Jeremiah 20 Study Notes: Jeremiah in the Stocks and His Lament
The priest Pashhur has Jeremiah beaten and held in the stocks, and Jeremiah gives him a new name and foretells his exile to Babylon. Jeremiah then pours out a bitter complaint about mockery, the word burning within him, his trust in the LORD, and grief over his birth.
General
True or False: After his words of praise in Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah’s lament ends calmly with thanks that the LORD formed him for his work.
Answer: False
This is false. Right after praising the LORD, Jeremiah plunges back into grief. He curses the day he was born and the messenger who brought his father the joyful news of a son (20:14-15), wishes ill on that messenger (20:16-17), and asks why he was ever born only to see trouble, sorrow, and a life ending in shame (20:18). The chapter ends with that question, unanswered. Job spoke in a very similar way when he cursed the day of his birth (Job 3:3, 11). Scripture records such honest anguish from God’s servants, and earlier Jeremiah had cried out in like manner to his mother (15:10). The LORD who appointed him before birth (1:5) did not cast him off.
- Jeremiah 20:14-15 (BSB)“Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy.”Jeremiah curses the day of his birth and the man who announced it.
- Jeremiah 20:18 (BSB)“Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?”Jeremiah asks why he was born only to see trouble and shame.
- Job 3:3 (BSB)““May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’”Job also cursed the day of his birth.
- Job 3:11 (BSB)“Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?”Job also asked why he did not die at birth.
- Jeremiah 15:10 (BSB)“Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.”Jeremiah earlier lamented to his mother that she had borne him.
Theological
True or False: The lament of Jeremiah 20 closes on a note of settled thanksgiving for his birth and calling, following the praise of verse 13.
Answer: False
This is false. The praise of 20:13 is followed immediately by words of deep despair: Jeremiah curses the day of his birth and the messenger who announced it (20:14-15), wishes ill on that messenger (20:16-17), and ends with the question of why he was born only to see trouble, sorrow, and days consumed in shame (20:18). Praise and despair stand side by side in the same prayer. Job’s opening lament runs closely parallel (Job 3:3, 11), and Jeremiah had voiced a similar woe to his mother earlier (15:10). Such anguish does not cancel the LORD’s purpose for the prophet He set apart before birth (1:5); Jeremiah’s ministry continued, sustained by the God who had promised to keep him.
- Jeremiah 20:14-15 (BSB)“Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy.”Jeremiah curses the day of his birth and the man who announced it.
- Jeremiah 20:18 (BSB)“Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?”Jeremiah asks why he was born only to see trouble and shame.
- Job 3:3 (BSB)““May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’”Job also cursed the day of his birth.
- Job 3:11 (BSB)“Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?”Job also asked why he did not die at birth.
- Jeremiah 15:10 (BSB)“Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.”Jeremiah earlier lamented to his mother that she had borne him.
General
True or False: Jeremiah says that when he decides to stop speaking in the LORD’s name, the LORD’s message burns within him like fire until he cannot hold it in (Jeremiah 20:9).
Answer: True
This is true. Though speaking brought him mockery, Jeremiah found he could not stop. When he resolved never to mention the LORD or speak in His name again, the message became like a fire blazing in his heart and shut up in his bones; he grew tired of holding it back and could not (20:9). The LORD’s call held him fast. Amos said that when the Lord GOD speaks, a prophet cannot keep from prophesying (Amos 3:8). Peter and John told the council they could not keep silent about what they had seen and heard (Acts 4:20), and Paul said he was under obligation to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16).
- Jeremiah 20:9 (BSB)“If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.”Jeremiah cannot hold back the LORD’s word, which burns within him like fire.
- Amos 3:8 (BSB)“The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?”Amos says that when the Lord GOD speaks, His prophet must prophesy.
- Acts 4:20 (BSB)“For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.””Peter and John could not stop speaking of what they had seen and heard.
- 1 Corinthians 9:16 (BSB)“Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”Paul was under obligation to preach the gospel.
Theological
True or False: According to Jeremiah 20:9, Jeremiah’s resolve to fall silent fails because the LORD’s word burns within him like an inner fire he cannot contain.
Answer: True
This is true. Jeremiah’s resolve to fall silent fails: when he decides not to mention the LORD or speak in His name, the word becomes a blaze in his heart, locked in his bones, and he is worn out trying to hold it in (20:9). The call that overpowered him (20:7) is also the call that sustains him; God’s word holds fast the one He has sent. Amos testifies that when the Lord GOD speaks, His prophet must prophesy (Amos 3:8); the apostles could not stop speaking of what they had seen and heard (Acts 4:20); and Paul knew himself obligated to preach (1 Corinthians 9:16).
- Jeremiah 20:9 (BSB)“If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.”Jeremiah cannot hold back the LORD’s word, which burns within him like fire.
- Amos 3:8 (BSB)“The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?”Amos says that when the Lord GOD speaks, His prophet must prophesy.
- Acts 4:20 (BSB)“For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.””Peter and John could not stop speaking of what they had seen and heard.
- 1 Corinthians 9:16 (BSB)“Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”Paul was under obligation to preach the gospel.
General
Jeremiah begins his complaint by saying the LORD deceived him. Why does he say the LORD’s word has become a source of shame to him (Jeremiah 20:7-8, 10)?
Answer: Because the word he must announce brings him constant mockery
Jeremiah pours out his heart honestly. He says the LORD deceived him, overpowered him, and prevailed, and that he is now ridiculed all day long (20:7). Every time he speaks he must cry out about violence and destruction, so the LORD’s word brings him nothing but insult and scorn (20:8). He hears many whispering the phrase terror on every side against him and plotting to report him, and even his close friends wait for him to stumble so they can take revenge (20:10). Jeremiah brings his honest pain directly to God, the God who does not lie (Numbers 23:19), and keeps speaking to Him. The psalmist knew the same scorn for God’s sake (Psalm 69:7), and Jesus called His persecuted followers blessed (Matthew 5:11).
- Jeremiah 20:7-8 (BSB)“You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.”Jeremiah complains that the LORD’s word has made him an object of mockery.
- Jeremiah 20:10 (BSB)“For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.””Jeremiah hears his enemies and even his friends plotting against him.
- Numbers 23:19 (BSB)“God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”Scripture affirms that God does not lie.
- Psalm 69:7 (BSB)“For I have endured scorn for Your sake, and shame has covered my face.”The psalmist also endured scorn and shame for the LORD’s sake.
- Matthew 5:11 (BSB)“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”Jesus calls blessed those who are insulted and persecuted because of Him.
Theological
In the lament that opens at Jeremiah 20:7, why is Jeremiah in anguish over his calling (Jeremiah 20:7-8, 10)?
Answer: Because the word he must announce brings him constant mockery
Jeremiah’s lament in 20:7-18 opens with the charge that the LORD has deceived him, overpowered him, and prevailed (20:7). The cause is the burden of his calling: his message is always violence and destruction, so the LORD’s message has brought him insult and scorn without end (20:8). His enemies whisper terror on every side about him, and his intimate friends watch for his fall (20:10). It is the honest cry of a sufferer, brought to the very God who does not lie (Numbers 23:19). Jeremiah’s experience follows the path of the righteous sufferer who bears scorn for God’s sake (Psalm 69:7) and anticipates the blessing Jesus pronounced on those reviled for His sake (Matthew 5:11).
- Jeremiah 20:7-8 (BSB)“You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.”Jeremiah complains that the LORD’s word has made him an object of mockery.
- Jeremiah 20:10 (BSB)“For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.””Jeremiah hears his enemies and even his friends plotting against him.
- Numbers 23:19 (BSB)“God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”Scripture affirms that God does not lie.
- Psalm 69:7 (BSB)“For I have endured scorn for Your sake, and shame has covered my face.”The psalmist also endured scorn and shame for the LORD’s sake.
- Matthew 5:11 (BSB)“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”Jesus calls blessed those who are insulted and persecuted because of Him.
General
When Pashhur released him, Jeremiah said the LORD now called Pashhur Magor-missabib. How did the LORD explain what would happen to Pashhur (Jeremiah 20:3-6)?
Answer: He would become a dread to himself and his friends and die in Babylon
On the following day, as Pashhur let him out of the stocks, Jeremiah told him that the LORD now called him Magor-missabib instead of Pashhur (20:3). The LORD Himself explained the name: He would make Pashhur a terror to himself and to all his friends, who would die in battle while he watched (20:4). Judah would be handed over to Babylon’s king, the city’s wealth would be carried off to Babylon, and Pashhur and everyone in his house would go into captivity, die in Babylon, and be buried there, along with the friends to whom he had prophesied lies (20:4-6). Jeremiah had already warned the nation of terror on every side from the enemy’s sword (6:25). The LORD had already said that prophets who spoke lies in His name would perish by the very disasters they denied (14:15).
- Jeremiah 20:3-4 (BSB)“The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call you Pashhur, but Magor-missabib. For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. And I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away to Babylon and put them to the sword.”Jeremiah gives Pashhur a new name and the LORD explains it as a sentence of terror.
- Jeremiah 20:6 (BSB)“And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon, and there you will die and be buried—you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied these lies.’””Pashhur and his household will die in Babylon for prophesying lies.
- Jeremiah 6:25 (BSB)“Do not go out to the fields; do not walk the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.”The same phrase, terror on every side, warns the nation of the coming enemy.
- Jeremiah 14:15 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and famine these very prophets will meet their end!”The LORD said lying prophets would perish by the judgments they denied.
Theological
In Jeremiah 20:3-6, what does the LORD’s new name for Pashhur, Magor-missabib, signal about his fate?
Answer: He would become a dread to himself and his friends and die in Babylon
Jeremiah’s word to the released Pashhur is a renaming oracle: the LORD calls him Magor-missabib (20:3), and the following verse explains it. The LORD will make him a terror to himself and to all his friends, whom he will watch die in battle; Judah will be handed over to Babylon’s king and the city’s treasures carried off to Babylon; and Pashhur with his whole household will go into exile and end up in a grave in Babylon, together with the friends to whom he prophesied lies (20:4-6). The man who tried to silence the prophet of judgment becomes himself a walking sign of it. Jeremiah had earlier warned the nation of terror on every side from the enemy (6:25), and the end of Pashhur matches the LORD’s verdict on lying prophets (14:15).
- Jeremiah 20:3-4 (BSB)“The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call you Pashhur, but Magor-missabib. For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. And I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away to Babylon and put them to the sword.”Jeremiah gives Pashhur a new name and the LORD explains it as a sentence of terror.
- Jeremiah 20:6 (BSB)“And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon, and there you will die and be buried—you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied these lies.’””Pashhur and his household will die in Babylon for prophesying lies.
- Jeremiah 6:25 (BSB)“Do not go out to the fields; do not walk the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.”The same phrase, terror on every side, warns the nation of the coming enemy.
- Jeremiah 14:15 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and famine these very prophets will meet their end!”The LORD said lying prophets would perish by the judgments they denied.
General
Pashhur son of Immer, a priest and the head officer of the LORD’s house, heard Jeremiah’s prophecies of disaster. What did he do (Jeremiah 20:1-2)?
Answer: He had Jeremiah beaten and locked in the stocks near the temple
Pashhur son of Immer was a priest who served as head officer of the temple. When he heard Jeremiah announcing the disaster of chapter 19, he had Jeremiah beaten and fastened in the stocks, a wooden frame that held a prisoner fast, at the upper Benjamin gate beside the temple (20:1-2). He held Jeremiah there until the next day (20:3). Rejecting God’s messengers was a pattern in Judah: the people mocked His prophets until His anger could not be turned back (2 Chronicles 36:16). Jesus told His followers that the prophets before them had been persecuted just as they would be (Matthew 5:12), and Hebrews remembers believers who endured flogging, chains, and prison (Hebrews 11:36).
- Jeremiah 20:1-2 (BSB)“When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer and the chief official in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.”Pashhur, the temple’s chief officer, has Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks.
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 (BSB)“But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.”Judah’s leaders and people repeatedly mocked and despised God’s prophets.
- Matthew 5:12 (BSB)“Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.”Jesus says the prophets were persecuted before His disciples.
- Hebrews 11:36 (BSB)“Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.”Hebrews honors those who endured flogging, chains, and imprisonment.
Theological
How did Pashhur son of Immer, the temple’s chief officer, respond to Jeremiah’s preaching in Jeremiah 20:1-2?
Answer: He had Jeremiah beaten and locked in the stocks near the temple
This physical assault on Jeremiah comes from the religious establishment itself. Pashhur son of Immer, priest and chief officer of the temple, had him beaten and locked in the stocks by the upper Benjamin gate beside the temple, overnight (20:1-3). The temple’s own officer silencing the LORD’s word fits the pattern by which Judah mocked God’s messengers until His wrath was beyond remedy (2 Chronicles 36:16). Jesus placed His disciples in this same line of persecuted prophets (Matthew 5:12), and Hebrews numbers such sufferers, enduring flogging, chains, and imprisonment, among the faithful (Hebrews 11:36).
- Jeremiah 20:1-2 (BSB)“When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer and the chief official in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.”Pashhur, the temple’s chief officer, has Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks.
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 (BSB)“But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.”Judah’s leaders and people repeatedly mocked and despised God’s prophets.
- Matthew 5:12 (BSB)“Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.”Jesus says the prophets were persecuted before His disciples.
- Hebrews 11:36 (BSB)“Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.”Hebrews honors those who endured flogging, chains, and imprisonment.
General
In the middle of his complaint, Jeremiah turns to trust and even praise. What confidence does he express (Jeremiah 20:11-13)?
Answer: That the LORD is at his side as a terrifying warrior
In the middle of his lament, Jeremiah’s words turn to trust. He declares that the LORD stands with him like a powerful, frightening warrior, so his persecutors will stumble, fail, and be put to lasting shame (20:11). He calls on the LORD of Hosts, the One who tests the righteous and sees into heart and mind, to let him see His vengeance on his enemies, because he has handed his cause over to Him (20:12). Then he bursts into praise, because the LORD rescues the needy from evildoers (20:13). This trust matches the LORD’s promise at his call to be with him and deliver him (1:19), repeated later (15:20). Jeremiah had prayed in almost the same words before (11:20), and Paul voices the same confidence: with God on our side, no one can stand against us (Romans 8:31).
- Jeremiah 20:11-13 (BSB)“But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame, with an everlasting disgrace that will never be forgotten. O LORD of Hosts, who examines the righteous, who sees the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause. Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.”Jeremiah declares the LORD is with him, commits his cause to Him, and praises Him.
- Jeremiah 1:19 (BSB)“They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”At his call the LORD promised to be with Jeremiah and deliver him.
- Jeremiah 15:20 (BSB)“Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD.”The LORD renewed His promise to be with Jeremiah to save him.
- Jeremiah 11:20 (BSB)“O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who examines the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause.”Jeremiah had prayed almost the same words to the LORD who examines the heart.
- Romans 8:31 (BSB)“What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”Paul says that if God is for us, no one can stand against us.
Theological
What is the ground of Jeremiah’s confidence in the turn to trust and praise at Jeremiah 20:11-13?
Answer: That the LORD is at his side as a terrifying warrior
The lament pivots on the LORD’s presence: He stands beside Jeremiah as a terrifying warrior, so his persecutors will stumble, fail, and suffer everlasting disgrace (20:11). Jeremiah commits his cause to the LORD of Hosts, the tester of the righteous, who looks into heart and mind (20:12), and breaks into praise because the LORD rescues the needy from evildoers (20:13). His confidence echoes the promise given at his commissioning, that the LORD would be with him to deliver him (1:19; 15:20). Verse 12 nearly repeats his earlier prayer (11:20), and Paul expresses the same assurance grounded in God’s commitment to His people (Romans 8:31).
- Jeremiah 20:11-13 (BSB)“But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame, with an everlasting disgrace that will never be forgotten. O LORD of Hosts, who examines the righteous, who sees the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause. Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.”Jeremiah declares the LORD is with him, commits his cause to Him, and praises Him.
- Jeremiah 1:19 (BSB)“They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”At his call the LORD promised to be with Jeremiah and deliver him.
- Jeremiah 15:20 (BSB)“Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD.”The LORD renewed His promise to be with Jeremiah to save him.
- Jeremiah 11:20 (BSB)“O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who examines the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause.”Jeremiah had prayed almost the same words to the LORD who examines the heart.
- Romans 8:31 (BSB)“What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”Paul says that if God is for us, no one can stand against us.