Jer 20:1-6 | KD | STEP | When the chief overseer of the temple, Pashur, heard this prophecy, he had the prophet beaten, and put him over-night in the stocks at the upper gate of Benjamin in the temple. Pashur is by the appellation: son of Immer , distinguished from other priests of this name, e.g., Pashur, son of Malchijah, 1Ch 9:12. It cannot be determined whether Immer is here the name of the 16th class of priests ( ) or of one of the greater priestly clans (Ezr 2:37; ). Pashur held the office of פּקיד נגיד, chief overseer in the house of God. נגיד is an official name attached to פּקיד to explain it. In the latter word lies the idea of overseeing, while the former denotes the official standing or rank of the overseer. The position of נגיד was a high one, as may be seen from the fact that the priest Zephaniah, who, according to , held this post, is quoted in (2Ki 25:18) as next to the high priest. The compound expression without article implies that there were several נגידים of the temple. In there are three mentioned under Josiah; which is not contradicted by ; ; , where particular persons are called 'נגיד. As chief overseer of the temple, Pashur conceived it to be his duty to take summary magisterial steps against Jeremiah, for his public appearance in the temple. To put this procedure of the priest and temple-warden in its proper light, Jeremiah is designated by the name of his office, הנּביא. In virtue of the summary authority which belonged to him (cf. ), Pashur smote the prophet, i.e., caused him to be beaten with stripes, perhaps according to the precept , cf. , and then threw him into prison till the following day, and put him in the stocks. מהפּכת, twisting, was an instrument of torture by which the body was forced into a distorted, unnatural posture; the culprit’s hands and feet were presumably bound, so as to keep the position so; see on , cf. with Act 16:24. The upper gate of Benjamin in the house of Jahveh is the northern gate at the upper, i.e., inner court of the temple, the same with the upper gate or the gate of the inner court, looking northwards, and Eze 8:3. By the designation "which is in the house," etc., it is distinguished from the city gate of like name, ; Jer 38:7. - When on the next day Pashur released the prophet from imprisonment, the latter made known to him the divine punishment for his misdeed: "Not Pashur will Jahveh call thy name, but Magor-Missabib" (i.e., Fear round about). The name is expressive of the thing. And so: Jahveh will call the name, is, in other words, He will make the person to be that which the name expresses; in this case, make Pashur to be an object of fear round about. Under the presumption that the name Magor-Missabib conveyed a meaning the most directly opposed to that of Pashur , comm. have in various ways attempted to interpret פּשׁחוּר. It is supposed to be composed of פּוּשׁ, Chald. augeri , and חוּר, nobilitas , with the force: abundantia claritatis (Rashi); or after Arab. fs̀ , gloriatus est de nobilitate (Simonis); or from Arab. hsh , amplus fuit locus , and the Chald. סחור, circumcirca: de securitate circumcirca ; or finally, by Ew., from פּשׁ from פּוּשׁ, spring, leap, rejoice (Mal 3:18), and חור = חול, joy round about. All these interpretations are arbitrary. פּוּשׁ sig. leap and gallop about, Mal 3:18 and , and in Niph. , to be scattered (see on ); and x#$ap@f sig. in to tear. But the syllable chowr חור can by no means have the sig. of מסּביב claimed for it. Nor are there, indeed, sufficient grounds for assuming that Jeremiah turned the original name upside down in an etymological or philological reference. The new name given by Jeremiah to Pashur is meant to intimate the man’s destiny. On "Fear round about," see on Jer 6:25. What the words of the new name signify is explained in -6.

‏ Jeremiah 20:1-6

When the chief overseer of the temple, Pashur, heard this prophecy, he had the prophet beaten, and put him over-night in the stocks at the upper gate of Benjamin in the temple. Pashur is by the appellation: son of Immer, distinguished from other priests of this name, e.g., Pashur, son of Malchijah, 1Ch 9:12. It cannot be determined whether Immer is here the name of the 16th class of priests (1Ch 24:14) or of one of the greater priestly clans (Ezr 2:37; Neh 7:40). Pashur held the office of פּקיד נגיד, chief overseer in the house of God. נגיד is an official name attached to פּקיד to explain it. In the latter word lies the idea of overseeing, while the former denotes the official standing or rank of the overseer. The position of נגיד was a high one, as may be seen from the fact that the priest Zephaniah, who, according to Jer 29:26, held this post, is quoted in Jer 52:24 (2Ki 25:18) as next to the high priest. The compound expression without article implies that there were several נגידים of the temple. In 2Ch 35:8 there are three mentioned under Josiah; which is not contradicted by 2Ch 31:13; 1Ch 9:11; Neh 11:11, where particular persons are called 'נגיד. As chief overseer of the temple, Pashur conceived it to be his duty to take summary magisterial steps against Jeremiah, for his public appearance in the temple. To put this procedure of the priest and temple-warden in its proper light, Jeremiah is designated by the name of his office, הנּביא. ^{▼▼As this official designation of Jeremiah is not found in Jer 1-19, but occurs frequently in the succeeding chapters, recent critics have taken it to be an idle addition of the editor of the later prophecies, and have laid stress on the fact as a proof of the later composition, or at least later editing, of these pieces; cf. Graf, S. xxxix. Näg., etc. This assumption is totally erroneous. The designation of Jeremiah as הנּביא occurs only where the mention of the man’s official character was of importance. It is used partly in contradistinction to the false prophets, Jer 28:5-6, Jer 28:10-12, Jer 28:15, to the elders, priests, and false prophets, Jer 29:1, Jer 29:29; Jer 37:3, Jer 37:6,Jer 37:13; Jer 42:2, Jer 42:4, to the king, Jer 32:2; Jer 34:6; Jer 37:2, and partly to distinguish from persons of other conditions in life, Jer 43:6; Jer 45:1; Jer 51:59. We never find the title in the headings of the prophecies save in Jer 25:2, with reference to the fact that here, Jer 20:4, he upbraids the people for not regarding the sayings of all the prophets of the Lord; and in the oracles against foreign peoples, Jer 46:1, Jer 46:13; Jer 47:1; Jer 49:34, and Jer 50:1, where the name of his calling gave him credentials for these prophecies. - There is no further use of the name in the entire book.}

In virtue of the summary authority which belonged to him (cf. Jer 29:26), Pashur smote the prophet, i.e., caused him to be beaten with stripes, perhaps according to the precept Deu 25:3, cf. 2Co 11:24, and then threw him into prison till the following day, and put him in the stocks. מהפּכת, twisting, was an instrument of torture by which the body was forced into a distorted, unnatural posture; the culprit’s hands and feet were presumably bound, so as to keep the position so; see on 2Ch 16:10, cf. with Act 16:24. The upper gate of Benjamin in the house of Jahveh is the northern gate at the upper, i.e., inner court of the temple, the same with the upper gate or the gate of the inner court, looking northwards, Eze 9:2 and Eze 8:3. By the designation "which is in the house," etc., it is distinguished from the city gate of like name, Jer 37:13; Jer 38:7. - When on the next day Pashur released the prophet from imprisonment, the latter made known to him the divine punishment for his misdeed: "Not Pashur will Jahveh call thy name, but Magor-Missabib" (i.e., Fear round about). The name is expressive of the thing. And so: Jahveh will call the name, is, in other words, He will make the person to be that which the name expresses; in this case, make Pashur to be an object of fear round about. Under the presumption that the name Magor-Missabib conveyed a meaning the most directly opposed to that of Pashur, comm. have in various ways attempted to interpret פּשׁחוּר. It is supposed to be composed of פּוּשׁ, Chald. augeri, and חוּר, nobilitas, with the force: abundantia claritatis (Rashi); or after Arab. fs̀ , gloriatus est de nobilitate (Simonis); or from Arab. hsh , amplus fuit locus, and the Chald. סחור, circumcirca: de securitate circumcirca; or finally, by Ew., from פּשׁ from פּוּשׁ, spring, leap, rejoice (Mal 3:18), and חור = חול, joy round about. All these interpretations are arbitrary. פּוּשׁ sig. leap and gallop about, Mal 3:18 and Hab 1:8, and in Niph. Nah 3:18, to be scattered (see on Hab 1:8); and x#$ap@f sig. in Lam 3:11 to tear. But the syllable chowr חור can by no means have the sig. of מסּביב claimed for it. Nor are there, indeed, sufficient grounds for assuming that Jeremiah turned the original name upside down in an etymological or philological reference. The new name given by Jeremiah to Pashur is meant to intimate the man’s destiny. On "Fear round about," see on Jer 6:25. What the words of the new name signify is explained in Jer 20:4-6. Jer 20:4-6

Jer 20:4 . "For thus hath Jahveh said: Behold, I make thee a terror to thyself and to all thy friends, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies and thine eyes behold it; and all Judah will I give into the hand of the king of Babylon, that he may carry them captive to Babylon and smite them with the sword. Jer 20:5 . And I will give all the stores of this city, and all its gains, and all its splendour, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and take and bring them to Babylon. Jer 20:6 . And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity, and to Babylon shalt thou come, and there die, and there be buried, thou and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lyingly." - Pashur will become a fear or terror to himself and all his friends, because of his own and his friend’s fate; for he will see his friends fall by the sword of the enemy, and then he himself, with those of his house and his friends not as yet slain, will go forth into exile to Babylon and die there. So that not to himself merely, but to all about him, he will be an object of fear. Näg. wrongly translates נתנך למגור, I deliver thee up to fear, and brings into the text the contrast that Pashur is not to become the victim of death itself, but of perpetual fear of death. Along with Pashur’s friends, all Judah is to be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and be partly exiled to Babylon, partly put to death with the sword. All the goods and gear of Jerusalem, together with the king’s treasures, are to be plundered and carried off by the enemy. We must not press "all thy friends" in Jer 20:4 and Jer 20:6; and so we escape the apparent contradiction, that while in Jer 20:4 it is said of all the friends that they shall die by the sword, it is said of all in Jer 20:6 that they shall go into exile. The friends are those who take Pashur’s side, his partisans. From the last clause of Jer 20:6 we see that Pashur was also of the number of the false prophets, who prophesied the verse of Jeremiah’s prediction, namely, welfare and peace (cf. Jer 23:17; Jer 14:13). - This saying of Jeremiah was most probably fulfilled at the taking of Jerusalem under Jechoniah, Pashur and the better part of the people being carried off to Babylon.

The Prophet’s Complaints as to the Sufferings Met with in his Calling. - This portion contains, first, a complaint addressed to the Lord regarding the persecutions which the preaching of God’s word draws down on Jeremiah, but the complaint passes into a jubilant cry of hope (Jer 20:7-13); secondly, a cursing of the day of his birth (Jer 20:13-18). The first complaint runs thus: