Although they are two separate books in our Bibles

雖然在我們的《聖經》裡它們是分開的兩卷書

They were originally written as one book telling a unified story

他們原本是一卷書，訴說著一個故事

that continues on from the book of Samuel that came before it

延續了它的上一卷書－撒母耳記

So David has unified the tribes of Israel into a kingdom

大衛將以色列的各支派統一成為一個聯合的王國

and God promised that from his line would come a Messianic king

然後神應許他，從他的後裔中將會出現一位彌賽亞君王

who would establish God's kingdom over the nation's and fulfill the promises made to Abraham

這位彌賽亞將會建立一個神的國度於列國之上， 並且完成神對亞伯拉罕的應許

So the Book of Kings tells the story of the long line of Kings that came after David

所以列王記上下紀錄了大衛之後列王的故事

and none of them lived up to that promise

而他們沒有任何人活出應許的要求

In fact, they run the nation of Israel right into the ground

事實上，他們將以色列治理地非常糟糕

The book is designed to have five main movements

列王記可以分為五個部分

the story begins and ends focus on Jerusalem

故事的開頭和結尾都聚焦於耶路撒冷

First with Solomon's reign in the construction of the temple

第一個部分講到所羅門的治理和建造聖殿

and then in this last section ending with jerusalem's destruction and Israel's exile to Babylon

在最後一部分耶路撒冷被毀，而以色列人被擄到巴比倫

and the story leading up to this tragedy is what makes up the center three sections

中間的三個部分描述了這個悲劇發生的原因和經過

which explain how Israel split into two rival kingdoms

它解釋了以色列為何分裂為兩個對立的國家

how God tried to prevent the corruption of Israel by sending the prophets

上帝如何差遣先知，以阻止以色列的敗壞

and how exile became unavoidable consequence of Israel's sins

和被擄如何成為以色列犯罪後不可避免的結果

The book opens with two chapters about the kingdom passing from the aging David to his son Solomon

這卷書開頭的兩章講到王國從年老的大衛手中 交到他兒子所羅門的身上

and David's final words to Solomon they're very similar to those of Moses and Joshua and Samuel to the people

大衛給所羅門的遺言和摩西、約書亞 和撒母耳給以色列人的遺言有點類似

It's a call to remain faithful to the commands of the covenants

主要都是在呼籲人要謹守遵行他們和神的約

and to give allegiance to the God of Israel alone

要單單事奉以色列的神

but David's words bring somewhat hollow here

但大衛的話接著就顯得有點空洞

because David and Solomon then go on to conspire how they're going to consolidate this new kingdom

因為大衛和所羅門開始籌畫如何穩固這個新的國家

through a whole series of political assassinations

透過一系列的政治暗殺

so it's not off to a great start

所以這並不是一個好的開始

Solomon's brightest moment comes when he asked God for wisdom to lead Israel

所羅門最光明的時刻是當他向神求智慧以治理以色列

and he even complete David's dream to make a temple for the God of Israel

他也完成了大衛為以色列的神建殿的夢想

Here the story actually stops and describes the design of this temple in detail

故事在這裡停止，並且開始詳細描述聖殿的設計

just like the tabernacle design in the Torah

就像在摩西五經裡面對於會幕設計的描寫一樣

there's all these gold and jewels and depictions of angels and fruit trees

有很多的金銀珠寶和關於天使和果樹的描述

It's all symbolism echoing back to the garden of eden

這些都象徵著伊甸園的景象

it's the place where heaven and earth meet where God's presence dwells with his people

這裡是天地的交會之處，也是神與祂子民同在的地方

but no sooner does Solomon finish the temple

但就在所羅門完成聖殿不久後

but he makes them really horrible choices and the Kingdom falls apart

他做了一個非常糟糕選擇導致王國的分裂

he starts marrying the daughters of other kings hundreds of them for political alliances

他開始出於政治結盟而娶了許多國家的公主

and then he adopts their gods and introduces the worship of those gods into Israel

然後他接受了她們的神，並將假神崇拜引入了以色列

Solomon then accumulates huge amounts of wealth he built a huge army

接著他積攢了大量的財富，建立了一支大軍

He even Institute slave labor for all of his building projects

他甚至為了建造宮殿而使用奴隸

Now if you go back to the Torah and look at God's guidelines for Israel's kings in Deuteronomy 17

如果你回去看看摩西五經， 申命記17章記載了神對以色列君王的心意

Solomon is breaking every one

所羅門違反了每一條

so by the time that he dies

所以在他死之前

Solomon resembles Pharaoh the king of Egypt more than he does his father David

所羅門更像埃及王法老多過像他的父親大衛

the next section of the book opens with Solomon's son, Rehoboam, acting just like his father

下一個部分講到所羅門的兒子羅波安， 他的所作所為，就像他的父親一樣

it's a very sad story of greed and lust for power

這是個關於對權力的貪婪和慾望的悲傷故事

he tries to increase taxes for slave labor

他對奴隸課以重稅

and under the leadership of Jeroboam the northern tribes reject this

在耶羅波安的領導下，北方的十個支派拒絕配合

they rebelled and secede and form their own rival Kingdom

他們反叛，並且建立了自己的王國

and so now in the story you have the southern kingdom of Judah

所以，故事到了這裡，有一個南國猶大

centered in Jerusalem with Kings from the line of David

以耶路撒冷為中心，以大衛的後代為王

and now this new northern kingdom called Israel

然後有一個新的北方王國叫做以色列

who's capital will be Samaria eventually

以撒馬利亞為首都

Jeroboam also goes on to build two new temples to compete with Solomon's temple in the south

耶羅波安也建了兩座聖殿，以抗衡南方的所羅門聖殿

he put the Golden Calf in each one to represent the God of Israel

他在其中放置了金牛犢代表以色列的神

The connection to Exodus 32 and the Golden Calf It's all quite explicit

這和出埃及記32章的金牛犢如出一轍

From this point on the story goes back and forth from north to south tracing the fate of both kingdoms

從這裡開始，故事便在南北兩國的命運之間來回

Each one had about 20 successive kings

兩個國大概都有20位君王

and as the author introduces each king he evaluates their reign by a few criteria

每當作者提及每位君王時，會根據幾個標準評估其統治

did they worship the God of Israel alone or did they promote the worship other gods

他們是否單單敬拜以色列的神或是他們也敬拜其他的神

did they deal with idolatry among the people

他們是否處理在百姓中間的偶像崇拜

and did they remained faithful to the Covenant like David or do they become corrupt and unjust

他們是否像大衛一樣對神的約忠誠， 或是他們變得腐敗不公

and according to these criteria the author finds no good kings in northern Israel zero for twenty

根據這些標準，作者發現， 在北國以色列的二十位王中間，沒有任何一位好王

And then in southern Judah only eight out of 20 get a positive rating

在南國猶大的二十位王裡，只有八位得到正面的評價

which connects to another huge purpose in this book

這和本書的另外一個重要的寫作主旨有關

and that to introduce the role of the prophet key figures in israel's history

就是引入「先知」這個在以色列歷史上重要的角色

so in the Bible, prophets were not fortune tellers rather they spoke on behalf of the God of Israel

在聖經裡面，先知不是占卜者， 而是代表以色列的神說話的人

and they played the role of Covenant watchdog

他們扮演神的約的守望者

which means they called out idolatry and injustice among the Kings and the people

這意味著他們在王和百姓中間呼籲除去偶像和不公

they were constantly reminding Israel of their calling to be a light to the nations

他們持續地提醒以色列，上帝呼召他們成為列國的光

that they should obey the commands of the Torah

他們應當遵守律法的要求

and so the prophets challenged Israel to repent and follow their God

因此，先知挑戰以色列悔改，並且歸向他們的神

In these centres sections for each King, God then raises up prophets to hold them accountable

在這些論述的當中，神興起這些先知並且委以重任

the most prominent prophets over the northern ones are Elijah and his disciples Elisha

北國最重要的先知是以利亞和他的門徒以利沙

right here in the center of the book

在列王記最中間的部分

Elijah was a wild man of a prophet living out in the desert

以利亞是一位住在曠野的先知

and his arch nemesis was the northern King Ahab and his Canaanite wife Jezebel

他的死對頭是北國君王亞哈和他的迦南妻子耶洗別

together these two had instituted the worship of the Canaanites God Baal over Israel

這兩個人在國中一起帶領百姓敬拜迦南的神巴力

and so in a famous story Elijah challenged four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal

所以有一個出名的故事，以利亞大戰450名巴力先知

to a contest to see which God was a real

來讓人看見誰才是真神

so they both built altars and prayed to their gods

他們都築了祭壇並且向他們的神禱告

but only the God of Israel answers with fire

但只有以色列的神以烈火回應

After this, Ahab uses his royal power to murder an Israelite farmer and then steal his family's vineyard

這之後，亞哈利用他們權力謀殺了以色列農夫拿伯， 竊取了他的葡萄園

and the Elijah again confront Ahab's injustice and he announces the downfall of his house

以利亞再次指責亞哈的惡行，並且宣告他家的敗落

Elijah eventually passes the mantle of his prophetic leadership to a young disciple named Elisha

以利亞最後將先知的職分傳承給年輕的門徒以利沙

who asks for two times the authority of Elijah

他求擁有以利亞兩倍的能力

but what's fascinating here is how the author is recounted 7 miraculous feats for Elijah

有趣的是，作者在此描述了以利亞所行的七件神蹟

and then he offers stories of 14 acts of power from Elisha

以及以利沙所行的十四件神蹟

Both prophets were clearly remarkable men and they played the same role confronting Israel's Kings

兩位先知都是了不起的人，他們扮演了同樣的角色， 警告以色列的君王

for idolatry and injustice and ultimately they were unsuccessful in turning Israel back from apostasy

他們崇拜偶像和不公義， 但他們最終也沒能帶領以色列回轉

In the next section, the northern kingdom has rocked by a bloody revolution started by a king named Jehu

在下一個部分， 北國經歷了一場由耶戶王發動的血腥革命

who destroys Ahab's family and although Jehu was at first commissioned by God

他毀滅了亞哈家，雖然一開始他是被神所揀選的

his violence just gets out of control

他的暴行卻失控了

and it creates the spiral of political assassinations and rebellions from which Israel never recovered

從這裡開啟了以色列國政治暗殺和反叛的循環

coup follows coup after Jehu

在耶戶之後，一次又一次的政變

and each King follows other gods allows horrible injustice it all leads up to second Kings chapter 17

每位君王都隨從別神，帶來許多的不公義， 直到列王記下17章

the big bad empire of Assyria swoops down and takes out the northern kingdom altogether

強大的亞述帝國南下攻打以色列

and the capital city of Samaria is conquered

首都撒馬利亞因此淪陷

and the Israelites were exiled and scattered throughout the ancient world

以色列人被擄，並且散居到各地

now chapter 17 is key

十七章是一個關鍵

the author stops the story and offers this prophetic reflection and what's just happened

作者在這裡停下，並且以先知的角度提出一些反省

he blames the downfall of the northern kingdom on the idolatry

他將北國的落敗歸咎於偶像崇拜

and covenant unfaithfulness of Israel and its kings

以及以色列和君王對神的約不忠

and so God has allowed them to face the consequences of their decisions

因此神讓他們看見他們的選擇帶來的後果

The final movement of the book tells the story of the lone southern kingdom

列王記的最後一部分記述了南國猶大

In here, we meet very heroic kings like Hezekiah who trust God

在這裡我們看見幾位好王像是希西家，他信靠神

when the armies of Assyria come knocking on Jerusalem's door

當亞述的大軍來到耶路撒冷的城下時

or Josiah who discovers this lost scroll of the Torah in the temple

或是在聖殿裡面發現律法書的約西亞王

So he start to reading it. He's convicted

他開始宣讀律法，並且認罪

and he institutes religious reforms to remove idolatry in Canaanite influences from the land

他下令開始改革，除去迦南地的偶像崇拜

but Judah is just too far gone

但是猶大已經離神的心意太遙遠了

The King right in between these two, Menassah. He's the worst by far

在這兩位王中間，是史上最邪惡的國王，瑪拿西

so he not only introduces the worship of idols statues into the Jerusalem Temple,

他不僅在耶路撒冷的聖殿中引入偶像崇拜

he also institutes child sacrifice

還以孩童經火獻祭

And so God sends prophets to say the time is up. Israel has reached the point of no return

所以上帝差派先知告訴以色列人，你們已經回不去了

The final chapters tell the story of the Babylonian Empire coming to invade Jerusalem destroy the temple

最後一章講述到巴比倫入侵耶路撒冷，拆毀聖殿

and carry the people and the royal line of David off into exile

將以色列人民和大衛的後裔擄走

and so the story ends leaving us wondering has God done with Israel

故事的結尾令我們困惑，上帝厭棄以色列了嗎？

has he done with a line of David

祂放棄大衛的後裔了嗎？

Well, the final paragraph zooms about forty years forward into the exile

最後一章記載了被擄後的四十年

and it tells very odd story. It's about Jehoiachin, a descendant from David

一件奇怪的事情發生了。是關於約雅斤，大衛的後裔

who would have been king and he was back in Jerusalem

如果沒有被擄，他就會是猶大王

and the king of Babylon releases him from prison and invite them to eat at the Royal table for the rest of his life

巴比倫王提他出監，並且使他終身在王面前吃飯

and the book ends

然後這本書就結束了

so it's not much but it's a story that gives a glimmer of hope

這裡沒有說太多，但是給了我們一絲盼望

that God has not abandon the line of David

神並沒有拋棄大衛的後裔

so the question now is how is that going to fulfill his promises to Abraham to David

所以現在的問題是： 這個結局要如何成就神對亞伯拉罕和大衛的應許？

How he is going to bless the nations and bring the Messianic Kingdom

神要如何祝福萬國，並且帶來彌賽亞的國度？

and answer those questions you have to read on into the wisdom and the prophetic books

你得從詩歌智慧書和先知書裡面找答案

but for now that's the Book of Kings

但這就是列王記的故事