There's chapters 1-11, which tell the story of God and the whole world, and then there's chapters 12-50

第一部份是第 1-11 章，書中描述了上帝和這整個世界的故事，之後的章節

which zoom in and tell the story of God and just one man, Abraham, and then his family.

則仔細描述了上帝和一位叫做亞伯拉罕的人及其家族的事蹟

And these two parts are connected by a hinge story at the beginning of chapter 12.

將這兩個部份連繫在一起的，是起於第12章新展開的故事

And this design, it gives us a clue as to how to understand the message of the book as a whole and how it

這樣的安排，讓我們得可以明白這本書所要傳遞的訊息，以及如何

introduces the story of the whole Bible. So the book begins with God taking the disorder and the

介紹整本聖經的來龍去脈。所以在聖經的開頭，上帝從空虛混沌

darkness described in the second sentence of the Bible and God brings out of it order and beauty and

以及第二句所提到的黑暗中，上帝建立起秩序、美善

goodness and he makes out of it a world where life can flourish. And God makes these creatures called humans

和良善，祂建立了一個生命可生存繁衍的世界。接著上帝造了「人類」

or "adam," in Hebrew. He makes them in his image, which has to do with their role and purpose in God's world.

即希伯來文中的「亞當」。祂用自己的形象造了人，與他們在這世上的角色和意向有關

So humans are made to be reflections of God's character out into the world.

所以人類被造，是用來反映出在這個世界中上帝的性格

And they're appointed as God's representatives to rule his world on his behalf, which in context

人類被上帝指派為祂在這個世界上的代理人，來管理這個世界

means to harness all its potential, to care for it, and make it where even more life can flourish.

即運用這世界的無窮潛力、照料它們、並且讓更多的生命能在此蓬勃發展

God blesses the humans. It's a key word in this book. And he gives them a garden, a place from which they

「上帝賜福予人類」是這本聖經的核心觀念。上帝並且給予人類一座花園，做為

begin starting to build this new world. Now the key is that the humans have a choice about how they're

建造新天地的一個開始。而現在的關鍵是人類面臨了一個選擇

going to go about building this world and that's represented by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

即如何動手來建造這個新天地，這即象徵了分別善惡的知識之樹

Up till now, God has provided and defined what is good and what is not good. But now God is giving humans the

在這之前，上帝已經界定了善惡的定義，但現在上帝更賦予了人類

dignity and the freedom of a choice: Are they going to trust God's definition of good and evil or are they

尊嚴和自由意識。人類要去相信上帝對於善惡的判斷，還是他們要

going to seize autonomy and define good and evil for themselves? And the stakes are really high.

取得自主權、自行判斷善惡？這個賭注可真是很大

To rebel against God is to embrace death because you're turning away from the giver of life himself.

遠離神就代表了投向死亡的懷抱，因為你離開的是賜予你生命的造物主

This is represented by the Tree of Life. And so in chapter 3, a mysterious figure, a snake, enters into the story.

這代表了「生命之樹」。在創世紀第 3 章中，「蛇」這個神秘的角色在故事出現了

The snake's given no introduction other than it's a creature that God made.

「蛇」的身份是個謎，只知道牠也是上帝的創造物

And it becomes clear that it's a creature in rebellion against God and it wants to lead the humans into rebellion and their death.

很明顯地，這隻蛇屬於敵對上帝的陣營，並且想要促使人類反抗上帝、引他們到死亡之地

The snake tells a different story about the tree and the choice.

這隻蛇編造了另一個關於「善惡樹」和「選擇」的故事

It says that seizing the knowledge of good and evil are not going to bring death and that it's actually the

牠說：獲得判斷善惡的知識不會導致死亡，反而

way to life and becoming like God themselves. Now the irony of this is tragic because we know the humans

會獲得新生，變得如同上帝一般。這個悲劇最反諷的地方在於：我們知道

are already like God--they were made to reflect God's image. But instead of trusting God, the humans seize autonomy,

人類本來就和上帝相似 - 因為他們是依據上帝的形象而受造的。但是人類不相信上帝，卻要自力更生

they take the knowledge of good and evil for themselves, and in an instant the whole story

打算用自己的標準定下了善惡，於是整個故事一瞬之間

spirals out of control. The first casualty is human relationships. The man and the woman

如脫韁野馬失控變了調。人與人之間的關係首當其衝。男人與女人

they suddenly realize how vulnerable they are. Now they can't even trust each other. And so they make clothes

突然發現了他們脆弱不堪，他們無法彼此信任，於是他們製作了衣服

and they hide their bodies from one another. The second casualty is that intimacy between God and humans is

用來遮掩他們的身體。第二個受害的就是上帝與人類失去原有的親密

lost. So they go, run, and hide from God. And then when God finds them, they start this game of

所以人類奔跑、遠離上帝。當上帝找到他們時，他們就開始

blame-shifting about who rebelled first. Now right here this story stops and there's a series of short poems

相互指責、推卸責任。至此故事告一段落，接著記述了一首詩

where God declares to the snake, and then to the humans, the tragic consequences of their actions.

在詩中，上帝要蛇和人類為他們的行為付上悲慘的代價

God first tells the snake that despite it's apparent victory, it is destined for defeat, to eat dust.

上帝首先告訴蛇說，儘管牠看起來獲得了勝利，但最終必將以失敗收場。牠必須終身以土為食

God promises that one day a seed, or a descendant, will come from the woman, who's going to deliver a lethal strike to the snakes head.

上帝同時說女人的後裔必將擊傷蛇的頭部

Which sounds like great news, but this victory is going to come with a cost because the snake, too,

這聽起來雖然像是好消息，但這勝利的代價是蛇必會

will deliver a lethal strike to the descendant's heal as it's being crushed.

在被擊殺時咬傷女人後裔的腳跟

It's a very mysterious promise of this wounded victor. But in the flow of the story so far, you see that

對這位負傷的勝利者而言，這真是情何以堪的預言。但這個故事進行至此，你可以觀察到

this is an act of God's grace. The humans, they've just rebelled. And what does God do?

這其中仍有上帝的恩典。至於背叛上帝的人類，上帝對他們又如何呢？

He promises to rescue them. But this doesn't erase the consequences of the humans' decision.

上帝承諾會拯救他們，但這無法挽回人類已下的決定

So God informs them that now every aspect of their life together--at home, in the field--it's going to be

所以上帝告訴他們：他們生活的每一個方面 - 無論是在家、在田野

fraught with grief and pain because of the rebellion, all leading to their death.

都因為他們背叛而充滿了勞苦，最終的結局就是引到死亡

From here, the story then spirals downward. Chapters 3-11, they trace the widening ripple effect

故事至此開始急轉直下。在第 3 - 11 章中，因背叛而產生的連鎖效應愈演愈烈

of the rebellion and of human relationships fracturing at every level.

人類之間的各層關係都產生了裂痕

So there's the story of two brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain is so jealous of his brother that he wants to murder him.

其中有一對兄弟的故事，該隱和亞伯，該隱因為嫉妒他的弟弟亞伯，因此想要謀殺他

And God warns him not to give in to the temptation but he does anyway. He murders him in the field.

他無視於上帝的警告，使自己屈服於私欲，最終犯下了殺人罪行

So Cain then goes on to build a city where violence and oppression reign. And this is all epitomized in this story

所以該隱離去他鄉建造了一個城市，該處充滿了罪惡與壓迫。這就是這個故事的概要

of Lamech. He's the first man in the Bible to have more than one wife. He's accumulating them like property.

至於拉麥這個人，他是在聖經中第一個娶兩個老婆的人，他視妻小如同累積財產

And then he goes on to sing a short song about how he's more violent and vengeful than Cain ever was.

然後他唱起了一首短歌，歌詞是他是如何的暴力、比起該隱更是有仇必報

After this we get an odd story about the "sons of God, " which could refer to evil, angelic beings,

緊接著是一個關於「神之眾子」的奇怪故事，這個是在描述一群墮落的天使

or it could refer to ancient kings who claimed that they descended from the gods.

當然也有可能只是古代的君王想要藉此證明他們是神的後裔

And like Lamech, they acquired as many wives as they wanted and they produced the Nephilim, these great warriors of old.

如同拉麥這個人，這些神之眾子也照著自己的欲望娶了許多老婆，他們之中還生育出巨人。

Whichever view is right, the point is that humans are building kingdoms that fill God's world with violence and even more corruption.

不管那一個說法是對的，重點是人類嘗試在上帝的世界中建立自己的國度，其中充滿了暴力與腐敗

In response, we are told that God is broken with grief, humanity is ruining his good world and they're ruining each other.

聖經說上帝對此傷心欲絕，人類不但摧毀了這個美好的世界，又自相殘殺

And so out of a passion to protect the goodness of his world, he washes it clean of humanity's evil with a great flood.

所以上帝決意保護這個世界的良善，打算掀起一場大洪水，來清除人類的罪惡

But he protects one blameless human--Noah, and his family. And he commissions him as a new Adam.

但是上帝開恩赦免了一個正直清白的人 - 諾亞和他的家人。上帝希望他成為新的「亞當」

He repeats the divine blessing and commissions him to go out into the world. And so our hopes are really high

上帝再次賜下了祝福，並且命令諾亞去到外面的世界。這時人類看起來充滿了希望

but then Noah fails too. and also in a garden. He goes and he plants a vineyard and he gets drunk out of his mind.

但是諾亞仍辜負了上帝的期許 - 事情同樣發生在花園。諾亞栽種了一個葡萄園，並且有次喝醉到不省人事

And then one of his sons, Ham, does something shameful to his father in the tent. And so, here we have our new "adam," naked and ashamed,

諾亞的其中一個兒子「含」，在帳篷中做了讓他父親感到羞恥的事（看到父親的裸體），所以我們這個裸身、羞愧的「新亞當」

just like the first. And the downward spiral begins again. It all leads to the foundation of the city of Babylon.

如同他的祖先一般，墮落命運又再次重演，最後促使了巴比倫城的建立。

The people of ancient Mesopotamia, they come together around this new technology they have--the brick.

古代美索不達米亞的居民們，他們掌握了一門新技術 - 造磚，於是集合起來

And they can make cities and towers bigger and faster than anybody's ever done before. And they want to build

他們以史無前例的速度與規模來建立城市和高塔，而且他們打算建造

a new kind of tower that will reach up to the gods and they will make a great name for themselves.

一個新的通天高塔來紀念他們自己

It's an image of human rebellion and arrogance. It's the garden rebellion now writ large.

這個高塔是人類對上帝的背叛、自我傲慢的象徵。有如在伊甸園中背叛的放大版

And so God humbles their pride and scatters them. Now this is a diverse group of stories but you can see

於是上帝使他們自慚形穢、驅散了他們。這是一個多元化族群的故事，但你可以發現

they're all exploring the same basic point: God keeps giving humans the chance to do the right thing

他們全部都在描述一個重點。上帝一直給人類機會在世上去做正確的事

with his world and humans keep ruining it. These stories are making a claim that we live in a good world that we have turned bad--

但人類總是一再搞砸。這些故事告訴我們：我們所居住的世界是美好的，但我們卻變壞了

that we've all chosen to define good and evil for ourselves and so we all contribute

因為我們以自己的標準來定義善惡，所以我們每個人都無可推諉

to this world of broken relationships, leading to conflict, and violence, and ultimately death.

對於這個世界破碎的人際關係、紛爭衝突、暴力頻仍，最後不免一死

But there's hope. God promised that one day a descendant would come--

但是希望仍在。上帝應許在有一天，一個上帝之子會降臨

the wounded victor who will defeat evil at its source. And so despite humanity's evil, God is determined to bless and rescue his world.

這個負傷的勝利者會擊潰邪惡，儘管人性邪惡，但上帝決定要祝福和拯救這個世界

And so the big question is, of course, "What is God going to do?" And the next story, the hinge, offers the answer.

所以最大的問題，理所當然是「上帝會做什麼？」而下一個如同轉折點的故事，提供了答案

But for now, that's what Genesis 1-11 is all about.

但到目前為止，這就是創世界 1-11 章的內容大意