Genesis 49

标题：Genesis 49
年份：2020
尺寸：47.28 x 70.85 cm

Title: Genesis 49
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.

49 / 50.

49:1 雅各叫了他的儿子们来，说：“你们都来聚集，我好把你们日后必遇的事告诉你们。49:2 雅各的儿子们，你们要聚集而听，要听你们父亲以色列的话：49:3 “流便哪，你是我的长子，是我力量强壮的时候生的，本当大有尊荣，权力超众，49:4 但你放纵情欲、滚沸如水，必不得居首位，因为你上了你父亲的床，污秽了我的榻。49:5 “西缅和利未是弟兄，他们的刀剑是残忍的器具。49:6 我的灵啊，不要与他们同谋；我的心哪，不要与他们联络；因为他们趁怒杀害人命，任意砍断牛腿大筋。49:7 他们的怒气暴烈可咒，他们的忿恨残忍可诅。我要使他们分居在雅各家里，散住在以色列地中。49:8 “犹大啊，你弟兄们必赞美你，你手必掐住仇敌的颈项，你父亲的儿子们必向你下拜。49:9 犹大是个小狮子，我儿啊，你抓了食便上去；你屈下身去，卧如公狮，蹲如母狮，谁敢惹你？49:10 圭必不离犹大，杖必不离他两脚之间，直等细罗（就是“赐平安者”）来到，万民都必归顺。49:11 犹大把小驴拴在葡萄树上，把驴驹拴在美好的葡萄树上；他在葡萄酒中洗了衣服，在葡萄汁中洗了袍褂；49:12 他的眼睛必因酒红润，他的牙齿必因奶白亮。49:13 “西布伦必住在海口，必成为停船的海口，他的境界必延到西顿。49:14 “以萨迦是个强壮的驴，卧在羊圈之中。49:15 他以安静为佳，以肥地为美，便低肩背重，成为服苦的仆人。49:16 “但必判断他的民，作以色列支派之一。49:17 但必作道上的蛇，路中的虺，咬伤马蹄，使骑马的坠落于后。49:18 耶和华啊，我向来等候你的救恩。49:19 “迦得必被敌军追逼，他却要追逼他们的脚跟。49:20 “亚设之地必出肥美的粮食，且出君王的美味。49:21 “拿弗他利是被释放的母鹿，他出嘉美的言语。49:22 “约瑟是多结果子的树枝，是泉旁多结果的枝子，他的枝条探出墙外。49:23 弓箭手将他苦害，向他射箭，逼迫他，49:24 但他的弓仍旧坚硬，他的手健壮敏捷，这是因以色列的牧者，以色列的磐石，就是雅各的大能者。49:25 你父亲的　神必帮助你，那全能者必将天上所有的福，地里所藏的福，以及生产乳养的福，都赐给你。49:26 你父亲所祝的福，胜过我祖先所祝的福，如永世的山岭，至极的边界；这些福必降在约瑟的头上，临到那与弟兄迥别之人的顶上。49:27 “便雅悯是个撕掠的狼，早晨要吃他所抓的，晚上要分他所夺的。”49:28 这一切是以色列的十二支派，这也是他们的父亲对他们所说的话，为他们所祝的福，都是按着各人的福分，为他们祝福。49:29 他又嘱咐他们说：“我将要归到我列祖（原文作“本民”）那里，你们要将我葬在赫人以弗仑田间的洞里，与我祖我父在一处，49:30 就是在迦南地幔利前、麦比拉田间的洞。那洞和田是亚伯拉罕向赫人以弗仑买来为业，作坟地的。49:31 他们在那里葬了亚伯拉罕和他妻子撒拉，又在那里葬了以撒和他妻子利百加，我也在那里葬了利亚。49:32 那块田和田间的洞，原是向赫人买的。”49:33 雅各嘱咐众子已毕，就把脚收在床上，气绝而死，归他列祖（原文作“本民”）那里去了。

创世记 49

49:1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.49:2 “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.49:3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.49:4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.49:5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers— their swords(The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.) are weapons of violence.49:6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.49:7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.49:8 “Judah,(Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.) your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,(Or from his descendants) until he to whom it belongs(Or to whom tribute belongs; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.) shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.49:11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.49:12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.(Or will be dull from wine, / his teeth white from milk)49:13 “Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon.49:14 “Issachar is a rawboned(Or strong) donkey lying down among the sheep pens.(Or the campfires; or the saddlebags)49:15 When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor.49:16 “Dan(Dan here means he provides justice.) will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.49:17 Dan will be a snake by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward.49:18 “I look for your deliverance, Lord.49:19 “Gad(Gad sounds like the Hebrew for attack and also for band of raiders.) will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.49:20 “Asher’s food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king.49:21 “Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.(Or free; / he utters beautiful words)49:22 “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.(Or Joseph is a wild colt, / a wild colt near a spring, / a wild donkey on a terraced hill)49:23 With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility.49:24 But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed(49:23,24 Or archers will attack… will shoot… will remain… will stay) limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,49:25 because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty,(Hebrew Shaddai) who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb.49:26 Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than(Or of my progenitors, / as great as) the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among(Or of the one separated from) his brothers.49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.49:29 Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,49:30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.49:31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.49:32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.(Or the descendants of Heth) ”49:33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Genesis 49

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