Forgiveness: Truth, Conditions and Boundaries 赦免：真理、條件與界線
ISBE — International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Forgiveness 赦免
Of the seven words, three Hebrew and four Greek, which are used to express the idea of forgiveness,
在用來表達「赦免」這個概念的七個詞中，其中三個是希伯來文，四個是希臘文。
the last two occur in this sense only once each.
最後兩個在這個意義上各只出現一次。
Apoluein (Luk_6:37) is used because of the analogy of sin to debt, and denotes the release from it.
Apoluein（路加福音6:37）之所以被使用，是因為將罪比喻為債，表示從債中被釋放。
It has the meaning “forgiveness” in 2 Macc 12:45 also, in which passage the word for sin is expressed.
在《馬加比二書》12:45中，它也有「赦免」的意思，在該處經文中罪被明確提到。
In Rom_3:25 Paul uses paresis instead of the usual aphesis.
在羅馬書3:25中，保羅使用的是 paresis，而不是常見的 aphesis。
The former means “putting aside,” “disregarding,” “pretermission”;
前者的意思是「暫時放在一旁」、「忽略」、「略過」。
the latter, “putting away” completely and unreservedly.
後者則是「完全、毫無保留地除去」。
It does not mean forgiveness in the complete sense,
前者並不表示完整意義上的赦免。
and in the King James Version is incorrectly translated “remission.”
在欽定本聖經中被錯誤翻譯為「赦免（remission）」。
Nor does it mean that God had temporarily suspended punishment which at some later date He might inflict.
它也不是指神暫時停止懲罰，之後還可能再施行。
It was apparent that God had treated sins as though He had forgiven them,
看起來神對待罪，好像已經赦免了。
though in fact such an attitude on the part of God was without such a foundation
但實際上，當時這種對待罪的方式，
as was later supplied by an adequate atonement,
還沒有後來那「充分的贖罪」作為根基。
and so the apostle avoids saying that God forgave them.
因此使徒避免直接說神已經赦免了他們。
This passing over of sins had the tendency of destroying man's conception of God's righteousness,
這種「略過罪」的作法，容易破壞人對神公義的認識。
and in order to avert this Christ was set forth as a propitiation
為了避免這一點，基督被設立為挽回祭。
and God's disregard of sin (paresis) became a real forgiveness (aphesis).
使神對罪的「暫時忽略」（paresis）成為真正的赦免（aphesis）。
Pagan and Jewish Ideas
外邦與猶太人的觀念
Forgiveness was not a pagan virtue.
赦免並不是外邦文化中的美德。
The large-souled man might disregard offenses in cases where he considered them beneath his notice,
一個自認為心胸寬大的外邦人，可能會在覺得對方不值得理會時選擇忽略冒犯，
but to forgive was weak-spirited.
但「赦免」本身卻被視為軟弱的表現。
Even in the Old Testament, man's forgiveness of his fellow-man is infrequently mentioned.
即使在舊約中，人與人之間的赦免也很少被提及。
In every case the one asking forgiveness is in a position of subserviency,
在所有情況中，請求赦免的一方都是處於較低的位置，
and is petitioning for that to which he has no just right.
是在請求一件他本來沒有權利要求的事。
The Imprecatory Psalms attest the fact that forgiveness of enemies was not esteemed as a virtue by Israel.
那些求神咒詛仇敵的詩篇顯示，以色列人並不把「赦免仇敵」視為美德。
They could appeal to the law which enjoined upon them to seek neither the peace nor the prosperity of their avowed enemies.
他們甚至可以引用律法，證明不需要為明確的敵人求平安或興旺。
Jesus gave the popular summing-up of the law and not its exact words when he said,
當耶穌說：
“Ye have heard that it was said ... hate thine enemy,”
「你們聽見有話說……要恨你的仇敵」，
and this certainly does represent their attitude and their understanding of the teaching of the Scriptures.
這確實反映了當時人對聖經教導的理解與態度。
Christ taught that forgiveness is a duty.
基督教導，赦免是一個責任。
No limit can be set to the extent of forgiveness,
赦免沒有次數的限制，
and it must be granted without reserve.
而且必須毫無保留地給予。
Jesus will not admit that there is any wrong so gross nor so often repeated that it is beyond forgiveness.
耶穌不承認有任何罪大惡極或反覆發生的錯，是不能被赦免的。
To Him an unforgiving spirit is one of the most heinous of sins.
在祂看來，不肯赦免的心是最嚴重的罪之一。
This is the offense which God will not forgive.
這正是神不赦免的那種罪。
It is the very essence of the unpardonable sin.
甚至可以說，是「不可赦免之罪」的本質。
It was the one blemish of the elder son which marred an otherwise irreproachable life.
這也是浪子比喻中大兒子的唯一污點，破壞了他原本看似無可指責的生命。
This natural, pagan spirit of implacability Jesus sought to displace by a generous, forgiving spirit.
耶穌要用一種慷慨、樂於赦免的心，取代人本性中那種不肯原諒的剛硬。
It is so far the essence of His teaching that in popular language
這幾乎成為祂教導的核心，
“a Christian spirit” is not inappropriately understood to be synonymous with a forgiving disposition.
甚至「基督徒的心」常被理解為「一個願意赦免的心」。
His answer to Peter that one should forgive not merely seven times in a day, but seventy times seven,
祂回答彼得說，赦免不是一天七次，而是七十個七次，
not only shows that He thought of no limit to one's forgiveness,
不只是表示赦免沒有上限，
but that the principle could not be reduced to a definite formula.
更表示這不是一個可以用數字計算的原則。
Jesus recognized that there are conditions to be fulfilled before forgiveness can be granted.
耶穌承認，在赦免被給予之前，是有條件需要被滿足的。
Forgiveness is part of a mutual relationship; the other part is the repentance of the offender.
赦免是關係中的一部分，而另一部分是犯錯者的悔改。
God does not forgive without repentance, nor is it required of man.
神不在沒有悔改的情況下赦免，人也不需要如此行。
The effect of forgiveness is to restore to its former state the relationship which was broken by sin.
赦免的結果，是使因罪而破裂的關係恢復到原來的狀態。
Such a restoration requires the coöperation of both parties.
這樣的恢復需要雙方的配合。
There must be both a granting and an acceptance of the forgiveness.
必須同時有「給出赦免」與「接受赦免」。
Sincere, deep-felt sorrow for the wrong which works repentance (2Co_7:10) is the condition of mind which insures the acceptance of the forgiveness.
對過錯真誠、深刻的憂傷（林後7:10），產生悔改，這樣的心態才能真正接受赦免。
Hence, Jesus commands forgiveness when the offender turns again, saying, “I repent”.
因此，當犯錯的人回轉說「我悔改了」時，耶穌才命令赦免。
It was this state of mind which led the father joyfully to welcome the Prodigal before he even gave utterance to his newly formed purpose.
正是這樣的心，使父親在浪子尚未完全說出口之前，就歡喜地接納他。
It is not to be supposed, however, that failure to repent upon the part of the offender releases the offended from all obligation to extend forgiveness.
然而，不能認為對方不悔改，就使被冒犯的人完全沒有任何責任去表現出赦免。
Without the repentance of the one who has wronged him he can have a forgiving state of mind.
即使對方沒有悔改，被冒犯的人仍可以擁有一種願意赦免的心態。
This Jesus requires, as is implied by, “if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts”.
這是耶穌所要求的，正如祂所說：「若不從心裡饒恕你的弟兄」。
It is also implied by the past tense in the Lord's Prayer: “as we also have forgiven our debtors”.
主禱文中的過去式也表達了這一點：「我們也已經饒恕了虧欠我們的人」。
It is this forgiving spirit which conditions God's forgiveness of our sins.
正是這種願意赦免的心，成為神赦免我們的條件。
In such a case the unforgiving spirit is essentially unrepentance.
在這樣的情況下，不肯赦免本質上就是一種不悔改。
The offended is to go even farther and is to seek to bring the wrongdoer to repentance.
被冒犯的人還應該更進一步，努力引導對方走向悔改。
This is the purpose of the rebuking commanded in Luk_17:3.
這正是路加福音17:3中責備對方的目的。
More explicitly Jesus says, “If thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone”.
更明確地，耶穌說：「若你的弟兄得罪你，你就去，趁著只有他和你在一處的時候指出他的錯。」
He is to carry his pursuit to the point of making every reasonable effort to win the wrongdoer,
要盡一切合理的努力去挽回對方，
and only when he has exhausted every effort may he abandon it.
只有在用盡所有方法之後，才可以停止。
The object is the gaining of his brother.
目的是要得回這個弟兄。
Only when this is evidently unattainable is all effort to cease.
只有當這件事明顯無法達成時，才停止一切努力。
Etymology 字源
Of the seven words, three Hebrew and four Greek, which are used to express the idea of forgiveness,
在用來表達「赦免」這個概念的七個詞中，其中三個是希伯來文，四個是希臘文。
the last two occur in this sense only once each.
最後兩個在這個意義上各只出現一次。
Apoluein (Luk_6:37) is used because of the analogy of sin to debt, and denotes the release from it.
Apoluein（路加福音6:37）之所以被使用，是因為將罪比喻為債，表示從債中被釋放。
It has the meaning “forgiveness” in 2 Macc 12:45 also, in which passage the word for sin is expressed.
在《馬加比二書》12:45中，它也有「赦免」的意思，在該處經文中罪被明確提到。
In Rom_3:25 Paul uses paresis instead of the usual aphesis.
在羅馬書3:25中，保羅使用的是 paresis，而不是常見的 aphesis。
The former means “putting aside,” “disregarding,” “pretermission”;
前者的意思是「暫時放在一旁」、「忽略」、「略過」。
the latter, “putting away” completely and unreservedly.
後者則是「完全、毫無保留地除去」。
It does not mean forgiveness in the complete sense,
前者並不表示完整意義上的赦免。
and in the King James Version is incorrectly translated “remission.”
在欽定本聖經中被錯誤翻譯為「赦免（remission）」。
Nor does it mean that God had temporarily suspended punishment which at some later date He might inflict.
它也不是指神暫時停止懲罰，之後還可能再施行。
It was apparent that God had treated sins as though He had forgiven them,
看起來神對待罪，好像已經赦免了。
though in fact such an attitude on the part of God was without such a foundation
但實際上，當時這種對待罪的方式，
as was later supplied by an adequate atonement,
還沒有後來那「充分的贖罪」作為根基。
and so the apostle avoids saying that God forgave them.
因此使徒避免直接說神已經赦免了他們。
This passing over of sins had the tendency of destroying man's conception of God's righteousness,
這種「略過罪」的作法，容易破壞人對神公義的認識。
and in order to avert this Christ was set forth as a propitiation
為了避免這一點，基督被設立為挽回祭。
and God's disregard of sin (paresis) became a real forgiveness (aphesis).
使神對罪的「暫時忽略」（paresis）成為真正的赦免（aphesis）。
Pagan and Jewish Ideas
外邦與猶太人的觀念
Forgiveness was not a pagan virtue.
赦免並不是外邦文化中的美德。
The large-souled man might disregard offenses in cases where he considered them beneath his notice,
一個自認為心胸寬大的外邦人，可能會在覺得對方不值得理會時選擇忽略冒犯，
but to forgive was weak-spirited.
但「赦免」本身卻被視為軟弱的表現。
Even in the Old Testament, man's forgiveness of his fellow-man is infrequently mentioned.
即使在舊約中，人與人之間的赦免也很少被提及。
In every case the one asking forgiveness is in a position of subserviency,
在所有情況中，請求赦免的一方都是處於較低的位置，
and is petitioning for that to which he has no just right.
是在請求一件他本來沒有權利要求的事。
The Imprecatory Psalms attest the fact that forgiveness of enemies was not esteemed as a virtue by Israel.
那些求神咒詛仇敵的詩篇顯示，以色列人並不把「赦免仇敵」視為美德。
They could appeal to the law which enjoined upon them to seek neither the peace nor the prosperity of their avowed enemies.
他們甚至可以引用律法，證明不需要為明確的敵人求平安或興旺。
Jesus gave the popular summing-up of the law and not its exact words when he said,
當耶穌說：
“Ye have heard that it was said ... hate thine enemy,”
「你們聽見有話說……要恨你的仇敵」，
and this certainly does represent their attitude and their understanding of the teaching of the Scriptures.
這確實反映了當時人對聖經教導的理解與態度。
The Teaching of Christ 基督的教導
Christ taught that forgiveness is a duty.
基督教導，赦免是一個責任。
No limit can be set to the extent of forgiveness,
赦免沒有次數的限制，
and it must be granted without reserve.
而且必須毫無保留地給予。
Jesus will not admit that there is any wrong so gross nor so often repeated that it is beyond forgiveness.
耶穌不承認有任何罪大惡極或反覆發生的錯，是不能被赦免的。
To Him an unforgiving spirit is one of the most heinous of sins.
在祂看來，不肯赦免的心是最嚴重的罪之一。
This is the offense which God will not forgive.
這正是神不赦免的那種罪。
It is the very essence of the unpardonable sin.
甚至可以說，是「不可赦免之罪」的本質。
It was the one blemish of the elder son which marred an otherwise irreproachable life.
這也是浪子比喻中大兒子的唯一污點，破壞了他原本看似無可指責的生命。
This natural, pagan spirit of implacability Jesus sought to displace by a generous, forgiving spirit.
耶穌要用一種慷慨、樂於赦免的心，取代人本性中那種不肯原諒的剛硬。
It is so far the essence of His teaching that in popular language
這幾乎成為祂教導的核心，
“a Christian spirit” is not inappropriately understood to be synonymous with a forgiving disposition.
甚至「基督徒的心」常被理解為「一個願意赦免的心」。
His answer to Peter that one should forgive not merely seven times in a day, but seventy times seven,
祂回答彼得說，赦免不是一天七次，而是七十個七次，
not only shows that He thought of no limit to one's forgiveness,
不只是表示赦免沒有上限，
but that the principle could not be reduced to a definite formula.
更表示這不是一個可以用數字計算的原則。
Conditions of Forgiveness 赦免的條件
Jesus recognized that there are conditions to be fulfilled before forgiveness can be granted.
耶穌承認，在赦免被給予之前，是有條件需要被滿足的。
Forgiveness is part of a mutual relationship; the other part is the repentance of the offender.
赦免是關係中的一部分，而另一部分是犯錯者的悔改。
God does not forgive without repentance, nor is it required of man.
神不在沒有悔改的情況下赦免，人也不需要如此行。
The effect of forgiveness is to restore to its former state the relationship which was broken by sin.
赦免的結果，是使因罪而破裂的關係恢復到原來的狀態。
Such a restoration requires the coöperation of both parties.
這樣的恢復需要雙方的配合。
There must be both a granting and an acceptance of the forgiveness.
必須同時有「給出赦免」與「接受赦免」。
Sincere, deep-felt sorrow for the wrong which works repentance (2Co_7:10) is the condition of mind which insures the acceptance of the forgiveness.
對過錯真誠、深刻的憂傷（林後7:10），產生悔改，這樣的心態才能真正接受赦免。
Hence, Jesus commands forgiveness when the offender turns again, saying, “I repent”.
因此，當犯錯的人回轉說「我悔改了」時，耶穌才命令赦免。
It was this state of mind which led the father joyfully to welcome the Prodigal before he even gave utterance to his newly formed purpose.
正是這樣的心，使父親在浪子尚未完全說出口之前，就歡喜地接納他。
The Offended Party 被冒犯者的責任
It is not to be supposed, however, that failure to repent upon the part of the offender releases the offended from all obligation to extend forgiveness.
然而，不能認為對方不悔改，就使被冒犯的人完全沒有任何責任去表現出赦免。
Without the repentance of the one who has wronged him he can have a forgiving state of mind.
即使對方沒有悔改，被冒犯的人仍可以擁有一種願意赦免的心態。
This Jesus requires, as is implied by, “if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts”.
這是耶穌所要求的，正如祂所說：「若不從心裡饒恕你的弟兄」。
It is also implied by the past tense in the Lord's Prayer: “as we also have forgiven our debtors”.
主禱文中的過去式也表達了這一點：「我們也已經饒恕了虧欠我們的人」。
It is this forgiving spirit which conditions God's forgiveness of our sins.
正是這種願意赦免的心，成為神赦免我們的條件。
In such a case the unforgiving spirit is essentially unrepentance.
在這樣的情況下，不肯赦免本質上就是一種不悔改。
The offended is to go even farther and is to seek to bring the wrongdoer to repentance.
被冒犯的人還應該更進一步，努力引導對方走向悔改。
This is the purpose of the rebuking commanded in Luk_17:3.
這正是路加福音17:3中責備對方的目的。
More explicitly Jesus says, “If thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone”.
更明確地，耶穌說：「若你的弟兄得罪你，你就去，趁著只有他和你在一處的時候指出他的錯。」
He is to carry his pursuit to the point of making every reasonable effort to win the wrongdoer,
要盡一切合理的努力去挽回對方，
and only when he has exhausted every effort may he abandon it.
只有在用盡所有方法之後，才可以停止。
The object is the gaining of his brother.
目的是要得回這個弟兄。
Only when this is evidently unattainable is all effort to cease.
只有當這件事明顯無法達成時，才停止一切努力。
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