Jeremiah 20 Study Notes

20:1 Ironically, Pashhur, the chief official or “overseer” of the temple of the Lord, came against Jeremiah, the true prophet whom God had set “over nations and kingdoms” as an overseer (1:10). This Pashhur is probably the same as the father of Gedaliah (38:1), but not the same as another official named Pashhur in 21:1; 38:1. Jeremiah predicted Pashhur would go into exile in Babylon (20:6).

20:2 Pashhur ordered that Jeremiah be beaten. This was the first act of violence against the prophet. The Upper Benjamin Gate (built by King Jotham; 2Kg 15:35) was the northern gate of the upper temple court and the most prominent gate in the city.

20:3 By God’s commission, Jeremiah changed Pashhur’s name to Magor-missabib, meaning Terror Is on Every Side This name appears five times in Jeremiah (v. 10; 6:25; 46:5; 49:29) and in Lm 2:22. Elsewhere the term is found only in Ps 31:13 and Is 31:9.

20:4 This is the first time the king of Babylon is mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. His inclusion here prompts some scholars to date this prophecy after the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. This was roughly the halfway mark of Jeremiah’s forty-year ministry.

20:5-6 Even though Pashhur was a priest, he had apparently prophesied falsely along with his friends. For this sin he would face captivity and death in a foreign land.

20:7-18 This is the last of Jeremiah’s “confessions” (see note at 4:19-22). As his saddest and most bitter complaint, it is one of his most revealing self-disclosures.

20:7 Jeremiah cried, You deceived me, Lord. So bold, offensive, and verging on blasphemous were these words that many have tried to soften them by translating them as “enticed,” or “persuaded.” Jeremiah did not accuse God of lying. But the Hebrew verb pathah means “to seduce” as a virgin is seduced (Ex 22:16). Thus, he thought God had “twisted his arm” in calling him to prophetic ministry. Jeremiah’s audiences made him a laughingstock.

20:8 People characterized the prophet’s message as “doom and gloom,” or in his words violence and destruction (see note at 6:7).

20:9 Whenever Jeremiah decided to quit and no longer speak in God’s name, the divine message became a fire burning in his heart, shut up in his bones. Thus he felt compelled to speak, no matter how unpopular his message.

20:10 A gossip campaign began to build against Jeremiah as they nicknamed him Mr. Terror . . . on every side.

20:11 Jeremiah believed that God would turn the tables on his persecutors. God had promised him that he would be with him like a violent warrior or “a mighty champion” (1:8,18; 15:20-24).

20:12 This verse is virtually the same as 11:20, bracketing the first and last of the prophet’s “confessions.”

20:13 Some question the genuineness of this verse because they find it difficult to imagine Jeremiah singing for joy in these circumstances. But his heart understandably fluctuated with conflicting emotions. His task was grueling and doom surrounded him, yet God was with him.

20:14-15 Whereas a messenger who brought news of a birth was usually rewarded in that culture, Jeremiah said the man who announced his birth should have been cursed. Notice that Jeremiah did not curse his parents for bringing him into the world. Cursing one’s parents was forbidden (Ex 21:17).

20:16 Jeremiah wished the messenger’s demise would be like that of the cities the Lord demolished. Those cities, Sodom and Gomorrah (Gn 19:24-25), were examples of God’s sudden destruction.

20:17 He wished he had just stayed in his mother’s womb.

20:18 Because of all the criticism Jeremiah had to take, he struggled inwardly. But he never wavered in fulfilling his mission.