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英文原文
The same melancholy theme is the subject of this chapter that was of those foregoing—the approaching ruin of Judah and Jerusalem for their sins. This Jeremiah had often foretold; here he has particularly full orders to foretel it again. I. He must set their sins in order before them, as he had often done, especially their idolatry, Jer 19:4,5. II. He must describe the particular judgments which were now coming apace upon them for these sins, Jer 19:6-9. III. He must do this in the valley of Tophet, with great solemnity, and for some particular reasons, Jer 19:2,3. IV. He must summon a company of the elders together to be witnesses of this, Jer 19:1. V. He must confirm this, and endeavour to affect his hearers with it, by a sign, which was the breaking of an earthen bottle, signifying that they should be dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel, Jer 19:10-13. VI. When he had done this in the valley of Tophet he ratified it in the court of the temple, Jer 19:14,15. Thus were all likely means tried to awaken this stupid senseless people to repentance, that their ruin might be prevented; but all in vain.
1-9
The Desolation of Jerusalem (600 BC)
耶路撒冷的荒涼（主前 600 年）
¹ 耶和華如此說：你去買窯匠的瓦瓶子，又帶百姓中的長老和祭司中的長老幾個人同去；
² 出城到欣嫩子谷，就是哈珥西的門口那裏，在那裏宣告我所吩咐你的話。
³ 說：猶大諸王和耶路撒冷的居民哪，當聽耶和華的話。萬軍之耶和華以色列的神如此說：看哪，我必使災禍臨到這地方，凡聽見的人都必耳鳴；
⁴ 因為他們和他們列祖，並猶大諸王，都離棄了我，使這地方成為荒場，在其中向別神——就是他們和他們列祖所不認識的、猶大諸王所不認識的——燒香，又使這地方充滿了無辜人的血；
⁵ 他們又為巴力建造邱壇，在火中焚燒自己的兒子作為燔祭獻給巴力；這不是我所吩咐的，也不是我心裏所想的。
⁶ 所以耶和華說：看哪，日子將到，這地方不再稱為陀斐特，也不再稱為欣嫩子谷，倒要稱為殺戮谷。
⁷ 我必在這地方使猶大和耶路撒冷的計謀虛空，使他們在仇敵面前倒在刀下，並尋索他們性命的人手下；他們的屍首，我必給空中的飛鳥和地上的走獸作食物。
⁸ 我必使這城變為荒場，成為令人驚駭嗤笑之地；凡經過的人必因這一切的災禍驚駭嗤笑。
⁹ 我必使他們在圍困窘迫之中，吃自己兒女的肉和朋友的肉；他們的仇敵和尋索他們性命的人，必如此窘迫他們。
人的敗壞使律上加律、例上加例成為必要（我們實在太不善於領受，又太易於失落神的事），而神的恩典也已如此安排，使律上加律、例上加例確實臨到，使那些無可挽回的人無可推諉。正因如此，先知在此奉差遣，帶著與他素常所傳相同的信息，卻附帶一些能使信息更受注意的情形——這是牧者當研究的，因為一個小有時可成為大助力，而那要得著人靈魂的必須有智慧。
一. 他要從教會和國家中取長老和首領，作他的聽眾和他所言的見證人——百姓的長老和祭司的長老，行政與聖職中最傑出的人，使他們可以作忠信的見證人，正如賽 8:2 的人。奇哉，這些大人物竟聽命於一個窮先知，服從他的召集，隨他出城——往何處去他們不知道，為何而去也不知道。然而，雖然大多數長老對他心存不滿，其中很可能仍有少數幾人視他為耶和華的先知，願對那屬天的異象表示尊敬。注意，有地位有身分的人有機會藉著殷勤出席神的道的事奉和其他神聖的設施來榮耀神；他們當以之為光榮，並不以此為自貶，縱然情形卑微可鄙。最大的世人也小於神最小的典章，這是確定的。
二. 他要到欣嫩子谷去，在那裏傳遞這信息；因為耶和華的話並不受限於某一個地方；在陀斐特谷可以講出與在殿門口一樣好的道。基督曾在山上、在船上講道。這谷位於耶路撒冷南面，但先知到那裏去的路是從東門的入口——日頭之門（耶 19:2）——有人如此讀，並認為它不是朝向日出，而是朝向正午的日頭——窯匠之門，也有人如此讀。這篇道必須在那地方——欣嫩子谷——傳講：1. 因為他們在那裏犯了最卑劣的拜偶像之罪，就是把兒女獻給摩洛，這是一種可怕的不敬，這地方的景象正可提醒他們、責備他們。2. 因為他們要在那裏感受最慘烈的災禍；在那裏要發生最大的屠殺；那裏既是城的垃圾場，就讓他們觀看它，看見當這宏偉之城全然變成陀斐特谷的樣子時，將是何等悲慘的景象。神吩咐他往那裏去，在那裏宣告我所吩咐你的話——當你到了那裏才吩咐你的話；由此可見（正如蓋塔克所善察的），神的信息常常不是在先知要傳遞的當下之前就啟示給他們的。
三. 他要廣泛宣告一個不久將臨到猶大和耶路撒冷的普遍毀滅（耶 19:3）。他要像那宣告的人一樣，以肅靜開始：當聽耶和華的話——縱然是可怕的話，因為若它如此，你們只能怪自己。統治者和被統治者都要冒著危險留意它；猶大諸王——王和他的眾子，王和他的首領與樞密顧問——都要聽萬王之王的話，因為他們雖高，祂卻在他們之上。耶路撒冷的居民也要聽神對他們所說的話。君王和百姓都對這國的罪有分，也當在這國的悔改上有分，否則都要同受這國的毀滅。讓他們都知道，萬軍之耶和華——因此能成就祂所威脅的——雖是以色列的神，不，正因祂是，所以要首先因他們的罪孽懲罰他們（摩 3:2）：祂必使災禍臨到這地方（猶大和耶路撒冷），如此令人驚奇、如此可怖，以致凡聽見的人耳鳴；凡聽見這預言、聽見這事的報告和描述的人，必受恐怖印象的衝擊，以致仍覺得這聲音在耳中迴響，不能從心中除掉。以利家的毀滅如此被描述（撒上 3:11），耶路撒冷的毀滅也是如此（王下 21:12）。
四. 他要坦白告訴他們，神與他們爭訟所為的罪是甚麼（耶 19:4,5）。他們被控離棄神（他們離棄了我），以及濫用有形教會的特權和他們所蒙的尊榮——他們使這地方成為外邦。耶路撒冷（聖城）、聖殿（聖殿），本是為神的榮耀和祂在人中間國度的支持而設，他們卻把這些從那目的上挪用，並（如有人讀這字）奇特地妄用了。他們以自己的惡行如此污穢了二者，以致神不認二者，把它們交給毀滅。祂控告他們喜愛並敬拜假神——就是他們和他們列祖所不認識的——從未藉著為他們或其祖先所行的任何大能或良善之舉，來推薦自己以博取他們的信和敬，如同他們所離棄的那位神所豐豐富富行過的；他們卻隨便把他們當作神；不，因他們喜愛變換和新奇，倒更喜歡這些新出的，宗教上的新時髦正如其他事上的新時髦一樣，迎合他們的幻想。他們又被控殺人——蓄意從惡念中殺人：他們使這地方充滿了無辜人的血。這是瑪拿西的罪（王下 24:4），耶和華必不赦免。不，彷彿分別犯拜偶像和殺人還不夠壞、還不夠冒犯神和人，他們竟把二者合而為一，合成一項複合之罪，就是在火中焚燒兒女獻給巴力（耶 19:5），這是人類所曾犯過對自然宗教和啟示宗教一切律法最傲慢的挑釁；藉此他們公開聲明，他們愛新神勝過從前愛真神——雖然這些是如此殘忍的主人，竟要求獻人為祭（我當說是不人道的祭），而萬有的主耶和華——生命和靈魂都屬乎祂——從未向祂的敬拜者索取過；祂從未說過這樣的事，這事也未曾進入祂的心。見耶 7:31。
五. 他要竭力以將臨之荒涼的浩大來感動他們。他要告訴他們（正如他從前所作的，耶 7:32），這欣嫩子谷將得一個新名字——殺戮谷（耶 19:6），因為（耶 19:7）必有許多人在那裏倒在刀下——或因他們出城突襲圍城者而被擊退，或因企圖逃脫而被擒拿：他們必倒在仇敵面前——這些仇敵不僅想要奪取他們的房屋和產業，更對他們懷有不可化解的仇恨，以至尋索他們的性命；他們渴慕他們的血，死了之後也不肯允准埋葬陣亡者的協定，而他們的屍首必成為空中飛鳥和地上走獸的食物。那時陀斐特谷將是何等陰森之地！至於那些留在城內不肯向圍城者投降的人，他們必因缺糧而死，但他們首先要吃自己兒女和至親朋友的肉——因仇敵所加的窘迫（耶 19:9）。這在律法中曾作為神審判要使他們淪到的極端之例而受威脅（利 26:29，申 28:53），並已應驗（哀 4:10）。最後，整座城必荒涼，房屋化為灰燼，居民被殺或被擄；不再有人來往，其中一切盡是淒慘可怖；以致凡經過的人必驚駭（耶 19:8），正如他從前所說的（耶 18:16）。那因聖潔而成為全地所喜悅的地方，因罪而成為全地的羞辱和恥辱。
六. 他要向他們保證，只要他們仍舊不悔改、不改革，他們一切阻止和逃避這毀滅的努力都將是徒勞無功（耶 19:7）：我必在這地方使猶大和耶路撒冷的計謀虛空（猶大和耶路撒冷的首領和議員的計謀）——在王宮，王宮位於城南，離先知如今所站之處不遠。注意，除了逃到神的憐憫那裏，沒有別處可逃離神的公義。那些不肯自卑順服神大能的手、以此成就神旨意的人，必發現神要使他們的計謀虛空、挫敗他們以為為自保而精心策劃的圖謀。耶和華面前沒有謀略或能力能勝過。
英文原文
The Desolation of Jerusalem (600 BC)
¹ Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
² And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
³ And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
⁴ Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
⁵ They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
⁶ Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
⁷ And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
⁸ And I will make this city desolate, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
⁹ And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
The corruption of man having made it necessary that precept should be upon precept, and line upon line (so unapt are we to receive, and so very apt to let slip, the things of God), the grace of God has provided that there shall be, accordingly, precept upon precept, and line upon line, that those who are irreclaimable may be inexcusable. For this reason the prophet is here sent with a message to the same purport with what he had often delivered, but with some circumstances that might make it the more taken notice of, a thing which ministers should study, for a little circumstance may sometimes be a great advantage, and those that would win souls must be wise.
I. He must take of the elders and chief men, both in church and state, to be his auditors and witnesses to what he said—the ancients of the people and the ancients of the priests, the most eminent men both in the magistracy and in the ministry, that they might be faithful witnesses to record, as those Isa 8:2. It is strange that these great men should be at the beck of a poor prophet, and obey his summons to attend him out of the city, they know not whither and they knew not why. But, though the generality of the elders were disaffected to him, yet it is likely that there were some few among them who looked upon him as a prophet of the Lord, and would pay this respect to the heavenly vision. Note, Persons of rank and figure have an opportunity of honouring God, by a diligent attendance on the ministry of the word and other divine institutions; and they ought to think it an honour, and no disparagement to themselves, yea, though the circumstances be mean and despicable. It is certain that the greatest of men is less than the least of the ordinances of God.
II. He must go to the valley of the son of Hinnom, and deliver this message there; for the word of the Lord is not bound to any one place; as good a sermon may be preached in the valley of Tophet as in the gate of the temple. Christ preached on a mountain and out of a ship. This valley lay partly on the south side of Jerusalem, but the prophet's way to it was by the entry on the east gate—the sun gate (Jer 19:2), so some render it, and suppose it to look not towards the sun-rising, but the noon sun—the potter's gate, so some. This sermon must be preached in that place, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, 1. Because there they had been guilty of the vilest of their idolatries, the sacrificing of their children to Moloch, a horrid piece of impiety, which the sight of the place might serve to remind them of and upbraid them with. 2. Because there they should feel the sorest of their calamities; there the greatest slaughter should be made among them; and, it being the common sink of the city, let them look upon it and see what a miserable spectacle this magnificent city would be when it should be all like the valley of Tophet. God bids him go thither, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, when thou comest thither; whereby it appears (as Mr. Gataker well observed) that God's messages were frequently not revealed to the prophets before the very instant of time wherein they were to deliver them.
III. He must give general notice of a general ruin now shortly coming upon Judah and Jerusalem, Jer 19:3. He must, as those that make proclamation, begin with an Oyes: Hear you the word of the Lord, though it be a terrible word, for you may thank yourselves if it be so. Both rulers and ruled must attend to it, at their peril; the kings of Judah, the king and his sons, the king and his princes and privy-counsellors, must hear the word of the King of kings, for, high as they are, he is above them. The inhabitants of Jerusalem also must hear what God has to say to them. Both princes and people have contributed to the national guilt and must concur in the national repentance, or they will both share in the national ruin. Let them all know that the Lord of hosts, who is therefore able to do what he threatens, though he is the God of Israel, nay, because he is so, will therefore punish them in the first place for their iniquities (Am 3:2): He will bring evil upon this place (upon Judah and Jerusalem) so surprising, and so dreadful, that whosoever hears it, his ears shall tingle; whosoever hears the prediction of it, hears the report and representation of it, it shall make such an impression of terror upon him that he shall still think he hears it sounding in his ears and shall not be able to get it out of his mind. The ruin of Eli's house is thus described (1Sa 3:11), and of Jerusalem, 2Ki 21:12.
IV. He must plainly tell them what their sins were for which God had this controversy with them, Jer 19:4,5. They are charged with apostasy from God (They have forsaken me) and abuse of the privileges of the visible church, and which they had been dignified—They have estranged this place. Jerusalem (the holy city), the temple (the holy house), which was designed for the honour of God and the support of his kingdom among men, they had alienated from those purposes, and (as some render the word) they had strangely abused. They had so polluted both with their wickedness that God had disowned both, and abandoned them to ruin. He charges them with an affection for and the adoration of false gods, such as neither they nor their fathers have known, such as never had recommended themselves to their belief and esteem by any acts of power or goodness done for them or their ancestors, as that God had abundantly done whom they forsook; yet they took them at a venture for their gods; nay, being fond of change and novelty, they liked them the better for their being upstarts, and new fashions in religion were as grateful to their fancies as in other things. They also stand charged with murder, wilful murder, from malice prepense: They have filled this place with the blood of innocents. It was Manasseh's sin (2Ki 24:4), which the Lord would not pardon. Nay, as if idolatry and murder, committed separately, were not bad enough and affront enough to God and man, they have put them together, have consolidated them into one complicated crime, that of burning their children in the fire to Baal (Jer 19:5), which was the most insolent defiance to all the laws both of natural and revealed religion that ever mankind was guilty of; and by it they openly declared that they loved their new gods better than ever they loved the true God, though they were such cruel task-masters that they required human sacrifices (inhuman I should call them), which the Lord Jehovah, whose all lives and souls are, never demanded from his worshippers; he never spoke of such a thing, nor came it into his mind. See Jer 7:31.
V. He must endeavour to affect them with the greatness of the desolation that was coming upon them. He must tell them (as he had done before, Jer 7:32) that this valley of the son of Hinnom shall acquire a new name, the valley of slaughter (Jer 19:6), for (Jer 19:7) multitudes shall fall there by the sword, when either they sally out upon the besiegers and are repulsed or attempt to make their escape and are seized: They shall fall before their enemies, who not only endeavour to make themselves masters of their houses and estates, but have such an implacable enmity to them that they seek their lives; they thirst after their blood, and, when they are dead, will not allow a cartel for the burying of the slain, but their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven and beasts of the earth. What a dismal place will the valley of Tophet be then! And as for those that remain within the city, and will not capitulate with the besiegers, they shall perish for want of food, when first they have eaten the flesh of their sons and daughters, and dearest friends, through the straitness wherewith their enemies shall straiten them, Jer 19:9. This was threatened in the law as an instance of the extremity to which the judgments of God should reduce them (Le 26:29, De 28:53) and was accomplished, La 4:10. And, lastly, the whole city shall be desolate, the houses laid in ashes, the inhabitants slain or taken prisoners; there shall be no resort to it, nor any thing in it but what looks rueful and horrid; so that every one that passes by shall be astonished (Jer 19:8), as he had said before, Jer 18:16. That place which holiness had made the joy of the whole earth sin had made the reproach and shame of the whole earth.
VI. He must assure them that all their attempts to prevent and avoid this ruin, so long as they continued impenitent and unreformed, would be fruitless and vain (Jer 19:7): I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem (of the princes and senators of Judah and Jerusalem) in this place, in the royal palace, which lay on the south side of the city, not far from the place where the prophet now stood. Note, There is no fleeing from God's justice but by fleeing to his mercy. Those that will not make good God's counsel, by humbling themselves under his mighty hand, shall find that God will make void their counsel and blast their projects, which they think ever so well concerted for their own preservation. There is no counsel or strength against the Lord.
10-15
The Desolation of Jerusalem (600 BC)
耶路撒冷的荒涼（主前 600 年）
¹⁰ 你要在與你同去的人眼前打碎那瓶，
¹¹ 對他們說：萬軍之耶和華如此說：我必照樣打碎這百姓和這城，如同人打碎窯匠的器皿，不能再恢復。他們必在陀斐特埋葬，直到無處可葬。
¹² 耶和華說：我必照樣待這地方和其中的居民，使這城如陀斐特。
¹³ 耶路撒冷的房屋和猶大王的房屋必被污穢，如同陀斐特之處一樣，因為他們在一切屋頂上向天上的萬象燒香，向別神澆奠祭。
¹⁴ 耶利米從陀斐特回來——就是耶和華差他去那裏說預言之處——站在耶和華殿的院中，對眾百姓說：
¹⁵ 萬軍之耶和華以色列的神如此說：看哪，我必使這城和屬她的城邑遭遇我所宣告的一切災禍，因為他們硬著頸項，不聽從我的話。
Jer 19:1-9 所傳達的烈怒信息在此以兩種方式加以強化，使它更可信：
一. 藉著一個可見的記號。先知要帶一個瓦瓶同去（Jer 19:1），傳完信息後要打碎那瓶（Jer 19:10），而聽過這篇講道的人也必須觀看這個記號。他在前一章把這百姓比作窯匠的泥——在製作中容易損壞。但有人或許說：「我們早已過了那個階段；我們早已成形並硬化了。」他說：「就算如此，窯匠的器皿在任何人手中也如軟泥在窯匠手中容易損壞一般容易打破，而且它的處境在這方面更糟：軟泥雖然損壞了，還可以重新塑造；但一旦硬化，打破之後就再也無法修補了。」或許他們所看見的比他們僅僅聽見的更能感動他們——這正是聖禮記號的用意，而藉符號教學在古時也被採用。在解釋這記號時，他必須重申他從前所說的話，並進一步指涉此事發生之處——陀斐特谷。1. 如同瓶子被迦勒底軍隊輕易、不可抗拒、不可挽回地打破（Jer 19:11）。他們頗倚靠自己體制的堅固和勇氣的堅定，以為那使自己如銅器一般硬化了；但先知指出，那不過使他們如土器一般硬化——雖硬卻脆，比不太硬的更容易碎。他們雖被造成尊貴的器皿，卻仍是土器——他們若羞辱神和自己、不盡被造的目的，就必如此知道。正是造他們的神決定要拆毀他們：我必打碎這百姓和這城——如窯匠的器皿一般摔碎——這本是外邦人的判決（詩 2:9，啟 2:27），如今卻成了耶路撒冷的判決（賽 30:14）。窯匠的器皿一旦打破，就不能再恢復——原文是不能醫治。耶路撒冷的毀壞必是徹底的；除了那打碎它的手，無手能修復；他們若歸向祂，祂雖撕裂也必醫治。2. 這事在陀斐特行，表示兩件事：（1.）陀斐特要成為被殺之人的埋葬地：他們必在陀斐特埋葬，直到無處可葬——他們要擠著找地方安放死人；那時極小的地方就足夠了——那些活著時房連房、地連地的人。那些活著時要獨居在地中間、要周圍一切人保持距離的人，死後要與眾人同臥地下，因為在他們以先已有無數的人。（2.）陀斐特要成為全城的寫照（Jer 19:12）：我必使這城如陀斐特。他們怎樣用獻給偶像的祭牲填滿陀斐特谷，神也必照樣用以獻給神公義之祭的死屍填滿全城。我們讀到（王下 23:10）約西亞污穢了陀斐特，因它被濫用於拜偶像；他如此作（如 Jer 19:14 所示）是藉著用人骨填滿它；此後無論它從前如何，都被視為可憎之地。城中的屍體和其他污穢都被運到那裏，那裏長年燃燒著火以焚燒之物。這就是耶利米被差去說預言時那谷的光景；它被視為如此可詛咒之地，以致在我們主耶穌的時代，地獄被稱為欣嫩子谷——就是希伯來文的陀斐特谷。神說：「如今，既然那次蒙福的改革——陀斐特被污穢——沒有照所當行的進行，沒有成為徹底的改革——陀斐特的偶像雖被廢除、成為可憎，耶路撒冷的偶像卻仍然存留——因此我必照約西亞待陀斐特那樣待這城：以人的屍體填滿它，使它成為一堆廢墟。」連耶路撒冷的房屋和猶大王的房屋——連王宮也不例外——都必如陀斐特之處被污穢（Jer 19:13），且是因同樣的緣故——因在其中所犯的拜偶像之罪；他們既不肯以改革來污穢它們，神就必以毀滅來污穢它們，因為他們在房屋的平頂上向天上的萬象燒香。他們房屋的平頂有時被敬虔的人用作禱告的方便之處（徒 10:9），也被拜偶像者用作高處——在上面向別神獻祭，尤其是向天上的萬象——日、月、星辰——因為在那裏他們離這些更近、看得更清楚更完整。我們讀到有人在房頂上敬拜天上的萬象（番 1:5），又有亞哈斯樓頂上的祭壇（王下 23:12）。這個在房頂上所犯的罪把咒詛帶進了房屋，吞噬了它，使它如陀斐特一般成為糞堆。
二. 藉著在耶和華殿的院中對他所說的話的莊嚴重申和認可（Jer 19:14,15）。先知從陀斐特回到聖殿——聖殿位於那谷上方的山上——在那裏確認、或許也重複了他在陀斐特谷所說的話，為了那些沒有聽見之人的益處；他所說的話他必堅持。此處如屢次以前，他既向他們保證審判將至，也指明其原因——就是他們的罪。這兩者在此被簡明地放在一起，並回顧了此前的一切。1. 預言的成就就是此處所威脅的審判。百姓以一種幻想自慰，以為神會比祂的話更好——威脅不過是為了嚇唬他們、讓他們稍存敬畏；但先知告訴他們，若如此想就是自欺：萬軍之耶和華如此說——祂能兌現祂的話——「我必使這城和屬她的一切城邑」——一切屬於耶路撒冷這首都的小城——「遭遇我所宣告的一切災禍。」注意，無論人怎麼想，護理的執行必完全應驗話語的預言，神對罪和罪人的可怕必如聖經所描述的那樣顯現；人的不信不能使祂的應許或威脅落空或減效。2. 對預言的輕忽就是此處控告他們的罪——就是招致這審判的原因。這是因為他們硬著頸項——不肯俯首彎頸負神的命令之軛，不聽從我的話——就是不理會它們、不順服。注意，罪人堅持罪惡道路的頑梗，完全是自己的錯；他們的頸項若剛硬，是他們自己的作為——是他們自己使之剛硬的；他們對神的話若耳聾，是因為他們自己塞住了耳朵。因此我們需要禱告，求神以恩典救我們脫離心硬、輕看祂的話和誡命。
英文原文
The Desolation of Jerusalem (600 BC)
¹⁰ Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
¹¹ And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
¹² Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
¹³ And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
¹⁴ Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house; and said to all the people,
¹⁵ Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.
The message of wrath delivered in the Jer 19:1-9 is here enforced, that it might gain credit, two ways:—
I. By a visible sign. The prophet was to take along with him an earthen bottle (Jer 19:1), and, when he had delivered his message, he was to break the bottle to pieces (Jer 19:10), and the same that were auditors of the sermon must be spectators of the sign. He had compared this people, in the chapter before, to the potter's clay, which is easily marred in the making. But some might say, "It is past that with us; we have been made and hardened long since." "And what though you be," says he, "the potter's vessel is as soon broken in the hand of any man as the vessel while it is soft clay is marred in the potter's hand, and its case is, in this respect, much worse, that the vessel while it is soft clay, though it be marred, may be moulded again, but, after it is hardened, when it is broken it can never be pieced again." Perhaps what they see will affect them more than what they only hear talk of; that is the intention of sacramental signs, and teaching by symbols was anciently used. In the explication of this sign he must inculcate what he had before said, with a further reference to the place where this was done, in the valley of Tophet. 1. As the bottle was easily, irresistibly, and irrecoverably broken by the Chaldean army, Jer 19:11. They depended much upon the firmness of their constitution, and the fixedness of their courage, which they thought hardened them like a vessel of brass; but the prophet shows that all that did but harden them like a vessel of earth, which, though hard, is brittle and sooner broken than that which is not so hard. Though they were made vessels of honour, still they were vessels of earth, and so they shall be made to know if they dishonour God and themselves, and serve not the purposes for which they were made. It is God himself, who made them, that resolves to unmake them: I will break this people and this city, dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel; the doom of the heathen (Ps 2:9, Re 2:27), but now Jerusalem's doom, Isa 30:14. A potter's vessel, when once broken, cannot be made whole again, cannot be cured, so the word is. The ruin of Jerusalem shall be an utter ruin; no hand can repair it but his that broke it; and if they return to him, though he has torn, he will heal. 2. This was done in Tophet, to signify two things:—(1.) That Tophet should be the receptacle of the slain: They shall bury in Tophet till there be no place to bury any more there; they shall jostle for room to lay their dead, and a very little room will then serve those who, while they lived, laid house to house and field to field. Those that would be placed alone in the midst of the earth while they were above ground, and obliged all about them to keep their distance, must lie with the multitude when they are underground, for there are innumerable before them. (2.) That Tophet should be a resemblance of the whole city (Jer 19:12): I will make this city as Tophet. As they had filled the valley of Tophet with the slain which they sacrificed to their idols, so God will fill the whole city with the slain that shall fall as sacrifices to the justice of God. We read (2Ki 23:10) of Josiah's defiling Tophet, because it had been abused to idolatry, which he did (as should seem, Jer 19:14) by filling it with the bones of men; and, whatever it was before, thenceforward it was looked upon as a detestable place. Dead carcases, and other filth of the city, were carried thither, and a fire was continually kept there for the burning of it. This was the posture of that valley when Jeremiah was sent thither to prophesy; and so execrable a place was it looked upon to be that, in the language of our Saviour's time, hell was called, in allusion to it, Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom. "Now" (says God) "since that blessed reformation, when Tophet was defiled, did not proceed as it ought to have done, nor prove a thorough reformation, but though the idols in Tophet were abolished and made odious those in Jerusalem remained, therefore will I do with the city as Josiah did by Tophet, fill it with the bodies of men, and make it a heap of rubbish." Even the houses of Jerusalem, and those of the kings of Judah, the royal palaces not excepted, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet (Jer 19:13), and for the same reason, because of the idolatries that have been committed there; since they will not defile them by a reformation, God will defile them by a destruction, because upon the roofs of their houses they have burnt incense unto the host of heaven. The flat roofs of their houses were sometimes used by devout people as convenient places for prayer (Ac 10:9), and by idolaters they were used as high places, on which they sacrificed to strange gods, especially to the host of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, that there they might be so much nearer to them and have a clearer and fuller view of them. We read of those that worshipped the host of heaven upon the house-tops (Zep 1:5), and of altars on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, 2Ki 23:12. This sin upon the house-tops brought a curse into the house, which consumed it, and made it a dunghill like Tophet.
II. By a solemn recognition and ratification of what he had said in the court of the Lord's house, Jer 19:14,15. The prophet returned from Tophet to the temple, which stood upon the hill over that valley, and there confirmed, and probably repeated, what he had said in the valley of Tophet, for the benefit of those who had not heard it; what he had said he would stand to. Here, as often before, he both assures them of judgments coming upon them and assigns the cause of them, which was their sin. Both these are here put together in a little compass, with a reference to all that had gone before. 1. The accomplishment of the prophecies is here the judgment threatened. The people flattered themselves with a conceit that God would be better than his word, that the threatening was but to frighten them and keep them in awe a little; but the prophet tells them that they deceive themselves if they think so: For thus saith the Lord of hosts, who is able to make his words good, I will bring upon this city, and upon all her towns, all the smaller cities that belong to Jerusalem the metropolis, all the evil that I have pronounced against it. Note, Whatever men may think to the contrary, the executions of Providence will fully answer the predictions of the word, and God will appear as terrible against sin and sinners as the scripture makes him; nor shall the unbelief of men make either his promises or his threatenings of no effect or of less effect than they were thought to be of. 2. The contempt of the prophecies is here the sin charged upon them, as the procuring cause of this judgment. It is because they have hardened their necks, and would not bow and bend them to the yoke of God's commands, would not hear my words, that is, would not heed them and yield obedience to them. Note, The obstinacy of sinners in their sinful ways is altogether their own fault; if their necks are hardened, it is their own act and deed, they have hardened them; if they are deaf to the word of God, it is because they have stopped their own ears. We have need therefore to pray that God, by his grace, would deliver us from hardness of heart and contempt of his word and commandments.
本章的主題與前面幾章同樣沉重——猶大與耶路撒冷因罪即將傾覆。這事耶利米已屢次預告，此處他卻領受了特別詳盡的吩咐，要再次宣告。一、他必須照着素常所做的，將他們的罪擺在他們面前，尤其是拜偶像的罪，耶19:4,5。二、他必須描繪如今正急速臨到他們、因這些罪而來的各樣刑罰，耶19:6-9。三、他必須在欣嫩子谷行了這事，態度極其莊重，並有某些特殊緣由，耶19:2,3。四、他必須召集一羣長老前來作見證，耶19:1。五、他必須藉着一個記號來印證這事，並力求感動聽者——這記號就是打碎一個瓦瓶，象徵他們必如同窯匠的器皿被摔得粉碎，耶19:10-13。六、他在欣嫩子谷做完這事之後，又在聖殿的院中加以印證，耶19:14,15。各樣可行的辦法既都已用盡，為要喚醒這麻木無知的百姓悔改，使他們免於毀滅；卻都歸徒然。