与命运角力的女人——评《圣经·创世记》中的拉结

The Woman Wrestling with Fate:Rachel in “Genesis”

拉结是以色列始祖雅各的第二位妻子。她虽得到雅各的喜爱,一生却步履维艰,似乎是生活的失败者。但是《圣经·创世记》关于拉结的叙事非常微妙,在拉结看起来处处落败的生活中,叙述者为读者展现了一个热爱生活的有尊严的生命,她用自己的方式与命运角力、抗争,读者得以分享她真实的喜悦、哀伤、绝望和希望,在她身上表现的是一种主动、努力的生命体验,而这种体验不仅是以色列早期族母们所共同拥有的重要特征,也是以色列民族的共同记忆。

Rachel is the second wife of Jacob,the immediate ancestor of the Israelites. Her briefly recorded life seems to suggest that she is almost a loser and her life is a tragedy,though she is specially loved by her husband Jacob. But the narrative of the ＂Genesis＂is so subtle as to imply an almost opposite understanding of Rachel as a character. Difficult life as it is,it is also life of dignity and passion,when Rachel confronts or even wrestles against the destiny and life. What readers share from her story is a combination of true happiness,sorrow,despair and hope,which is a symbol of positive and active experience shared by the early matriarchs as well as all the Israelite tribes.