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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 20

Jeremiah 20: Pashur's stocks, the burning fire in the bones and the cursed birthday

General context

Pashur the son of Immer the priest, chief governor in the house of the Lord, hears Jeremiah prophesying, strikes him and puts him in the stocks in the high gate of Benjamin. The next day Pashur brings him out, and Jeremiah tells him the Lord has named him not Pashur but Magor-missabib: he will be a terror to himself and his friends, who will fall by the sword before his eyes; all Judah will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon; the treasures of the city and of the kings of Judah will be carried to Babylon; and Pashur and his household will die and be buried in Babylon with the friends to whom he prophesied lies. Jeremiah then turns to the Lord: thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I and hast prevailed. He is in derision daily, and the word has been his reproach. He resolved not to speak in the Lord's name any more, but the word was in his heart as a burning fire shut up in his bones, and he could not hold it in. He hears the defaming of many, fear on every side, and his familiars watch for his halting. But the Lord is with him as a mighty terrible one, so his persecutors will stumble. He asks the Lord who tries the righteous to let him see vengeance, and calls for singing to the Lord who delivers the soul of the poor. Then he curses the day he was born and the man who brought his father the news of a son, wishing that man to be like the cities the Lord overthrew, because he did not kill him from the womb. The chapter ends with the question why he came out of the womb to see labour and sorrow and to have his days consumed with shame.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 20:1, Jeremiah 20:2, Jeremiah 20:3, Jeremiah 20:4, Jeremiah 20:5, Jeremiah 20:6, Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:8, Jeremiah 20:9, Jeremiah 20:10, Jeremiah 20:11, Jeremiah 20:12, Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah 20:15, Jeremiah 20:16, Jeremiah 20:17, Jeremiah 20:18

Jeremiah 20 (KJV)

1Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

2Then 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.

3And 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 Magor-missabib.

4For 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.

5Moreover 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.

6And 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.

7O 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.

8For 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.

9Then 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.

10For 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.

11But 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.

12But, 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.

13Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

14Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.

15Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.

16And 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;

17Because 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.

18Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

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Historical context

Pashur is identified by father and office, "the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord." A different Pashur, "the son of Melchiah," appears in 21:1 as Zedekiah's messenger; the text distinguishes them by their fathers and does not connect them. The stocks are placed "in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord." The name Magor-missabib is given without a translation in the printed text; the words "fear on every side" occur in verse 10 as what Jeremiah hears from the defamers, and the text does not say they explain the name. This is the first chapter in the book to name Babylon and "the king of Babylon" as the captor, though the king is not named here. The oracle says Pashur "prophesied lies" to his friends, which the text states without recording any of his words. Verses 7 through 18 are the prophet's speech to the Lord and about himself. The charge "thou hast deceived me" is his own; the text gives no answer from the Lord in this chapter. The praise of verse 13 sits between the appeal for vengeance and the curse on his birthday, and the text does not explain the change of mood. The chapter gives no date beyond "on the morrow" for the release.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 20:1, Jeremiah 20:2, Jeremiah 20:3, Jeremiah 20:4, Jeremiah 20:6, Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:10, Jeremiah 20:12, Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah 20:18

Literary context

The chapter is in two halves, a scene and a complaint. The scene is the first time the narrator shows the prophet physically punished: struck, put in the stocks, released the next day. The renaming turns a priest's name into a sentence, and the oracle moves outward from Pashur to his friends, to all Judah, to the city's treasures, and back to Pashur's grave in Babylon. The complaint begins with a charge, "thou hast deceived me," that answers Jeremiah's own words in 4:10, where he said the Lord deceived the people. The resolve not to speak and its failure are set as an inner contest, with the word as "a burning fire shut up in my bones"; the fire recalls 5:14, where the Lord made his words fire in the prophet's mouth. The phrase "fear on every side" echoes 6:25, "the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side." Verses 11 through 13 rise to confidence and praise, and verses 14 through 18 fall to a curse on the day of birth, so the chapter ends far below where the praise left it. The curse turns the call of 1:5, known before he came out of the womb, into a wish that the womb had been his grave. The final line is a question with no answer.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 20:2, Jeremiah 20:3, Jeremiah 20:4, Jeremiah 20:6, Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:9, Jeremiah 20:10, Jeremiah 20:11, Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah 20:17, Jeremiah 20:18

Key moments

  1. Pashur strikes the prophet (Jeremiah 20:2). The chief governor of the house puts Jeremiah in the stocks at the high gate of Benjamin.
  2. Magor-missabib (Jeremiah 20:3). Jeremiah tells Pashur the Lord has given him a new name.
  3. All Judah to Babylon (Jeremiah 20:4). The Lord will give Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon.
  4. Thou hast deceived me (Jeremiah 20:7). Jeremiah says the Lord is stronger than he and has prevailed.
  5. Fire shut up in my bones (Jeremiah 20:9). Jeremiah cannot keep from speaking the word he resolved not to speak.
  6. Sing unto the Lord (Jeremiah 20:13). Praise breaks in for the deliverance of the poor from evildoers.
  7. Cursed be the day (Jeremiah 20:14). Jeremiah curses the day of his birth and asks why he came out of the womb.

For reflection

In one chapter Jeremiah accuses the Lord of deceiving him, says he cannot stop speaking, calls for praise, and curses the day he was born. What does it mean that the book keeps all of that in a single speech without smoothing it out?

People in this chapter

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