圣经释读课程辅导 1

Fall 2013By: SU, Xiaoxiang

An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth

• “Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Deuteronomy 19: 21

• The best way to deal with the wicked is an eye for eye, a tooth for a tooth.

• Churches today teach that we should forgive people who hurt us, not follow the rule of an eye for an eye.

after one’s own heart

• “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” 1Samuel 13:14

• This is a house after my own heart, small, cozy and yet dignified in appearance.

Apple of one’s eye

• “In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye,…” Deuteronomy 32: 10

• Did the Law not know that a man’s name was to him the apple of his eye?

• “Dick,” said the dwarf, thrusting his head in at the door, “my pet, my pupil, the apple of my eye, hey, hey!” --- Charles Dickens

Ark of the Covenant

• “So they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.” Number 10:33

• E.g. The bookcase was like some Ark of the Covenant that we were bound to carry reverently.

as patient as Job

• He tells the same boring stories every night-you will need the patience of Job if you want to stay with him.

• His behavior would try the patience of Job.• My teacher was as patient as Job, and never

grew impatient over my stupidity.

as poor as Job

• Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1: 21

• I am as poor as Job, my Lord, but not so patient.• I heard that Mr. Mell was not a bad sort of fellow,

but hadn’t a sixpense to bless himself with; and that there was no doubt that old Mrs Mell, his mother, was as poor as Job.

Be gathered to one’s people/fathers

• “Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his son Esau and Jacob buried him.” Genesis 35: 29

• He suffered from an incurable disease and was gathered to his fathers at last.

Bone of one’s bone and flesh of one’s flesh

• “The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” Genesis 2:23

• No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh. -- Charlotte Bronte

• The Industrial Workers of the World was bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh of the floating workers.

Benjamin’s mess

• “When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone’s else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.” Genesis 43: 34

• In the joint venture, Benjamin’s mess of the benefit will go to him.

• Mary got a Benjamin’s mess because of her mother’s partiality.

Bring sb’s gray hair to the grave

• But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.” Genesis 42: 38

• His aunt wept over him and asked him how he could go and break her old heart so; and finally told him to go on, and ruin himself and bring her gray hairs with sorrow to the grave, for it was no use for her to try any more.

Confusion of languages/tongues

• “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” Genesis 11: 7

• Because of the confusion of tongues no two families spoke alike then and only foreign languages were used.

Corn in Egypt

• “Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.” Genesis 41: 48, 49

• I say, here’s an unopen tin of tobacco. Corn in Egypt.• “Uncle’s box has arrived,” said John, “there is corn in

Egypt today.”

David and Jonathan

• After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 1Samuel 18: 1

• Jonathan was to David what Damon was to Pythias; they were two typical pairs of devoted friends.

days before flood

• “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark.” Matthew 24:38

• The old car of theirs looks as if it dates from before the Flood.

death of the firstborn

• “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.” Exodus 12: 29

• My hopes were all dead-struck with a subtle doom, such as, in one night, fell on all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Charlotte Bronte

Egyptian darkness

• Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt-darkness that can be felt.” Exodus 10:21

• She smiled back at him. “I guess you forgot!” “No, I didn’t forget; but it’s as dark as Egypt outdoors. We might go tomorrow if there’s a moon.”

Ewe lamb

• But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 2Samuel 12:3

• And yet you take away the one little ewe-lamb of pleasure that I have in this dull life of mine.

• His books are his ewe lamb.

fig leaf

• Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. Genesis 3: 7

• If you try to cover up your misdeed with a fig leaf, you will only make it more conspicuous.

Fire and brimstone

• Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. Genesis 19:24

• He threatens us with fire and brimstone.

forbidden fruit

• But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. Genesis 2: 17

• A banned book circulates quickly and forbidden fruit is sweet.

Garden of Eden

• So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. Genesis 3: 23

• I seemed to pay the deepest attention to him, but I was wondering in a garden of Eden all the while, with Dora.

• This is one of the roses of Eden that the Lord has dropped down expressly for the poor and lowly, who get few enough of any other kind.

Harden one’s heart

• And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

• Lucy hardened her heart; it was no good being kind to Mr. White.

Ishmael

• And the Angle of the Lord said to her: “Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction. He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” Genesis 16: 11, 12

• What Huxley saw in Nature was a vast gladiatorial show, a ubiquitous Ishmaelitism 互相斗争 , every living creature for itself and extinction taking the hindmost.

Israel’s suffering in Egypt

• The charm he had supposed in store for him was really a labor like that of the Israel in Egypt.

Jacob’s ladder

• Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:12

• On the construction site there is a high and gigantic crane like a Jacob’s ladder.

Jacob’s voice in Esau’s hand

• Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” Genesis 27: 22

• It is Jacob’s voice in Esau’s hand to pass off something sham as genuine.

Land flowing with milk and honey

• “So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.” Exodus 3:8; Leviticus 20:24

• E.g. America is a melting-pot of nations, the breadbasket of the world, and the fancied land of milk and honey, but not for every American citizen.

Land of Promise

• Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Genesis 50: 24

• Thousands of families took to the roads leading to the promised land, California.

-- John Steinbeck

lie/rest with one’s fathers

• “Do not bury me in Egypt, but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” Genesis 47: 29, 30

• It was a comfort to see, after long years of exile, that he was going to lie with his fathers.

Locust years

• “They (Locusts) covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail-everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.” Exodus 10: 14

• Yet before these locust years of Labor, we had the Conservative years of rising prosperity.

Lot’s Wife (Genesis 19)

• While it is ill-advised to be curious as Lot’s wife, some of the inventions and discoveries are achieved out of curiosity.

• Curious as Lot’s wife, he has made himself unpopular among his friends by intruding their privacy.

Make bricks without straw

• You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. Exodus 5: 7

• To try and develop metallurgical industry without first developing mining is to make bricks without straw.

• The cleverest housewife can’t cook a meal without rice, just as Israelites couldn’t make bricks without straw.

manna

• The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. Exodus 16: 31

• Her inheritance came as manna from heaven.• Her kind words were manna to his troubled

mind.

Noah’s ark

• Don and Alice have no children, but their home is like Noah’s ark.

• When I’m a man, I shall make a boat with a wooden house on the top of it-all ready.

Olive branch/leaf

• When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. Genesis 8: 11

• While outwardly holding out the olive branch, they were actually speeding up their war preparations.

• I even sent her an olive branch once, but she remained distant.

Original sin

• So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6

• The theologians had made the entire structure of the Christian belief hang upon the existence of an apple. If Adam had not eaten an apple, there would be no original sin, and, if there were no original sin, there would be no need of redemption.

raise Cain

• Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother and killed him. Genesis 4: 8

• When John couldn’t go on the basketball trip with the team, he raised Cain.

• The manager raised Cain over the loss of that check book.

The curse of Cain

• Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth. Genesis 4: 11, 12

• Those in the provinces, as if with the curse of Cain upon their heads, came, one by one, to miserable ends.

The golden calf

• So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron…. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. Exodus 3, 8

• The bourgeois mind is instantly prostrated before the golden calf of commercial prosperity.

The Philistines

• philistine: a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values

• E.g. The Philistine not only ignores all conditions of life which are not his own but he also demands that the rest of mankind should fashion its mode of existence after his own.

• He loves art and music but his wife is a complete Philistine.