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Jeremiah 20

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Pashur Punishes Jeremiah 1–6

1
Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. ​
2
Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD. ​
3
And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib. ​
4
For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. ​
5
Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
6
And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies. ​

Jeremiah's Lament: Deceived and Mocked 7–13

7
O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. ​
8
For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. ​
9
Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. ​
10
For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. ​
11
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. ​
12
But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause. ​
13
Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers. ​

Jeremiah Curses the Day of His Birth 14–18

14
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. ​
15
Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
16
And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; ​
17
Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
18
Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame? ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 20

Verse 1

chief governor in the house of the LORD — Pakid nagid, an overseer and leader of the temple. Jer 29:26 describes the post: officers 'in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet', to put him 'in prison, and in the stocks'. Immer is the sixteenth priestly course (1 Chr 24:14).

Verse 2

in the stocks — Mahpeketh occurs four times: here, v.3, Jer 29:26, and 2 Chr 16:10, where Asa put the seer in a 'prison house'. Pashur 'smote' Jeremiah and set him at 'the high gate of Benjamin', which was by the house of the LORD; at a gate of that name Jeremiah was later seized (Jer 37:13).

Verse 3

Magormissabib — Magor missabib, 'fear on every side', words Jeremiah had used of the invasion (Jer 6:25, 'fear is on every side'); v.4 gives the sense: 'I will make thee a terror to thyself' (magor, terror). The LORD names Pashur by what he will become. The same words are heard against Jeremiah in v.10.

Verse 4

I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon — The first place in Jeremiah that names Babylon. 'Thine eyes shall behold it': Pashur sees his friends 'fall by the sword of their enemies', so the 'terror' (magor) is also his own.

Verse 6

to whom thou hast prophesied lies — Pashur is called a prophet (naba) here, and what he spoke is sheqer, falsehood: 'The prophets prophesy lies in my name' (Jer 14:14). He, his household and his friends go into captivity, and 'there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried'.

Verse 7

thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived — Pathah, to entice or persuade, used in Jeremiah only here and in v.10, where his enemies hope he 'will be enticed'. 'Stronger' is chazaq, 'prevailed' is yakol, the verb that carries through vv.9–11: 'I could not stay', 'we shall prevail', 'they shall not prevail'.

Verse 8

Violence and spoil — Chamas and shod, the pair of Jer 6:7, 'violence and spoil is heard in her'. This is what Jeremiah cries, and 'the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily' (cherpah, qeles): the message he is given to speak is what brings the mockery.

Verse 9

a burning fire shut up in my bones — Ba'ar, to burn, and atsar, to shut up; the word 'was in mine heart' and could not be held. Compare 'my heart was hot within me' (Ps 39:3), 'we cannot but speak' (Acts 4:20) and 'woe is unto me, if I preach not' (1 Cor 9:16). The LORD says, 'Is not my word like as a fire?' (Jer 23:29).

Verse 10

fear on every side — The words of v.3 now come from the crowd, 'Report, say they, and we will report it.' 'Familiars' is literally 'men of my peace' (enosh shalom), the friends of Ps 41:9, 'mine own familiar friend… hath lifted up his heel against me', which Christ applies in John 13:18. They hope he will be 'enticed' (pathah, v.7).

Verse 11

a mighty terrible one — Gibbor aritz; aritz is the 'terrible' from whose hand the LORD promised to 'redeem' Jeremiah (Jer 15:21). The confidence rests on the call itself: 'they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee' (Jer 1:19). 'Prevail' is the yakol of vv.7–10.

Verse 12

that triest the righteous — Close to Jer 11:20: 'that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.' 'Triest' is bachan, to test; the 'reins' (kilyah, kidneys) are the inner seat of thought (Jer 17:10). 'Opened' is galah, to uncover.

Verse 13

he hath delivered the soul of the poor — Natsal, to deliver, the verb of the call's promise, 'I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee' (Jer 1:19) and of Jer 15:21. 'Poor' is ebyon, one in need. The praise is stated as already done, between a complaint (vv.7–12) and the curse that follows (v.14).

Verse 14

Cursed be the day wherein I was born — Jeremiah has said it before: 'Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me' (Jer 15:10). The curse is on the day, as in Job's 'Let the day perish wherein I was born' (Job 3:3), yet it was on this birth the LORD spoke: 'before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee' (Jer 1:5).

Verse 16

as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not — The cities are Sodom and Gomorrah: 'As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah' (Jer 50:40; Gen 19:25). Hapak, to overturn, and nacham, repented, here of the LORD's not relenting. The man cursed is the one who 'brought tidings to my father' (v.15).

Verse 18

labour and sorrow — Amal and yagon, trouble and grief. 'Wherefore came I forth out of the womb' echoes Job 3:11, 'Why died I not from the womb?' 'Shame' is bosheth, the noun of the verb bush in v.11, where his persecutors 'shall be greatly ashamed'.