Genesis 1 When Rachel saw that she failed to bear children to Jacob, she became envious of her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children or I shall die!" 辣黑耳见自己没有给雅各伯生子,就嫉妒姐姐,对雅各伯说:"你要给我孩子;不然,我就死啦!" 2 In anger Jacob retorted, 遂给他起名叫肋未。"Can I take the place of God, who has denied you the fruit of the womb?" 雅各伯对辣黑耳生气说:"不肯使你怀孕的是天主,难道我能替他作主?" 3 1 She replied, "Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Have intercourse with her, and let her give birth on my knees, so that I too may have offspring, at least through her." 辣黑耳回答说:"这里有我的婢女彼耳哈,你亲近她,叫她在我膝下生子,使我能由她得子。" 4 2 So she gave him her maidservant Bilhah as a consort, and Jacob had intercourse with her. 辣黑耳就将自己的婢女彼耳哈给了雅各伯作妾;雅各伯亲近了她, 5 When Bilhah conceived and bore a son, 她遂怀孕,给雅各伯生了一子。 6 3 Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; indeed he has heeded my plea and given me a son." Therefore she named him Dan. 7 Rachel's maidservant Bilhah conceived again and bore a second son, 辣黑耳的婢女彼耳哈又怀孕,给雅各伯生了第二个儿子。 8 4 and Rachel said, "I engaged in a fateful struggle with my sister, and I prevailed." So she named him Naphtali. 辣黑耳就说:"我以天大的力量与我姐姐相争,得到胜利了。"便给他起名叫纳斐塔里。 9 When Leah saw that she had ceased to bear children, she gave her maidservant Zilpah to Jacob as a consort. 肋阿见自己停止生育,也将自己的婢女齐耳帕给了雅各伯作妾。 10 So Jacob had intercourse with Zilpah, and she conceived and bore a son. 11 5 Leah then said, "What good luck!" So she named him Gad. 肋阿遂说:"好幸运!"就给他起名叫加得。 12 Then Leah's maidservant Zilpah bore a second son to Jacob; 肋阿的婢女齐耳帕给雅各伯又生了第二个儿子。 13 6 and Leah said, "What good fortune!"--meaning, "Women call me fortunate." So she named him Asher. 肋阿遂说:"我真有福!女人都要以为我有福。"就给他起名叫阿协尔。 14 7 One day, during the wheat harvest, when Reuben was out in the field, he came upon some mandrakes which he brought home to his mother Leah. Rachel asked Leah, "Please let me have some of your son's mandrakes." 到了割麦的时节,勒乌本出去,在田间寻得了一些曼陀罗,带回来给了他母亲肋阿。辣黑耳对肋阿说:"请你将你儿子得的曼陀罗给我一些。" 15 Leah replied, "Was it not enough for you to take away my husband, that you must now take my son's mandrakes too?" "Very well, then!" Rachel answered. "In exchange for your son's mandrakes, Jacob may lie with you tonight." 16 That evening, when Jacob came home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. "You are now to come in with me," she told him, "because I have paid for you with my son's mandrakes." So that night he slept with her, 到了晚上雅各伯由田间回来,肋阿就跑出去迎接他说:"你该来我这里,因为我用我儿子的曼陀罗雇了你。"那夜雅各伯便与她同睡。 17 and God heard her prayer; she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob. 天主俯允了肋阿,她又怀孕,给雅各伯生了第五个儿子。 18 8 Leah then said, "God has given me my reward for having let my husband have my maidservant"; so she named him Issachar. 肋阿说:"天主给了我报酬,因为我将我的婢女给了我的丈夫。"便给他起名叫依撒加尔。 19 Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob; 肋阿又怀孕,给雅各伯生了第六个儿子。 20 9 and she said, "God has brought me a precious gift. This time my husband will offer me presents, now that I have borne him six sons"; so she named him Zebulun. 肋阿说:"天主给了我一个很好的礼物;这一回我的丈夫要与我同居了,因为我给他生了六个儿子。"便给他起名叫则步隆。 21 Finally, she gave birth to a daughter, and she named her Dinah. 22 Then God remembered Rachel; he heard her prayer and made her fruitful. 天主想起了辣黑耳,垂允了她,开了她的子宫, 23 She conceived and bore a son, and she said, "God has removed my disgrace." 她遂怀孕,生了一个儿子,说:"天主拭去了我的耻辱。" 24 10 So she named him Joseph, meaning, "May the LORD add another son to this one for me!" 她给他起名叫若瑟说:"愿上主再给我添子。" 25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban: "Give me leave to go to my homeland. 辣黑耳生了若瑟以后,雅各伯对拉班说:"请让我回到我的本乡故土! 26 Let me have my wives, for whom I served you, and my children, too, that I may depart. You know very well the service that I have rendered you." 27 Laban answered him: "If you will please. . . . "I have learned through divination that it is because of you that God has blessed me. 28 So," he continued, "state what wages you want from me, and I will pay them." 继而说:"请规定你的工价,我必付给你。" 29 Jacob replied: "You know what work I did for you and how well your livestock fared under my care; 30 the little you had before I came has grown into very much, since the LORD'S blessings came upon you in my company. Therefore I should now do something for my own household as well." 我未来之前,你所有的是那么少,现在增加了那么多;我一来,上主就祝福了你。但是,我几时也能为我兴家立业呢?" 31 "What should I pay you?" Laban asked. Jacob answered: "You do not have to pay me anything outright. I will again pasture and tend your flock, if you do this one thing for me: 拉班问说:"我该给你什么?"雅各伯, , 答说:"你什么也不必给我,只要你应承我这件事,我就仍牧放照顾你的羊群: 32 11 go through your whole flock today and remove from it every dark animal among the sheep and every spotted or speckled one among the goats. Only such animals shall be my wages. 33 In the future, whenever you check on these wages of mine, let my honesty testify against me: any animal in my possession that is not a speckled or spotted goat, or a dark sheep, got there by theft!" 34 "Very well," agreed Laban. "Let it be as you say." 拉班回答说:"好,就照你的话办罢!" 35 12 That same day Laban removed the streaked and spotted he-goats and all the speckled and spotted she-goats, all those with some white on them, as well as the fully dark-colored sheep; these he left. . . in charge of his sons. 当天拉班就将有条纹有斑点的公山羊,凡有白纹,或斑点和黑点的母山羊,并黑色的绵羊都挑出来,交在自己儿子们手中; 36 Then he put a three days' journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to pasture the rest of Laban's flock. 又使雅各伯与自己相距三日的路程。雅各伯便牧放拉班其余的羊群。 37 Jacob, however, got some fresh shoots of poplar, almond and plane trees, and he made white stripes in them by peeling off the bark down to the white core of the shoots. 38 The rods that he had thus peeled he then set upright in the watering troughs, so that they would be in front of the animals that drank from the troughs. When the animals were in heat as they came to drink, 然后将剥去皮的枝条,插在水沟和水漕里,羊群前来喝水时,正与羊群相对。羊群前来喝水时,就彼此相配。 39 13 the goats mated by the rods, and so they brought forth streaked, speckled and spotted kids. 羊群对着枝条相配,就生出了有条纹,有斑点和黑点的小羊。 40 The sheep, on the other hand, Jacob kept apart, and he set these animals to face the streaked or fully dark-colored animals of Laban. Thus he produced special flocks of his own, which he did not put with Laban's flock. 雅各伯将这些羔羊分开,将这些羊放在拉班羊群中有条纹和有黑点的羊前;这样他为自己另组羊群,不将它们放在拉班的羊群中。 41 Moreover, whenever the hardier animals were in heat, Jacob would set the rods in the troughs in full view of these animals, so that they mated by the rods; 42 but with the weaker animals he would not put the rods there. So the feeble animals would go to Laban, but the sturdy ones to Jacob. 当羊群瘦弱时,他就不插枝条:这样,瘦弱的都归拉班,肥壮的都归雅各伯。 43 Thus the man grew increasingly prosperous, and he came to own not only large flocks but also male and female servants and camels and asses. 为此这人越来越富,拥有许多羊群,婢女和奴仆,骆驼和驴子。 Footnotes(注解) 1 [3] On my knees: in the ancient Near East, a father would take a newborn child in his lap to signify that he acknowledged it as his own; Rachel uses the ceremony in order to adopt the child and establish her legal rights to it. 2 [4] Consort: The Hebrew word normally means "wife," but here it refers to a wife of secondary rank, who did not have the full legal rights of an ordinary wife. 3 [6] Dan: explained by the term dannanni, "he has vindicated me." 4 [8] Naphtali: explained by the phrase "naptule elohim niptalti," literally, "in a divine wrestling match I have wrestled," perhaps implying the concept of an ordeal; hence the above rendering, I engaged in a fateful struggle. 5 [11] Gad: explained by the Hebrew term begad, literally "in luck," i.e., what good luck! 6 [13] Asher: explained by the term beoshri, literally "in my good fortune." i.e., what good fortune, and by the term ishsheruni "they call me fortunate." 7 [14] Mandrakes: an herb whose root was anciently thought to promote conception. The Hebrew word for mandrakes, dudaim, has erotic connotations, since it sounds like the words daddayim ("breasts") and dodim ("sexual pleasure"). 8 [18] Issachar: explained by the terms, sekari, "my reward," and in Genesis 30:16, sakor sekartika, literally "I have hired you," i.e., I have paid for you. 9 [20] Zebulun: related to the Akkadian word zubullum, "bridegroom's gift," is explained by the terms, zebadani . . . zebed tob, "he has brought me a precious gift," and yizbeleni, "he will offer me presents." 10 [24] Joseph: explained by the words yosep, "may he add," and in Genesis 30:23, asap, "he has removed." 11 [32] Dark . . . sheep . . . spotted or speckled goats: In the Near East the normal color of sheep is light gray, whereas that of goats is uniform dark brown or black. Ordinarily, therefore, Jacob would have received but few animals. 12 [35] By giving the abnormally colored animals to his sons, Laban not only deprived Jacob of his first small wages, but he also designed to prevent in this way the future breeding of such animals in the part of his flock entrusted to Jacob. 13 [39-42] Jacob's stratagem was based on the widespread notion among simple people that visual stimuli can have prenatal effects on the offspring of breeding animals. Thus, the rods on which Jacob had whittled stripes or bands or chevron marks were thought to cause the female goats that looked at them to bear kids with lighter-colored marks on their dark hair, while the gray ewes were thought to bear lambs with dark marks on them simply by visual cross-breeding with the dark goats. |