英语学习系列：源自《钦定版圣经》的英文典故（7）

基督教的圣经由旧约（Old Testament）和新约（New Testament）构成。最早的圣经是用希腊文写的，后来才被翻译成拉丁文。旧约一共由929章构成了39卷。

请看以下从旧约中摘取的典故：

Jacob’s ladder

这条习语出自《旧约》第一卷中的《创世纪》（Genesis 28:10-22）。在钦定版圣经中的原文如下：

And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows,and lay down in that place to sleep.

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I giveit, and to thy seed;

And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest,and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until Ihave done that which I have spoken to thee of.

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place;and I knew it not.

And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but thehouse of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of allthat thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

在现代英语翻译的版本中如下：

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.

When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set.Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of yourfather Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.

Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to thewest and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place,and I was not aware of it."

He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other thanthe house of God; this is the gate of heaven."

Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set itup as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.

He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over meon this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear

so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God

and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all thatyou give me I will give you a tenth."

译文：

雅各离开别是巴，起程到哈兰去。

他来到一个地方，因为当时太阳已经下了山，於是他便拾了一块石作枕头，躺下睡觉。

他做了一个梦，梦见有一道直通到天上的梯子，又看见有天使在梯子上面走上去走下来。

主站在梯顶之上对雅各说：“我是你祖父亚伯拉罕的上帝，也是以撒的上帝。我要把你现在躺卧的地方赐给你和你的后代。

你的后代一定会像沙尘那麽多，他们会遍布四方，地上万族必因你和你的后代而蒙福。

我也要与你同在；无论你到哪里去，我都会保护你，领你平安地重回这地。在我实现对你许下的诺言以前，我必不会离开你。”

雅各一觉醒来，想起了自己做的梦，就战竞地说：“上帝一定是在这里，我竟然糊涂得不知道。

这地方真是神圣的啊！这里原来不是别的地方，是上帝的家，也是天的门啊！”

雅各清早起床，把晚上所枕首的那石头立成柱子作为纪念，又在上面浇油。

他叫那地方作伯特利，意思是上帝的家，那地方以前的名字是路斯。

雅各又许愿说：“如果上帝与我同在，在路上保护我，供给我食物和衣服，

带领我平平安安地回到父亲的家里去，我就一定会敬奉主为我的上帝。

我立为柱子的这块石头，必要成为敬拜上帝的地方；上帝赐给我的一切，我必把十分之一献给上帝。”

这条习语表面的意思就是“雅各的天梯”。犹太教经典的《律法》（注：Torah，圣经旧约之首五卷）对雅各的这个天梯之梦做了一些解释。如天梯象征着在救世主（Messiah）到来之前犹太人将遭受的流放和离散。另一个解释是：雅各当晚停留做梦的地方其实是摩利亚山（Mount Moriah ），那是以后犹太民族在耶路撒冷建立圣殿的所在地。因此，天梯的梯级象征着天堂与人间的“桥梁”，正如圣殿中的祈祷和献祭构成了上帝和犹太人民之间的联系。等等。

古希腊犹太哲学家斐洛（Philo ）对于雅各的天梯之梦的解释是：梦中的天使象征着从身体中升天的灵魂。由于斐洛是古希腊古犹太神秘主义哲学家，因此他的这个解释很清楚地与其轮回的教义（doctrine of reincarnation）相联系。斐洛还认为这个梦描绘了美德与罪恶之间的斗争。

基督教的教父（Church Fathers）很喜欢雅各的天梯这一主题，因为它通向天堂，描绘了基督教教会就是“通往上帝的天梯”。此外，他们还认为登梯象征着通过美德升天。

古人从来就没有停止过对梦做出解释，并试图从梦中发现神给予人类的启示。其实，我们现在已经知道，梦是大脑在睡眠时的一项功能。所谓的解梦基本上都是胡扯。佛洛依德在20世纪初创立的精神分析学当然也少不了《梦的解析》这部巨著。他的理论至今在中国大陆依然十分流行，有很多人将其奉为圭臬。不过他们不知道的是，随着心理学的飞速发展，国外的心理学界早已认为佛洛依德的学说不属于科学理论的范畴，因为那不具有可证伪性，所以他的著作在西方大学的图书馆都归于文学一类中。此外，诺贝尔评奖委员会曾考虑向佛洛依德授奖，而爱因斯坦却建议不必，结果佛洛依德最终没有获奖。由此看来，爱因斯坦还是非常具有先见之明的。

（注：图片是路德圣经(1534年和1545年)中关于雅各的天梯的插图）

上一篇该系列文章的链接：英语学习系列：源自《钦定版圣经》的英文典故（6）