801、从此处对大洪水之前的这些人的描述明显可知上古之人当中的写作风格是什么样，因而明显可知预言的风格又是什么样。此处直到本章末尾都在描述这些人；这几节描述了他们的说服，23节描述了他们的贪欲；也就是说，首先描述了其理解力事物的状态，然后描述了其意愿事物的状态。尽管他们实际上没有理解力或意愿的事物在里面，但与它们相反的事物仍被如此称呼；也就是说，诸如虚假说服之类的事物绝不是理解力的事物，而是思维和推理的事物（译注：但仍被称为理解力的事物）；以及诸如贪欲之类的事物绝不是意愿的事物（译注：但仍被称为意愿的事物）。我说，对于大洪水之前的人，经上首先描述了他们的虚假说服，然后描述了他们的贪欲，这就是为何21节的内容会在23节重复，只是换了一个顺序。
这也是预言的风格，原因在于，人里面有两种生命：一种属于理解力的事物，另一种属于意愿的事物；这两种生命彼此截然不同且相互分离。人是由这两者构成的，尽管如今它们在人里面是分离的，却仍一个流入另一个，并且多半是联结的。至于它们联结，以及如何联结，这可通过许多方式来证实和说明。由于人由理解力和意愿这两部分构成，并且一个流入另一个，所以当描述人时，圣言就分别描述每个部分，这是重复的原因；否则，这样描述是有问题的。此处的意愿和理解力是怎样，其它一切事物也都是怎样；换句话说，适用于此处意愿和理解力的，也适用于其它一切事物；因为抽离出来的不同现象恰恰反映了经历这些现象之人的状况。它们是这些人的属性，因为它们是从这些人中产生的。与其主体，或其背后的物质分离的一个现象或事物什么都不是。这就是为何圣言描述某个事物时，会描述这两个方面。只有这样，对每个事物的描述才是完整和全面的。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]801. The portrayal of these pre-Flood people reveals what the literary mode of the earliest people was like and so what the prophetic mode was like. The chapter from here to the end describes those people, telling of their delusions in the current verse and of their appetites in verse 23 below. In other words, it depicts the condition of the ideas in their intellect and then the condition of the impulses in their will.
Although nothing in them was [truly] a matter of understanding or will, the contrary thoughts and impulses they had must still be called such. These include their distorted convictions, which are anything but matters of understanding, since they are the product of thought and of twisted logic; and their cravings, which are anything but a matter of will.
Those people are described, as I was saying, in respect first to their distorted convictions and next to their cravings, which is why the statements of verse 21 here are repeated in verse 23 below, although in a different order.
[2] The prophets used the same manner of expression. Its basis is the existence of two vital forces in us, one belonging to the ideas of the intellect, and the other to the intentions of the will. The two kinds of life force are perfectly distinct from each other. We consist of both, and although they are separate in people today, the one still has an influence on the other and for the most part unites with it. The fact that they unite can be established and illustrated by much supporting evidence, as can the way they unite.
Since we consist of these two sides, then — of intellect and will — and since the one side affects the other, when the Word draws a picture of a human being it depicts each of the two sides separately. This is the reason for the repetition, which would otherwise be a defect.
The same is true with every facet of reality, because different abstract phenomena exactly mirror conditions in the people who experience them. They are attributes of those people because they arise out of them. An abstract phenomenon separated from the person subject to it, or from a substance underlying it, has no reality at all. This is the reason the Word describes things as having two parts, in the manner detailed above. Doing so makes the portrayal of every phenomenon complete.
Potts(1905-1910) 801
801. From the description of these antediluvians as here given, it is evident what was the style of writing among the most ancient people, and thus what the prophetic style was. They are described here and up to the end of this chapter; in these verses they are described in respect to their persuasions, and in verse 23 in respect to their cupidities; that is, they are first described in respect to the state of the things of their understanding, and then in respect to the state of the things of their will. And although with them there were in reality no things of understanding or of will, still the things contrary to them are so to be called; that is to say, such things as persuasions of falsity, which are by no means things of understanding, and yet are things of thought and reason; and also such things as cupidities, which are by no means things of will. The antediluvians are described, I say, first as to their false persuasions, and then as to their cupidities, which is the reason why the things contained in verse 21 are repeated in verse 23, but in a different order. Such also is the prophetic style. [2] The reason is that with man there are two lives: one, of the things of the understanding; the other, of the things of the will, and these lives are most distinct from each other. Man consists of both, and although at this day they are separated in man, nevertheless they flow one into the other, and for the most part unite. That they unite, and how they unite, can be established and made clear by many illustrations. Since man therefore consists of these two parts (the understanding and the will, of which the one flows into the other), when man is described in the Word, he is described with distinctiveness as to the one part and as to the other. This is the reason of the repetitions, and without them the description would be defective. And the case is the same with every other thing as it is here with the will and the understanding, for things are circumstanced exactly as are their subjects, seeing that they belong to their subjects because they come forth from their subjects; a thing separated from its subject, that is, from its substance, is no thing. And this is the reason why things are described in the Word in a similar way in respect to each constituent part, for in this way the description of each thing is full.
Elliott(1983-1999) 801
801. This description of these people before the Flood shows the nature of the style used by the most ancient people, and consequently of the prophetical style. From here down to the end of this chapter these people are described, in the present verses as regards their persuasions, and in verse 23 that follows as regards their desires. That is, they are described as regards the state of the things of their understanding, and after that as regards the state of those of their will. Although the proper things of the understanding and of the will did not exist in them, the things in them that were the reverse of these must nevertheless be called things of the understanding and will. Though in no sense things of the understanding, persuasions of falsity must be called such because they are matters of thought and reasoning; and the same applies to desires which are in no sense things of the will. Those people are described, as I say, first of all as regards their persuasions of falsity, and after that as regards their desires. This is the reason why verse 23 which follows repeats, though in a different order, the things referred to in this verse 21.
[2] Such also is the prophetical style, the reason being that there are two kinds of life with man - the first belonging to things of the understanding, the second to those of the will - which are very distinct and separate from each other. Man is composed of both, and although they are separated in man nowadays, they still flow one into the other and for the most part unite. The fact that they unite, and how they do so, could be established and illustrated in many ways. Since man is therefore composed of these two parts - understanding and will - and one flows into the other, the Word when describing man describes each part separately, which is the reason for repetitions; otherwise the description would be defective. As with the will and understanding here, so with everything else. It is their subjects that make things exactly what they are. Being the product of their subjects, they are attributes of those subjects. Things separated from their subject, that is, from their substance, are not anything. This is the reason why when the Word describes something it does so as regards both areas. In this way the description of everything is made complete.
Latin(1748-1756) 801
801. Ex descriptione antediluvianorum horum, constare potest qualis stilus antiquissimorum fuit, et inde qualis stilus propheticus: describuntur hic usque ad finem hujus capitis, in hoc versu quoad persuasiones, in vers. seq. 23 quoad cupiditates; hoc est, quoad statum eorum intellectualium, dein quoad statum illorum voluntariorum; et tametsi nulla apud eos intellectualia nec voluntaria, usque ita nominanda sunt quae contraria, sicut persuasiones falsi, quae nihil minus quam intellectus sunt, quia sunt cogitationis et ratiocinationis; pariter cupiditates, quae nihil minus quam voluntatis sunt; describuntur, inquam, primum quoad persuasiones falsi, dein quoad cupiditates, quae causa est repetitionum in hoc vers. 21 et in sequente 23, sed alio ordine. [2] Talis quoque est stilus propheticus; causa est quia binae vitae apud hominem sunt, una intellectualium, altera voluntariorum, quae distinctissimae inter se sunt; homo ex utraque consistit, et tametsi separatae sunt hodie apud hominem, usque tamen influit una in alteram, et se ut plurimum uniunt; quod se uniant, et quomodo se uniunt, a multis constare et illustrari posset: cum itaque homo ex binis his partibus, intellectu et voluntate, consistit, et unum influit alteram, cum describitur homo in Verbo, distincte describitur quoad unam partem, et quoad alteram, quae causa est repetitionum; aliter mancum foret. Similiter se habet cum omni re, res enim se habent prorsus sicut subjecta, nam sunt subjectorum, quia prodeunt a subjectis; res separatae a subjecto suo, seu a substantia sua, sunt nullae res; quae causa est quod similiter quoad utramque partem describantur res in Verbo; ita est descriptio cujuscumque rei plena.