重訪馬槽 Revisiting the Manger
作者： Michael LeFebvre 譯者：駱鴻銘
（Dr. Michael LeFebvre是印第安納州，Brownsburg 改革宗長老會基督教會[Christ Church Reformed Presbyterian Church]牧師）
就生了頭胎的兒子，用布包起來，放在馬槽裡，因為客店裡沒有地方。 (Luk 2:7)
這個禮拜是社會大眾紀念耶穌降生的時節，耶穌降生的場景到處可見。耶穌的父母馬利亞和約瑟找到一家旅店，最後落腳在一個馬厩裡的傳統場景，完全是根據對上面經節裡一個詞的解讀——這個詞很有可能在這個客店-馬厩的故事版本裡，被人誤解了。在路加福音二章7節裡，這個通常被人翻譯作「客店」的詞，真正的意思是「住處」（a lodging space；或譯為住房）。這個詞的確可以指一個公眾旅店（例如路加福音十章34節），但是它經常是指一個普通人家的住房（例如路加福音廿二11）。路加在寫這節經文時，心裡在想什麼呢？是一個公眾旅舍，還是一個普通房子裡的住房呢？幾乎可以肯定是後者。This week is the
time when society remembers the birth of Jesus, with nativity scenes popping up
everywhere. The traditional scene of Mary and Joseph checking motels and
finally bunking in a stable, is all based on the interpretation of one word in
the above verse—a word which has probably been misunderstood in the
motel-and-stable version of the story. The word in Luke 2:7 that is normally
translated “inn” actually means “a lodging space.” This word can indeed refer
to a public inn (as in Luke 10:34), but it often refers to the lodging room
within a common house (as in Luke 22:11). Which does Luke have in mind in this
verse: a public inn or the lodging space of a common house? Almost certainly
the latter.
馬利亞和約瑟到伯利恆的原因是因為那是約瑟的出生地。意思是約瑟在伯利恆有許多親戚——還有很多親族和他一樣，為了羅馬政府的人口審查而回到伯利恆。馬利亞和約瑟當然是住在親戚家裡，而不是想在一個旅舍裡租一個房間。當我們讀路加福音二章7節時，聖經學者John Nolland（World Bible Commentary 35a）解釋說，「我們最好是想到巴勒斯坦一個農夫家裡，到處擠滿了人：一個只有一個房間的家，在同一個屋頂下，有一個圈養動物的圍欄……」而不是有一個給動物住的獨立房（一個馬房）（參：士師記十一31）。蓋兩棟房子會花太多錢。考古學家挖掘出許多古代的房子，一頭是人睡的地方，地板比較凸起；另一頭地面低凹，是圈養動物的地方，有一道分隔的矮牆把這棟建築分隔成兩半；在這座矮牆上，通常會有一個馬槽。路加很有可能是在描寫這樣的場景。當耶穌降生時，這個房子（而不是當地的旅館）裡到處擠滿了人。由於過於擁擠，因此「住房沒有地方（給他們放置嬰兒」，他們只好靠在牆邊，把祂放在馬槽裡。事實上，當牧羊人後來在當夜來到那裡，告訴他們有一個天使到訪的故事時，路加在18節報導說，有其他人和馬利亞和約瑟在一起，同時聽到了這個宣告。他們似乎不像一般人想像的，獨自在馬房裡。傳統耶穌降生的場景是私下的、安詳寧靜的，但實際上很可能更擁擠，沒那麼舒適。The reason Mary and
Joseph went to Bethlehem was because that was where Joseph’s family was from.
That means Joseph had lots of relatives in Bethlehem—and lots more relatives
traveling back, like he was, for the Roman census. Mary and Joseph were
certainly staying at the house of relatives, and were not trying to rent
quarters in a hotel. When reading Luke 2:7, “It is better to think,” Bible
scholar John Nolland (World Bible Commentary 35a) explains, “of an overcrowded
Palestinian peasant home: a single-roomed home with an animal stall under the
same roof…” Rather than having a separate structure (a stable) for the animals,
poor households frequently kept their animals in the same lodging structure as
the family (cf., Judges 11:31). Building two structures was too expensive.
Archaeologists have uncovered ancient houses with a raised floor on one side
where the people slept and a lowered floor on the other where the animals were
kept. A divider was formed by a low wall between the two halves of the
building, often with a manger in that wall for the animals. Luke is probably
describing such a setting. When Jesus was born, the room (not the local inn)
was overcrowded. Since the floor was so crowded and “there was no place for
them [to lay the baby] in the lodging-space,” they leaned over and placed him
in a manger. In fact, when the shepherds arrived later that night telling their
story of an angel visitation, Luke reports in verse 18 that there were others
present in the room with Mary and Joseph listening to the announcement. It does
not seem they were alone in a stable as often imagined. The traditional
nativity scene is private and serene, but reality would have been much more
crowded and uncomfortable.
耶穌是以這個世界的王和救主的身份降生的，但是祂卻生在羞辱中，生在骯髒的環境裡。如果我們把祂的降生想像成一個有舒適的稻草和一旁安靜低鳴的牛羊的田園場景，我們就誤解了這段經文的重點。事實和我們的想像有很大的不同：祂降生在一個親戚家，在一個人擠人的房間裡，擁擠到一個程度，祂的母親只能把祂放在一旁動物住的房間、餵食動物的飼料槽裡。通過祂降生的景況，耶穌與我們的貧窮認同——既是屬靈的貧窮，也是物質的貧窮。Jesus was born as
the King and Savior of the world, but he was born in shame and squalor. We miss
this point when we transform our visions of his nativity into an idyllic
setting of soft straw and quietly lowing cows. The reality was probably very
different: he was born in the crowded lodging room of a relative’s house, so
crowded his mother could only lay him down by setting him in the feeding trough
on the animal’s side of the space. From the conditions of his birth, Jesus
identified with our poverty—spiritually and physically.
