切祸患的使者，赐福给这两个童子。愿我的名，我祖亚伯拉罕和以撒的名，借着他们得以流传；愿他们在地上生养众多。”48:17 约瑟见他父亲把右手按在以法莲的头上，心里就不高兴，于是拿住他父亲的手，要从以法莲的头上移到玛拿西的头上。48:18 约瑟对他父亲说：“爸爸啊，不是这样，这个才是长子，请你把右手按在他的头上。”48:19 他父亲却不肯，说：“我知道，我儿啊，我知道，他也要成为一族，也要强大；只是他弟弟比他还要强大，他的后裔要成为多族。”48:20 那一天，以色列给他们祝福，说：“以色列人要用你的名祝福人，说：‘愿　神使你像以法莲和玛拿西一样。’”于是，以色列立以法莲在玛拿西之上。48:21 以色列又对约瑟说：“看哪，我快要死了，但是　神必与你们同在，必领你们回到你们祖先的土地去。48:22 现在我把从前用刀和弓，从亚摩利人手中夺过来的那块山地赐给你，使你比众兄弟多得一份。”

创世记 48

48:1 Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him.48:2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty(Hebrew El-Shaddai) appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me48:4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’48:5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.48:6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers.48:7 As I was returning from Paddan,(That is, Northwest Mesopotamia) to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).48:8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”48:9 “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”48:10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.48:11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”48:12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground.48:13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him.48:14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,48:16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”48:17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.48:18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.”48:20 He blessed them that day and said, “In your(The Hebrew is singular.) name will Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you(The Hebrew is plural.) and take you(The Hebrew is plural.) back to the land of your(The Hebrew is plural.) fathers.48:22 And to you I give one more ridge of land(The Hebrew for ridge of land is identical with the place name Shechem.) than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

Genesis 48

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