to the book's three main characters: Samuel, Saul and David and

在來看《撒母耳記下》之前， 我們先回頭看看《撒母耳記上》

then also to the book's literary design which first introduced Samuel and then

在《撒母耳記上》我們介紹了三位主要的人物

traced the rise and fall of king Saul in contrast to the rise of king David.

撒母耳、掃羅與大衛

2nd Samuel tells the story of David as Israel's King and in two movements;

我們也看了這卷書的架構

there's a season of success and a blessing, followed by a huge moral failure and then sad consequences.

首先介紹了撒母耳

And then the book ends with this well-crafted conclusion that reflects back on the good and the bad in David's life,

接下來，我們探討了掃羅王的興起和殞落

generating hope for a future king to come from his line.

並且對照了大衛王的興起。

So 2nd Samuel picks up after Saul's death and David surprises everyone by composing this

《撒母耳記下》記述了大衛成為以色列的王， 在大衛的記載中也可分成二個部分

long poem where he laments the death of the very man who tried to murder him.

起先是成功與蒙受祝福的時期

And so once again the author is presenting David's humility and compassion;

接著卻進入極大的道德上的沉淪 導致了其悲慘的代價、後果

he's a man who grieves the death even of his own enemies.

最後在這卷書的結尾，則是一段精心獨特的結論

After this, David experiences a season of success and God's blessing. All of the Israelite

回溯了大衛生命中的得與失

tribes they come to David then they ask him to unify all the tribes as

期盼未來從他的後裔中有一位受膏者（撒下22:51）

their king so the first thing David does as king, is to go to the city of

《撒母耳記下》從掃羅的死開始

Jerusalem, he conquers it, and he establishes it as Israel's capital city

令眾人驚奇的是，大衛寫出一闕長詩

which he renames as Zion. And from there David goes on and he wins many battles

而哀嘆的，正是那本要謀殺他的人（掃羅）之死

and expands Israel's territory. Now after making Jerusalem the political capital

在此，作者再次透露出大衛的謙卑和憐憫

of Israel he wants to make it their religious capital as well and so he has

他是這樣一個人，竟為了他對手的死亡而哀嘆

the Ark of the Covenant moved into the city and then in 2nd Samuel 7, he

在數年之後，大衛經歷了一連串的成功與上帝的祝福

tells God now that Israel has a permanent home he thinks that God's

最終，以色列眾支派來見大衛，與他立約 並膏大衛成為他們的君王，一統眾支派

presence should also get a permanent house so he asks if he can build a

然後，大衛登基後做的第一件事

temple for the God of Israel but God says to David: "Thank you for that thought but

就是上耶布斯城（耶路撒冷），征服那城

actually I'm going to build you a house, a dynasty." Now 2nd Samuel 7, this is a

將之建立成為以色列的首都， 並正名叫耶路撒冷，又叫大衛的城、錫安

key chapter for understanding the storyline of the whole Bible because God

從此，大衛繼續前進並且贏得許多戰役

here makes a promise to David that from his royal line will come a future king

也擴張了以色列的疆土

who's going to build God's temple here on earth and set up an eternal kingdom

現在，當他建立耶路撒冷為「政治首都」之後

and it's this

他希望這城也成為以色列的「宗教首都」

messianic promise to David that gets picked up and developed more in the Book of

於是他費了一番功夫，將約櫃移送到城裡

Psalms and also in the books of the prophets and it's this king that gets

接著，在《撒母耳記下》第七章

connected to God's promise to Abraham. The future messianic kingdom will be how

他意識到，如今自己所居住的殿是何等華美

God brings His blessing to all of the nations and it's right here in the midst

然而象徵神同在的約櫃，卻放在帳篷裡面

of all this divine blessing that things go horribly wrong. David makes a fatal

因此，他求問上帝，是否可以為祂建造一個聖殿

mistake. Not fatal for him, but for a man named Uriah. One of David´s prized

上帝對大衛說：你的出發點甚好

soldiers. So from his rooftop David sees Uriah´s wife Batsheba, bathing. David

但我所做的一切，並不是為了讓你替我建造一個聖殿，而是，我要為你建立家室，和堅立你的國

finds her, he sleeps with her, gets her pregnant and then he tries to cover the whole

現在注意，《撒母耳記下》第七章，這是關鍵的一章

thing up by having Uriah assassinated and then marrying her. It is just horrible. So when

可以藉以了解整本聖經的脈絡

David´s confronted by the prophet Nathan about all of this, he immediately owns up

因為上帝在此應許大衛

to what he's done. He is broken, he repents. He asks God to forgive him and God does

從他的君王血脈，會生出一位君王

forgive him but, God doesn't erase the consequences of David's decisions. And so

他將會在地上建造聖殿

as a result of this horrible choice David's family, his kingdom, and all falls

並且預備永遠的神國度

apart and makes this section a tragic story, much like Saul´s downfall.

就是這個對大衛的彌賽亞君王的應許

So David´s sons end up repeating his own mistakes but in even more tragic ways so

被拿來在詩篇與先知書中加以發展

Amnon sexually abuses his sister Tamar and then their brother Absalom

就是這位君王 可以與上帝對亞伯拉罕的應許連結

finds out about all of this and has Amnon assassinated and then Absalom goes

上帝將藉由未來的彌賽亞國度，賜福給地上的列國

and he hatches the secret plan to oust his father David from power and he

就在這裡，在這一切神聖的祝福當中

launches this full-scale rebellion and so for a second time David is forced to

事情卻急轉直下，大衛犯下致命的錯誤

flee from his own home and go hide in the wilderness, except this time he is

雖然沒有要了他的命

not an innocent man. The rebellion ends when David's son is murdered. And it

然而大衛手下一個名叫烏利亞的常勝軍士卻因而致死

breaks David's heart and so once again he laments over the very man who tried to

大衛在他的屋頂上看見烏利亞的妻子拔示巴在沐浴

kill him.

大衛把她找來，與她同寢，並使她懷孕

David´s last days find him back on his throne but as a broken man

他試了很多方法來遮掩這整件事

man, he's wounded by the sad consequences of his sin. The book concludes with a

包括謀殺烏利亞，又娶了他的妻子

well-crafted epilogue. With stories that are out of chronological order, but they

這實在糟透了

have this really cool symmetrical literary design. So the outer pair of

因此，大衛被先知「拿單」質問這件事情

stories come from earlier in David's reign and they compared the failures of

他當下就為他所做的撕裂心腸、悔改

Saul and then of David, and how each of them hurt other people through their bad

懇求上帝饒恕他，上帝果真饒恕他

decisions. The next inner pair of stories are about David and his band of mighty

但是

men, who went about fighting the Philistines and what's interesting is

上帝也使大衛承受了他所做的選擇而導致的後果

that both sections have a story of David's weakness in battle, so in contrast

這糟糕的選擇之後果，就是

to the victorious David of chapters 1 through 9, here we see a vulnerable David, who is

大衛的家族，他的王國全都四分五裂

dependent on others for help. The center of the epilogue has two poems that act

也使得這段故事成為悲劇，就像是掃羅的殞落一樣

like memoirs, and David reflects back on his life and he remembers times when God

接著，大衛的兒子們重蹈他的覆轍，而且下場更悲慘

graciously rescued him from danger, and he sees these as moments where God was

「暗嫩」性侵他的妹妹「他瑪」

faithful to His covenant promise to him and to his family. Both poems conclude by

當他們的兄弟「押沙龍」發現這事，就暗殺了「暗嫩」

looking back onto the hope of God's promise of a future king who will build

接下來，「押沙龍」暗自設計試圖奪他父親大衛的權位

that eternal kingdom. Now these poems and then God´s promise also connect back to

他發動了一場大規模的政變

Hannah´s poem that opened the book. And so these key passages from the beginning

於是大衛第二次被迫離家，躲到曠野

now the middle and the end of the book bring the book's themes all together.

只是這次他並非全然無辜

Despite Saul and David´s evil, God remained at work moving forward His redemptive

大衛的兒子被殺，叛亂結束。這使他心碎

purposes. And God opposed David and Saul´s arrogance, but He exalted David when he

再次，大衛哀嘆這個想要殺他的人

humbled himself. And so the future hope of this book reaches far beyond David

大衛後來拿回他的王位

himself. It looks to the future to the messianic king who will one day bring

但他已經是個破碎的人，為他罪所帶來悲慘的後果哀慟

God's kingdom and blessing to all of the nations. And that´s what the book of Samuel

這卷書有個匠心獨運的結尾

is all about.

雖然有幾個不按照年代順序的故事