Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job

箴言、 傳道書、 約伯記

and all these books are addressing the same set of questions

這3本書闡述相同問題

What kind of world are we living in

我們身處在怎樣的世界?

and what does it look like to live well in this world?

怎樣的情景算是過得好?

so how to be good at life?

要如何好好地過生活?

Yeah! So each of these books tackles these questions from a unique perspective

這3本書皆從一個特別的角度來處理這些問題

and it's important to understand all of them to get a fully biblical perspective on the good life

透過這3本書, 我們得以知道聖經想表達的好生命是甚麼

So as a thought experiment, you could actually imagine each of these books as a person

我們可以將這3本書擬人化

So Proverbs would be like this brilliant young teacher

箴言就好比年輕聰明的老師

and Ecclesiastes the sharp middle-aged critic

傳道書有如一位精明的中年評論家

and Job would be the weathered old man who seen a lot in his day

約伯記則是閱歷豐富的老人家

We're gonna start by meeting the book of Proverbs the brilliant teacher

首先我們來看看箴言這位年輕聰明的老師

And she's not just smart she's smart about everything, work, relationships, sex, spirituality

她非常聰明, 不論是工作、關係、性、靈性, 無所不知

She has incredible insights things you would see on your own

她擁有一般人所沒有的洞察力

Yeah! She would be the perfect friend have around when you need really specific advice

當你需要建議時, 她會是位良友

So what makes her so smart?

她為何如此聰明?

Well! Proverbs can see things that most people don't see

因為她能看見一般人不易見的東西

She believes that there is an invisible creative force in the universe that can guide people and how they should live

她相信這世上, 有一股我們看不到的力量, 它將引導人們如何過活

You can't see it just like you can't see the gravity but it affects everything that we do

尤如看不見的引力一般, 足以影響萬物

So what's this force?

所以這力量是甚麼?

In Hebrew, it's called chokma and it's usually gets translated into English as a wisdom

在希伯來文中, 它被稱為chokma, 意思是"智慧"

It's an attribute of God that God used to create the world

上帝用它來創造世界

and hokmah has been woven into the fabric of thing and how they work

"智慧"蟄伏於萬物之中,

So wherever people are making good or just or wise decisions they are tapping into chokma

因此當人們做出正確的選擇, 他們便是有"智慧"

and whenever someone is making a bad decision they're working against chokma

若做出不好的決定時, 他們即是走反路

Right! Or as it says in Proverbs chapter one

好比箴言第一章所說,

the waywardness of fools will destroy them but the one who listens to wisdom lives in security

"無知的人因拒絕智慧而喪命, 但那聽從我的人必然安全"

So it's like a moral law of the universe

就好似世界上的道德律法

Yeah! It's a cause-effect pattern and no one can escape

是的, 沒人能逃離這因果模式

and Proverbs personifies all of this as a woman

箴言描述"智慧"為一個女人

Yeah! Lady wisdom

也就是智慧小姐

Right! She runs around the earth calling out making herself available to anyone who's willing to listen to her and to learn

她在遍地遊走, 呼喚那些願意聽從及學習的人們

which leads to the second thing Proverbs believes that anyone can access

所以箴言也相信每個人

and interact with wisdom and use it to make the beautiful life for yourself or others

都可以運用智慧使自己和他人的生命更加美好

you can create with it like a designer

如同設計師一般創造美好的生活

Yes, in fact, chokma in hebrew isn't simply intellectual knowledge

在希伯來文中, "智慧"並不單指知識

The word is also used to describe the skilled artisan who excels at their craft like woodworking or stonemason

它也是用來描述有技能的工匠, 例如木匠或石匠

so you show you possess chokma when you put it to work and develop the skill of making a Good Life

當你創造東西使生活變好, 你就擁有"智慧"

OK! That makes sense. So let's do this. Let's go find some wisdom

讓我們來尋求智慧吧!

Before you do, Proverbs has one more really important thing to consider

箴言還有另一個重點

chokma isn't some impersonal force it's an attribute of God himself

"智慧"並不是某種神奇的力量, 它屬於神

and so in Hebrew thought, your journey to becoming wise has to begin with what Proverbs called the Fear of the Lord

對希伯來人來說, 尋求智慧的旅程就是敬畏上帝

It's this healthy respect for God's definition of good and evil

敬畏上帝指的是重視上帝對善惡的詮釋

and true wisdom means learning those boundary lines and not crossing them

真正的智慧就是學習瞭解善惡的界限並不越界

Now all those ideas you just unpacked are in chapters one through nine in Proverbs

這些觀點在箴言第1章至第9章都有提到

but when I think of the book of Proverbs, I think of the collection of sayings

當我看到箴言時, 我覺得他是一本

the Proverbs themselves. Tell me about those

集合警句的書, 怎麼說呢?

Yeah! Those are what you find in chapters ten onto the end of the book

你會發現箴言第10章到最後

it's a collection of hundreds and hundreds of Proverbs about any and all aspects of life

集結上百條的警句, 它敘述我們生活中的許多面向

and chokma gets applied to them resulting in this wise guidance

不論我們做甚麼, "智慧"都將貫穿其中,

to help you find a path toward success and no matter what you do

它的智慧會幫助你走向正確的道路

if I designed my life with these sayings, life is gonna be good

若我的人生由這些警句所引領, 我的生命會是美好的

Yeah! or if proverbs puts it, it'll give health to your bones, prosperity, a long rich life

就像箴言所說：會"身體健壯"、"興旺"及"延年益壽"

which is a really big claim

這真是很大膽的宣告

but you can see how it's often the case

而我們也將發現

wise people, they tend to do better, things usually work out well for them in life

有智慧的人常傾向美善, 而生活瑣事通常會順利許多

and so that is the promise and the wisdom of the book of Proverbs

這即是箴言的智慧和允諾

The book of Proverbs is really beautiful but if we take a step back

它是一本美好的書, 但讓我們稍微思考一下：

some people would argue it's a little too simplistic

有人會認為箴言的內容太過於單純

cause sometimes horrible things happened to really wise people

因為有智慧的人仍會遇到不好的事

and sometimes foolish people get rewarded

反而愚昧的人得到好運

it doesn't always work the way we think it should work

也許人生不如我們所想的那樣順利

that's right which is why we need to go and listen to our next wise friend ecclesiastes the critic

這就是我們要來看下一本書＜傳道書＞的原因

because he's wrestled with that very problem

＜傳道書＞要來探討這些問題

and he's going to push us further in our journey to find the Good Life

它將使我們追尋好生活的旅程更邁進一步

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