2024 Notes on Lech lecha (Genesis 12-17) 2024 注释 “你要去”（创世纪12-17）

(ChatGPT translation from Chinese, edited by Mijiale）

Genesis 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.亚伯兰将他妻子撒莱和侄儿罗得，连他们在哈兰所积蓄的财物，所得的人口，都带往迦南地去。他们就到了迦南地。

2024注释: “所得的人口，” Rashi解释为他们带领信主的人，亚伯拉罕（原名亚伯兰）带男的信，撒拉（原名撒莱）带女的信。https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.12.5.1?lang=bi

在圣经里，亚伯拉罕是我们的信心祖先而不是我们的肉体祖先挪亚。其原因是挪亚只带了自已一家人信，而亚伯拉罕因为长时间没有后代，就和太太带了成百上千的外人信主，曾经陪同他参战的就有318人（创14:14）。挪亚是内向的，和出世的，圣经没有记载挪亚与自家人以外的人说的任何话，也没有记载他为其他人代祷，圣经宁可记载他和方舟上的动物的互动。他传福音的方式也是被动的，要等有人好奇来参观他造的方舟，才告诉他们将来的灾难和劝他们悔改。与此相反，亚伯拉罕是外向的，是入世的，他参加过最早的世界大战，亲自为恶贯满盈的城市代祷, 喜欢招待客人，亲自购买土地，甚至亲自为很多成年男子行割礼（创17:23）。他不是在方舟边上120年等人来寻找福音，而是常常迁移帐篷，影响多处的人。他受的呼召是“去”，而不是“来”。本章第一节主就呼召他“你要离开本地，本族，父家，往我所要指示你的地去。” 这里的“你要… 去”，是命令式语气，是基督教的“去”而不是犹太教的“来”。参见新约马太福音28:19，耶稣对门徒的命令式语气的吩咐，“所以你们要去，使万民作我的门徒，奉父子圣灵的名，给他们施洗。”

2024 Note: “Acquired people” — Rashi explains it as those whom they led to believe in God. Abraham (formerly Abram) led the men to believe, and Sarah (formerly Sarai) led the women. Rashi on Genesis 12:5.

In the Bible, Abraham is our ancestor in faith rather than our physical ancestor Noah. The reason is that Noah only brought his own family to believe, while Abraham, having no descendants for a long time, led hundreds of outsiders to faith with his wife. When he went to battle, he was accompanied by 318 people (Genesis 14:14). Noah was inward-looking and detached from society; the Bible doesn’t record him speaking to anyone outside his family, nor does it mention him interceding for others. Instead, it records his interactions with the animals on the ark. His method of evangelism was also passive, waiting for people to come out of curiosity to see the ark he was building, at which point he would tell them about the impending disaster and urge them to repent. In contrast, Abraham was outward-looking and engaged with the world; he participated in one of the earliest world wars, personally interceded for cities that were about to be destroyed with sin, enjoyed entertaining guests, personally bought land, and even personally circumcised many adult males (Genesis 17:23). He wasn’t waiting at the side of an ark for 120 years for people to come find the gospel; instead, he moved his tent from place to place, influencing people here and there. His calling was to “go” rather than to “come.” In the first verse of this chapter, the Lord called him, “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” This “go” is an imperative, reflecting a Christian-style “go” rather than a Jewish-style “come.” See the New Testament, Matthew 28:19, where Jesus commands His disciples with the imperative, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 亚伯兰年九十九岁的时候，耶和华向他显现，对他说，我是全能的神。你当在我面前作完全人，

2024注释: “全能的 ”，Rashi解释为“足够的那一位”，在不同的上下文有不同的含义。https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.17.1.1?lang=bi

有时，我会问主既然是全能的，祂为什么没有把我造的更聪明呢？如果我的智商有150会多好呀！原来，主是足够的那一位，祂赐给我的条件，看上去虽然有限，却足够在我身上贯彻祂的旨意，只要我全然信靠祂。

2024 Note: “Almighty” — Rashi explains it as “the One who is sufficient,” with different meanings in different contexts. Rashi on Genesis 17:1.

Sometimes, I ask the Lord, if He is truly almighty, why didn’t He make me smarter? Wouldn’t it be great if my IQ were 150! It turns out the Lord is the One who is sufficient; the conditions He has given me, though they may appear limited, are enough for Him to fulfill His purpose in me, as long as I fully trust in Him.

Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 说，不然，你妻子撒拉要给你生一个儿子，你要给他起名叫以撒。我要与他坚定所立的约，作他后裔永远的约。

2024注释: “以撒 ” יצחק，意思是他要笑（与创17:17以撒的爸爸的笑有关）。共有四个字母，分别代表的数字是10，90，8，100。Rashi解经认为90是以撒出世时母亲的岁数，100是他父亲的岁数，8是他第八天要行割礼，10是将来他父亲要受的第十次试炼，那时他要甘愿被献为燔祭。最后一条有我自己的理解。参见https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.17.19.3?lang=bi

2024 Note: “Isaac” יצחק, meaning “he will laugh” (related to the laughter of Isaac’s father in Genesis 17:17). The name consists of four letters, each representing a number: 10, 90, 8, and 100. According to Rashi’s interpretation, 90 is the age of Isaac’s mother at his birth, 100 is his father’s age, 8 represents the day on which he was to be circumcised, and 10 refers to the tenth test his father Abraham would face, when he would willingly be offered as a burnt offering. The final point reflects my own understanding. See Rashi on Genesis 17:19.

Genesis 17:23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. 正当那日，亚伯拉罕遵着神的命，给他的儿子以实玛利和家里的一切男子，无论是在家里生的，是用银子买的，都行了割礼。

2024注释: “正当那日”，亚伯拉罕行主的诫命丝毫不耽搁。

“割礼”，在男子生殖器官上割去包皮，是把将来所生殖的子子孙孙的所有权都交给造物主的“盖章”。“割”有切割的意思，对第一代的信徒来说，也象征跟随亚伯拉罕，与拜偶像或无神论的不信主祖先们彻底割断属灵的关系，并且在造物主子民信仰大家庭中可能会成为新家族的祖先。从这个意义上，他从叛逆造物主的旧家庭族出来，回归造物主，成了亚伯拉罕的信心之子。

2024 Note: “On that very day” — Abraham followed the Lord’s command without any delay.

“Circumcision” — the cutting of the foreskin on a man’s reproductive organ, is a “signature stamp” transferring ownership of future offspring to the Creator. The act of “cutting” also has the sense of severance; for the first generation of believers, it symbolized a complete spiritual break from ancestors who worshiped idols or held atheistic beliefs, and in the community of the Creator’s people possibly starting new families. In this sense, they departed from the old families that rebelled against the Creator, returned to the Creator, and became children of Abraham in faith.