Jeremiah 20:1-11

Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah

1 When Pashhur the priest, the son of ¹Immer, who was ²chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,

2 Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet ³beaten and put him in the ⁴stocks that were at the upper ⁵Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the LORD.

3 On the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, "Pashhur is not the name the LORD has ⁶called you, but rather * ⁷Magor-missabib.

4 "For thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I am going to make you a ⁸terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while ⁹your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will ¹⁰give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as ¹¹exiles to Babylon and will slay them with the sword.

5 'I will also give over all the ¹²wealth of this city, all its produce and all its costly things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the ¹³hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away and bring them to Babylon.

6 'And you, ¹⁴Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there you will be buried, you and all your ¹⁵friends to whom you have ¹⁶falsely prophesied.' "

Jeremiah's Complaint

7 O LORD, You have deceived me and I was deceived; You have ¹⁷overcome me and prevailed. I have become a ¹⁸laughingstock all day long; Everyone ¹⁹mocks me.

8 For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I ²⁰proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the ²¹word of the LORD has resulted In reproach and derision all day long.

9 But if I say, "I will not ²²remember Him Or speak anymore in His name," Then in ²³my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And ²⁴I cannot endure it.

10 For ²⁵I have heard the whispering of many, "²⁶Terror on every side! ²⁷Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!" All my ²⁸trusted friends *, Watching for my fall, say: "Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may ²⁹prevail against him And take our revenge on him."

11 But the ³⁰LORD is with me like a dread champion; Therefore * my ³¹persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed, With an ³²everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.

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Jeremiah 20:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 20

This chapter gives an account of the usage that Jeremiah met with from many for his prophecies, and the effect it had upon him. He was smitten and put in the stocks by Pashur the priest, who released him the next day, Jer 20:1-3; upon which he prophesies again of the delivery of the city of Jerusalem, with all its riches, and of the whole land, to the Chaldeans; and particularly that Pashur should be a terror to himself and all his friends; and that both he and they should be carried captive into Babylon, and die, and be buried there, Jer 20:4-6; and then he complains of his being mocked at by the people for the word of the Lord; which he therefore determined to make no more mention of, but was obliged to it; and of the defamations of him, and snares that were laid for him, Jer 20:7-10; under which he is supported with the consideration of the Lord's being with him, and that his enemies should not prevail, but be confounded; and appeals to him, and calls for vengeance from him on them; and, in the view of deliverance, not only praises the Lord himself, but calls upon others to join with him in it, Jer 20:11-13; and yet, after all, the chapter is concluded with his cursing the day of his birth, and the man that brought his father the news of it, Jer 20:14-18.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 32

1. 1 Chronicles 24:14; Ezra 2:37, 38
2. 2 Kings 25:18
3. 1 Kings 22:27; 2 Chronicles 16:10; 2 Chronicles 24:21; Jeremiah 1:19; Amos 7:10-13
4. Job 13:27; Job 33:11
5. Jeremiah 37:13; Jeremiah 38:7; Zechariah 14:10
6. Isaiah 8:3; Hosea 1:4, 9
7. Jeremiah 6:25; Jeremiah 20:10
8. Job 18:11-21; Jeremiah 6:25; Jeremiah 46:5; Ezekiel 26:21
9. Jeremiah 29:21; Jeremiah 39:6, 7
10. Jeremiah 21:4-10; Jeremiah 25:9
11. Jeremiah 13:10; Jeremiah 52:27
12. Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 17:3
13. 2 Kings 20:17, 18; 2 Chronicles 36:10; Jeremiah 27:21, 22
14. Jeremiah 20:1
15. Jeremiah 20:4; Jeremiah 29:21
16. Jeremiah 14:14, 15; Lamentations 2:14
17. Ezekiel 3:14
18. Job 12:4; Lamentations 3:14
19. Psalms 22:7; Jeremiah 38:19
20. Jeremiah 6:7
21. 2 Chronicles 36:16; Jeremiah 6:10
22. 1 Kings 19:3, 4; Jonah 1:2, 3
23. Job 32:18-20; Psalms 39:3; Jeremiah 4:19; Jeremiah 23:9; Ezekiel 3:14; Acts 4:20
24. Job 32:18-20
25. Psalms 31:13
26. Jeremiah 6:25
27. Nehemiah 6:6-13; Isaiah 29:21; Jeremiah 18:18
28. Psalms 41:9
29. 1 Kings 19:2
30. Jeremiah 1:8; Jeremiah 15:20; Romans 8:31
31. Deuteronomy 32:35, 36; Jeremiah 15:15, 20; Jeremiah 17:18
32. Jeremiah 23:40

Footnotes 5

[a]. I.e. terror on every side
[b]. Lit "become"
[c]. Lit "Every man of my peace"
[d]. Or "persuaded"
[e]. Lit "not succeeded;" or "not acted wisely"