2018-09-19


关于十诫,你当知道的十件事10 Things You Should KnowAbout the Ten Commandments

作者: Kevin DeYoung  译者: Duncan Liang

1. 摩西从来没有把它们实际说成是“十诫”。
1. Moses never actually refers to them as the “ten commandments.”

出埃及记20:1-2引入了圣经其中最出名的一段——实际上全世界宗教文学其中最重要的一段——十诫。但奇怪的是,圣经从未把它们称为十诫。
Exodus 20:1–2 introduces one of the most famous sections in the Bible—indeed, one of the most important pieces of religious literature in the whole world—the Ten Commandments. Oddly enough, they’re never actually called the Ten Commandments.

这在旧约圣经出现了三次(出34:28;申4:1310:4)的希伯来文,按字面意思就是“十言”,因此人常常把出埃及记20章称为十诫(Decalogue),deka希腊文是“十”的意思,logos的意思是“话”。这些是神在西乃山上给以色列人的十言——我要论证说,是神要我们所有人都遵从的十句话。
The Hebrew expression, which occurs three times in the Old Testament (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4), literally means “ten words.” This is why Exodus 20 is often referred to as the Decalogue, deka being the Greek word for “ten” and logos meaning “word.” These are the Ten Words that God gave the Israelites at Mount Sinai—and, I would argue, the Ten Words that God wants all of us to follow.

2. 十诫让我们看到神是谁。
2. They show us who God is.

律法表明了颁布律法的神的心肠和品格,在我们说,“我才不在乎律法,”或我们想到要做什么,不要做什么就生气之前,我们必须认真思考这一点。十诫不仅让我们看到神要什么,十诫还让我们看到神是一位怎样的神。十诫表明了关于神的尊荣,祂的价值和祂的威严的事。十诫告诉我们神看重什么。我们藐视律法,就不可能不藐视那位颁布律法的神。
The law is an expression of the Lawgiver’s heart and character. We must think about that before we say, “I don’t care for laws,” or before we bristle at the thought of do’s and don’ts. The commandments not only show us what God wants; they show us what God is like. They say something about his honor, his worth, and his majesty. They tell us what matters to God. We can’t disdain the law without disrespecting the Lawgiver.

3. 十诫使我们与世界分别。
3. They set us apart from the world.

我们这些基督徒是有君尊的祭司,是圣洁的国度(彼前2:9)。我们必须预备好,让自己不从众,与众不同,遵守世人不理解的规矩。当然我们并不总是我们理应成为的圣洁子民,但这是神呼召我们,要我们成为的人。这是我们的为人。我们是神的百姓,被神分别开来,按神的方式生活。
As Christians, we’re a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9). We must be prepared to stand alone, to look different, and to have rules the world doesn’t understand. Of course, we aren’t always the holy people we should be, but that’s what he has called us to be. That’s who we are. We’re God’s people, set apart to live according to God’s ways.

4. 十诫并不剥夺,而是赋予我们自由。
4. They don’t strip our freedom, but instead provide it.

我们太过经常把十诫看作是对我们的约束,仿佛神的行事之道要让我们成为奴隶,不让我们实现梦想,发挥潜能。我们忘记了,神要给我们丰盛的生命(约10:10),真自由(约8:32)。约翰一书5:3告诉我们,祂的律法不是难守的。
We too often think of the Ten Commandments as constraining us—as if God’s ways will keep us in servitude and from realizing our dreams and reaching our potential. We forget that God means to give us abundant life (John 10:10) and true freedom (John 8:32). His laws, 1 John 5:3 tells us, aren’t burdensome.

神并不是企图用繁文缛节压垮我们。十诫并不是监狱的铁栏杆,而是交通法规。也许世上有一些无政府主义者,他们认为没有交通法规,世界会变得更美好。我们一些人开车,仿佛真是这样!但如果你在红灯面前变得不耐烦,企图走捷径而闯祸的时候,难道你不会高兴看到我们还有一些法律和秩序吗?人停下来,人开步走。人开车经过学校的时候会减速。他们停下来等校巴经过。没有法律,你连开车去杂货店都做不到。如果你在山口的急转弯处开车,你是否会咒诅那些拦阻你一头扎进深渊的防撞栏?不会。某人花了许多钱安装这些防撞栏,是为我们的好处,让我们可以自由安全旅行。
God isn’t trying to crush us with red tape and regulations. The Ten Commandments aren’t prison bars, but traffic laws. Maybe there are some anarchists out there who think, The world would be a better place without any traffic laws. A few of us drive as if that were so! But even if you get impatient when you’re at a red light, try to zoom through the yellow, and turn left on a stale pink—overall, aren’t you glad that there is some semblance of law and order? People stop and go. People slow down when driving by schools. They stop for school buses. You wouldn’t be able to drive your car to the grocery store without laws. When you drive on a switchback on a mountain pass, do you curse the guard rails that keep you from plunging to an untimely death? No, someone put them there at great expense, and for our good, that we may travel about freely and safely.

十诫并不是教人如何出埃及的指示。十诫是给一群得自由的百姓,让他们继续得自由的规则。
The Ten Commandments aren’t instructions on how to get out of Egypt. They are rules for a free people to stay free.

5. 神颁布十诫,并不是要让我们可以赚取拯救。
5. They were not given so that we could earn our salvation.

一些人把基督教信仰看成是:神有规矩,如果我依照这些规矩行,神就要爱我,救我。这并不是出埃及记故事里发生的事。以色列人是受压迫的百姓,神说:“我听了你们的呼求,我要救你们,因为我爱你们。你们得救,得自由,得饶恕的时候,我要给你们一种新的生活方式。”
Some people view Christianity as: God has rules, and if I follow the rules, God will love me and save me. That’s not what happened in the story of the exodus. The Israelites were an oppressed people, and God said, “I hear your cry. I will save you because I love you. And when you are saved, free, and forgiven, I’m going to give you a new way to live.”

拯救并不是对顺服的奖赏;拯救是顺服的理由。耶稣不是说:“如果你们遵守我的命令,我就要爱你们。”不是的,他首先洗门徒的脚,然后说:“你们若爱我,就必遵守我的命令。”(约14:15)我们做这一切,只是因为祂首先为我们做了一些事情。
Salvation isn’t the reward for obedience; salvation is the reason for obedience. Jesus doesn’t say, “If you obey my commandments, I will love you.” Instead, he first washes the feet of the disciples and then says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). All of our doing is only because of what he has first done for us.

6. 十诫比我们的直觉或文化准则更可靠。
6. They are more trustworthy than our intuition or cultural code.

我们生活在一个充满矛盾的时代,许多人说:“对错由你自己定,”然而同样这一群人会责备其他人违反任何他们认定的命令。作为一种文化,我们在性方面可能相当自由开放,但关乎性解放革命的道德诉求,我们绝对是基要主义者。从前咒诅人的话,可能不再让我们觉得害臊,但现在有其他话——冒犯人的藐视和侮辱话——会快快让人变得不再是有礼貌的同伴。我们仍然是有一种道德准则的社会。
We live in a paradoxical age where many will say, “Right and wrong is what you decide for yourself,” and yet these same people will rebuke others for violating any number of assumed commands. As a culture, we may be quite free and liberal when it comes to sex, but we can be absolutely fundamentalist when it comes to the moral claims of the sexual revolution. The old swear words may not scandalize us any longer, but now there are other words—offensive slurs and insults—that will quickly put someone out of polite company. We’re still a society with a moral code.

但圣经说敬畏耶和华是智慧的开端(箴9:10)。要明白道德教训,方法并不是聆听你自己内心说话,而是聆听神说话。如果我们要知道何为对错,如果我们要知道如何活出美好生活,如果我们要知道如何生活,给我们的朋友和邻居带来祝福,我们按神的方式做事,这就是有智慧了,这意味着认真留意十诫。
But the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). The way to find moral instruction isn’t by listening to your gut but by listening to God. If we want to know right from wrong, if we want to know how to live the good life, if we want to know how to live in a way that blesses our friends and neighbors, we’d be wise to do things God’s way, which means paying careful attention to the Ten Commandments.

7. 教会最重要的教训是扎根在十诫之上。
7. The church’s most important instruction has been based on them.

在历史上,教会让十诫处在它教导,特别是教导儿童和刚信主之人事工的核心位置。好几个世纪以来,教理问答的训练是建立在三件事之上:使徒信经,主祷文和十诫。
The church has historically put the Ten Commandments at the center of its teaching ministry, especially for children and new believers. For centuries, catechetical instruction was based on three things: the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments.

换言之,过去当人问:“我们如何进行门训?我们如何教孩子学圣经?刚信主的基督徒对基督教信仰要有什么认识?”他们的回答总是包括强调十诫。
In other words, when people asked, “How do we do discipleship? How do we teach our kids about the Bible? What do new Christians need to know about Christianity?” their answers always included an emphasis on the Ten Commandments.

8. 十诫对于我们认识其余的旧约圣经律法来说至关重要。
8. They are critical to our understanding of the rest of the Old Testament law.

确实圣经并没有用黑色字体标注出十诫,但我们却不应低估它们在古代以色列的特别地位。十诫出于神,当时祂面对面向百姓说话(申5:1-5),它们来自西乃山,当时有火、云、幽暗和大声(申5:22-27)。出埃及记20章是以色列生活当中一种按字面和按属灵意义的高潮。难怪放在约柜里的,除了吗哪和亚伦的杖还有法版(来9:4)。
While it’s true that the Bible doesn’t say to print the Ten Commandments in boldface, we shouldn’t undersell their special stature in ancient Israel. They came from God as he spoke to the people face-to-face (Deut. 5:1–5), and they came from Mount Sinai amid fire, cloud, thick darkness, and a loud voice (Deut. 5:22–27). Exodus 20 marks a literal and spiritual high point in the life of Israel. It’s no wonder the tablets of the law, along with the manna and Aaron’s staff, were placed inside the ark of the covenant (Heb. 9:4)

旧约圣经当中还有更多的道德律,但这前十条是其余的根基。十诫就像以色列的宪法,接着的是法规条例。
There are many more laws in the Old Testament. But these first ten are foundational for the rest. The Ten Commandments are like the constitution for Israel, and what follows are the regulatory statutes.

9. 十诫是新约圣经伦理的中心。
9. They are central to the ethics of the New Testament.

例如,请思想马可福音10:17。那位有钱的少年官到耶稣这里来问:“我当作什么事,才可以承受永生?”耶稣对他说:“诫命是你晓得的。”然后祂列举了第二块法版上的律法,与我们的邻舍有关的诫命:“不可杀人,不可奸淫,不可偷盗,不可作假见证,不可亏负人,当孝敬父母。”
Think of Mark 10:17, for example. This is where the rich young ruler comes to Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus says to him, “You know the commandments.” Then he lists the second table of the law, the commandments that relate to our neighbors: “Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother” (v. 19).

耶稣并不是定下一条赚取永生的道路。我们从这故事余下的地方知道,耶稣是首先让这少年人沾沾自喜,然后让他措手不及,因他明显没有顺服的一条诫命,就是耶稣跳过没有讲到的——不可贪婪(20-22节)。但值得留意的是,当耶稣要直截了当概括我们对邻舍当尽的本分,祂是直接去讲十诫。
Jesus isn’t laying out a path for earning eternal life. We know from the rest of the story that Jesus is setting the young man up for a fall, because the one command he obviously hasn’t obeyed is the one command Jesus skips—do not covet (vv. 20–22). But it is noteworthy that when Jesus has to give a convenient summary of our neighborly duties, he goes straight to the Ten Commandments.

10. 十诫对今天的基督徒仍然具有现实意义。
10. They are still relevant for Christians today.

我们能完全完美遵守诫命吗?不能。它们起的作用,是不是让我们看到我们的罪,把我们带到十字架面前?绝对是。但诫命也向我们指示生活之道,让我们看到如何爱邻舍,如何尽心尽意爱神。
Can we keep the commandments fully or perfectly? No. Do they serve to show us our sin and lead us to the cross? Absolutely. But the commandments also show us the way to live, the way to love our neighbor, and the way to love God with all our heart and soul.

我们仍需要神在西乃山上颁布的十言。因着基督到来,它们是否在某些方面已经改变?肯定是的——转变,但并没有被唾弃。除非我们在基督里、通过基督遵守,仰望基督那超越一切的伟大,否则我们就不能正确遵守十诫。作为在基督里新造的人,律法不仅是我们的本分,也是我们所喜悦的。如果我们要按基督配得的,按祂心所愿的来爱祂,我们就要遵守祂的命令(约14:15)。
We still need the Ten Words handed down at Sinai. Have they been changed in some respects by the coming of Christ? For sure—transformed but not trashed. We can no longer keep the Ten Commandments rightly unless we keep them in Christ, through Christ, and with a view to the all-surpassing greatness of Christ. As new creations in Christ, the law is not only our duty but also our delight. If we want to love Christ as he deserves and as he desires, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15).