登陆注册
5214200000284

第284章

We cannot suppose so; but they did not produce nations so great as to warrant their being mentioned, but were absorbed in the nations to which they belonged by birth.

CHAP.4.--OF THE DIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES, AND OF THE FOUNDING OF BABYLON.

But though these nations are said to have been dispersed according to their languages, yet the narrator recurs to that time when all had but one language, and explains how it came to pass that a diversity of languages was introduced."The whole earth," he says, "was of one lip, and all had one speech.And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there.And they said one to another, Come, and let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.

And they had bricks for stone, and slime for mortar.And they said, Come, and let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top shall reach the sky; and let us make us a name, before we be scattered abroad on the face of all the earth.And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.And the Lord God said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Come, and let us go down, and confound there their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.And God scattered them thence on the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city and the tower.Therefore the name of it is called Confusion; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and the Lord God scattered them thence on the face of all the earth."(1) This city, which was called Confusion, is the same as Babylon, whose wonderful construction Gentile history also notices.For Babylon means Confusion.Whence we conclude that the giant Nimrod was its founder, as had been hinted a little before, where Scripture, in speaking of him, says that the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, that is, Babylon had a supremacy over the other cities as the metropolis and royal residence; although it did not rise to the grand dimensions designed by its proud and impious founder.The plan was to make it so high that it should reach the sky, whether this was meant of one tower which they intended to build higher than the others, or of all the towers, which might be signified by the singular number, as we speak of "the soldier,"meaning the army, and of the frog or the locust, when we refer to the whole multitude of frogs and locusts in the plagues with which Moses smote the Egyptians.1 But what did these vain and presumptuous men intend? How did they expect to raise this lofty mass against God, when they had built it above all the mountains and the clouds of the earth's atmosphere? What injury could any spiritual or material elevation do to God? The safe and true way to heaven is made by humility, which lifts up the heart to the Lord, not against Him; as this giant is said to have been a" hunter against the Lord." This has been misunderstood by some through the ambiguity of the Greek word, and they have translated it, not "against the Lord," but "before the Lord;" for e?anti?on means both "before"and "against." In the Psalm this word is rendered, " Let us weep before the Lord our Maker."2 The same word occurs in the book of Job, where it is written, "Thou hast broken into fury against the Lord."3 And so this giant is to be recognized as a "hunter against the Lord." And what is meant by the term "hunter" but deceiver, oppressor, and destroyer of the animals of the earth? He and his people therefore, erected this tower against the Lord, and so gave expression to their impious pride; and justly was their wicked intention punished by God, even though it was unsuccessful.But what was the nature of the punishment? As the tongue is the instrument of domination, in it pride was punished; so that man, who would not understand God when He issued His commands, should be misunderstood when he himself gave orders.Thus was that conspiracy disbanded, for each man retired from those he could not understand, and associated with those whose speech was intelligible; and the nations were divided according to their languages, and scattered over the earth as seemed good to God, who accomplished this in ways hidden from and incomprehensible to us.

CHAP.5.--OF GOD'S COMING DOWN TO CONFOUND THE LANGUAGES OF THE BUILDERSOF THE

CITY.

We read, "The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men built:" it was not the sons of God, but that society which lived in a merely human way, and which we call the earthly city.God, who is always wholly everywhere, does not move locally; but He is said to descend when He does anything in the earth out of the usual course, which, as it were, makes His presence felt.And in the same way, He does not by "seeing"learn some new thing, for He cannot ever be ignorant of anything; but He is said to see and recognize, in time, that which He causes others to see and recognize.And therefore that city was not previously being seen as God made it be seen when He showed how offensive it was to Him.We might, indeed, interpret God's descending to the city of the descent of His angels in whom He dwells; so that the following words, "And the Lord God said, Behold, they are all one race and of one language,"and also what follows, "Come, and let us go down and confound their speech," are a recapitulation, explaining how the previously intimated "descent of the Lord" was accomplished.

同类推荐
  • Painted Windows

    Painted Windows

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大寒林圣难拏陀罗尼经

    大寒林圣难拏陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 西斋话记

    西斋话记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Within the Law

    Within the Law

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 劝善经

    劝善经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 快穿之炮灰凶残

    快穿之炮灰凶残

    莫凌觉得自己已经够悲惨了,却有一个人要她去拯救别人的悲惨命运,呵呵,没兴趣。“你答不答应?”莫凌:“我不答应!”那人一脚把莫凌踹进任务中,根本不管莫凌愿不愿意。莫凌:……
  • 爱情赏味期限

    爱情赏味期限

    擅写职场专栏的YK中短篇小说集,精悍细腻,笔触犀利,描绘大都市职场中白领女性复杂多面的感情故事,高冷又挚情,悲伤又温暖。文章曾在《希望》等杂志上发表。《旧情人》职场和情场同时与旧情人狭路相逢。常苏想不想管住自己?《媒人》单身是病!姐帮你治。单身傲娇小公举和幸福已婚妇女的对决。《小团圆》这年头,结婚才两年,过得可是刀头上舔血的日子,女性能不强大吗你说……《爱情赏味期限》中篇小说:可能是史上最不狗血的小三故事。
  • 王妃娘亲不好惹

    王妃娘亲不好惹

    她,凶凶无良而又不好惹,学的是无能专业,行的是狗血穿越,领的是半路儿子,本想带着儿子逍遥世间,却无奈碰上一朵克妻的烂桃花粘死了她。他,南傲国的三王爷,视克妻为家常便饭而又桃花不断泛滥,第一妻,残了,第二妻,傻了,第三妻,毁容了,第四个,正在私奔中…姿色平平,这个咱忽略,好吃懒做,这个咱不提了,带个拖油瓶,这个咱跳过,谁让他眼残看上了她!所以他认了!片段1——某男:“白小姐,我有钱有权又有色!”某女人却死死盯着三丈外的一只乌鸡:“扑你不如扑鸡!”某只鸡瞪着三丈外的女人,听她说完,刷地扑腾翅膀扇走了。某男看着五丈外因为扑腾太快外加走路不长眼撞晕在墙脚的那只鸡,笑道:“鸡会乱飞乱窜,哪有本王任你上下其手来得方便?”“至少…肉比你多,比你鲜,比你嫩!”某女人对着地上的晕鸡,两眼发亮,高喊道:“莫小白,今晚,咱们炖鸡汤!”片段2——没心没肺“王妃,王爷说他种了合欢散,急…需…需…”某护卫需了半天没需出个屁来。“你需什么需?哪,湖了现成的水打一桶回去让他泡上三个时辰就没事了。”某女人嗑着瓜子瞅了眼湖面,说得云淡风轻。某护卫盯着结了三尺冰的湖面,怔怔不语。某女人继续嗑着瓜子。某护卫想象他家主子被摧残的画面,瞬间心碎了无痕!片段3——小萌神某小屁孩娘声娘气地问:“娘娘(niagniang),蛋是肿么来的呢?”某‘娘’不客气回答:“鸡生的。”“那鸡又是肿么来的捏?”“蛋生的。”某小屁孩盯着手中的蛋蛋,45度抬头,“那这个蛋蛋又是肿么来的捏?”“你老娘我翻墙偷来的!”作者郑重声明:本文非虐型,轻松,幽默,搞笑,解压必备!某人摸黑打滚悲戚戚哭喊道:简介无能,但求收藏!(某人发誓:是坑,总会填满的!)
  • 蒙哥马利传

    蒙哥马利传

    伯纳德·劳·蒙哥马利,被誉为英国最优秀的军事家之一,1887年11月17日出生于伦敦肯宁顿区的一个牧师家庭。其祖父罗伯特·蒙哥马利是军校出身,19岁时被派往当时被英国殖民化统治的印度任职,他不但骁勇善战,而且冷静机智,当印度发生起义时,罗伯特凭借沉着的心理素质和巧妙的智慧很快就平息了事端,这让英国国会对他大为赞赏,将他提升为旁遮普省的副省长,直至罗伯特·蒙哥马利以爵士爵位返回英国为止。
  • 我的战舰不可能这么萌

    我的战舰不可能这么萌

    走过漫长的岁月,你我终于再次相见,我是德意志科技的结晶俾斯麦,请铭记于心.......欢迎加入陨落的铁十字书友群,群号码:601655508
  • 修身金言

    修身金言

    《徽商的智慧:修身金言》为徽商写下了浓浓的一笔,全书分为十六个部分,每个部分都有一个主旨,部分与部分之间具有一定的逻辑性,主要是按照儒家“修身、齐家、治国、平天下”这四个条目编写,十六个部分可以分别放到相应的条目之中。这样的编写既可以突出儒学对徽商修身的影响之深,又可以让读者真真切切地见到儒学影响的存在。
  • The Mysterious Stranger

    The Mysterious Stranger

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • “三个代表”重要思想与当代中国外交

    “三个代表”重要思想与当代中国外交

    本书是国内第一部全面和系统地应用“三个代表”重要思想的核心原理全面分析当代中国外交发展的进程和取得的成就的专著。作者运用文献研究法,以马克思主义奠基人的理论、毛泽东思想和邓小平理论、“三个代表”重要思想和科学发展观为指导,把“三个代表”重要思想的“先进生产力”“先进文化的前进方向”“最广大人民群众的根本利益”作为贯穿研究始终的核心价值观和理论依据,全面分析了当代中国外交发展的进程和取得的成就,对外交先进性的概念进行了界定,并运用中国优秀传统政治理论(如诸子百家的思想)对当代中国外交进行了解读,体现了研究的中国特色、中国风格和中国气派。
  • 医仙女侯:相府大小姐

    医仙女侯:相府大小姐

    上一世她受渣男欺骗,庶妹欺负,最后闹得自己家破人亡、满门抄斩,也辜负了皇舅舅和公主姨母。她恨,恨自己瞎了眼相信了这对狗男女。重生一世,这一世华丽变身,训义母、保弟弟、斗庶妹、惩姨娘、治渣男。想要世子之位?想要做王爷?想要帮皇子夺皇位?呵,想都不要想,没门。让你们上一世拥有的这一世全部收回。争医仙、夺宫主、杀师姐、护国家、封女侯。而从她重生开始身边一直跟着一个性格臭屁冷漠的失聪男人,他冷漠,但唯独对她温柔,他冷血,但只有她说的话他听,他暴戾,只因为她是他的底线,谁也不能再次伤害她。只要她有任何危险和困难,他都会第一时间出现在她面前。
  • 黄金穗

    黄金穗

    穿越娘亲含恨死,迂腐老爹殉情亡。幸有灵魂来互换,小小金穗得重生。爷爷当爹又当娘,祖孙努力奔小康。渣男想要来求亲,哼哼……想娶我金穗可以,予君黄金穗,君冠我之姓!订阅超过30%的亲请投一下完本满意度,么么哒~