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Jeremiah 21 Introduction
英文原文
With the last verse of Jeremiah 20 ended the scroll of Jehoiakim: with the first verse of Jeremiah 21:1-14 begins a digest of various prophecies Jeremiah 21-24 addressed to Zedekiah in his ninth year, and called Zedekiah's scroll. The occasion of this prophecy was the embassy sent by Zedekiah to Jeremiah, asking his prayers when the Chaldaean army was advancing upon Jerusalem. So clearly did the prophet foresee the result that he could give the king no hope. His answer, contained in the scroll, divides itself into two parts, in the first Jeremiah 20-22, the prophet reviews the conduct of the royal house: in the second Jeremiah 23:9-40, that of the priests and prophets; closing with a vision Jeremiah 24:1-10 in which he shows the pitiable condition of Zedekiah and his people.
1
Jeremiah 21:1
西底家差遣這使團，等於承認耶利米在國中持有與以賽亞在希西家手下相同的地位（2 Kings 19:2）。巴施戶珥和西番雅屬於主張以武力抵抗尼布甲尼撒的一黨。
英文原文
By sending this embassy Zedekiah acknowledged that Jeremiah held the same position in the kingdom which Isaiah had held under Hezekiah 2 Kings 19:2. Pashur and Zephaniah belonged to the party who were for resisting Nebuchadnezzar by force of arms.
2
Jeremiah 21:2
「尼布甲尼撒」——此名在原文中作「Nebuchadrezzar」，是比「Nebuchadnezzar」更正確的拼法。
「照他一切奇妙的作為」——王和他的使者所期望的，是以賽亞從前所給出的那類回答（Isaiah 37:6）。
英文原文
Nebuchadrezzar - A more correct way of spelling the name than Nebuchadnezzar.
According to all his wondrous works - The king and his envoys expected some such answer as Isaiah had given on a former occasion Isaiah 37:6.
4
Jeremiah 21:4
「在城外」——這幾個字應連於「你們打仗所用」的那句話，即「你們在城外打仗所用的兵器」。
英文原文
Without the walls - These words are to be joined to wherewith ye fight.
6
Jeremiah 21:6
A great…pestilence（大瘟疫）——這是人群與牲畜過度擁擠在狹小空間之內、一切衛生規定全被忽略的結果。
英文原文
A great pestilence - As the result of the excessive crowding of men and animals in a confined space with all sanitary regulations utterly neglected.
8
Jeremiah 21:8
試與旁註參考比較；但此處的抉擇是：或投奔敵人以保住性命，或在城牆之內死於饑荒、瘟疫和刀劍。
英文原文
Compare the marginal reference; but here the alternative is a life saved by desertion to the enemy, or a death by famine, pestilence, and the sword within the walls.
9
Jeremiah 21:9
「出去歸降迦勒底人」——這等於勸人叛逃，若出於常人之口便是叛逆；但先知說話的權柄高過君王，且常以斷然的決斷干預政事。參 Matthew 24:16-18。
「掠物」——指在危險中抓住、匆匆帶走的不屬自己的東西。猶太人也當這樣，把自己的性命當作超乎應得之權利的東西搶救出來，放在迦勒底營中，視之為安全之地。
英文原文
He that ... falleth to the Chaldeans - This was to counsel desertion, and would have been treason in an ordinary man: but the prophets Spoke with an authority above that even of the king, and constantly interfered in political matters with summary decisiveness. Compare Matthew 24:16-18.
A prey - Something not a man's own, upon which he seizes in the midst of danger, and hurries away with it. So must the Jews hurry away with their lives as something more than they had a right to, and place them in the Chaldaean camp as in a place of safety.
11
Jeremiah 21:11
更佳的譯法是：「至於猶大的王室啊，你們要聽。」「說」字應刪去。這些話不是給先知的命令，而是他這篇講論的引言——講論一直延伸到 Jeremiah 23:8 的末了。君王和他的臣僕要聽的，是自約雅敬登基以來臨到王室的一切信息的要旨。
英文原文
Rather, And as to the royal house of Judah, Hear ye. Omit say. The words are no command to the prophet, but form his introduction to the discourse which extends to the end of Jeremiah 23:8. The king and his officers are to hear the gist of all the messages sent to the royal house since the accession of Jehoiakim.
12
Jeremiah 21:12
「施行審判」——古時司法是由君王親自執行的，百姓的福祉便在很大程度上繫於君王個人的品質（見 2 Samuel 15:4）。而且「欺壓人的」通常是有權勢的貴族，因此確保社群中軟弱的一分子不受冤屈，尤其是君王的責任。
英文原文
Execute judgment - As the administration of justice was performed in old time in person, the weal of the people depended to a great degree upon the personal qualities of the king (see 2 Samuel 15:4). And as "the oppressor" was generally some powerful noble, it was especially the king's duty to see that the weaker members of the community were not wronged.
13
Jeremiah 21:13
「居民」——是陰性詞，因為耶路撒冷的居民總是被擬人化為一位女子，即錫安的女兒。「和」字當省略。耶路撒冷既是谷，又是磐石（Jeremiah 17:3）。百姓被描繪為因自己城邑的堅不可摧而自誇。
英文原文
Inhabitant - is feminine, the population of Jerusalem being always personified as a woman, the daughter of Zion. Omit and. Jerusalem is at once a valley and a rock Jeremiah 17:3. The people are described as priding themselves on the impregnability of their city.
14
Jeremiah 21:14
「樹林」——這在猶太人心目中喚起一切宏偉莊嚴之物的意念。
英文原文
The forest - This suggested to the Jew the idea of everything grand and stately.
約雅敬的書卷終於 Jeremiah 20 的末節；而自 Jeremiah 21:1-14 的首節起，開始的是各樣預言的輯要（Jeremiah 21-24），是在西底家第九年對他而發的，稱為西底家的書卷。這段預言的起因，是西底家差遣使者去見耶利米，在迦勒底軍隊進逼耶路撒冷之時，請求他代禱。先知對結局預見得如此清楚，以致他無法給王任何盼望。他的答覆載於書卷中，分為兩部分：第一部分（Jeremiah 20-22），先知回顧王室的行為；第二部分（Jeremiah 23:9-40），回顧祭司與先知的行為；末了以一個異象（Jeremiah 24:1-10）結束，在其中他指出西底家和他百姓那可悲的境況。