Jeremiah 20, Terror and Torture (DRAFT)

(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)

Jeremiah has described the coming judgment of Judah as God breaking a jar he has made. Judah will eventually look like Topheth, a place of dead bodies. This does not sit well with the leaders of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 20:1-6, Terror in all directions
When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple 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 at the LORD's temple. 

The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD's name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib. For this is what the LORD says: `I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. I will hand over to their enemies all the wealth of this city--all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 

And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.'" 

Jeremiah is beaten and publicly tortured. This does not deter him. Magor-Missabib means "Terror on Every Side." Jeremiah is identifying this priest with a future time when everyone will face fear in all directions.

Jeremiah 20:7-9, Cannot hold it in

O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; 

you overpowered me and prevailed. 

I am ridiculed all day long; 

everyone mocks me. 

Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. 

So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long. 

But if I say, "I will not mention him 

or speak any more in his name," 

his word is in my heart like a fire, 

a fire shut up in my bones. 

I am weary of holding it in; 

indeed, I cannot. 

The word translated "deceive" in verse 7 is pathah, which can also mean persuaded, induced. Every time Jeremiah speaks, predicting violence and destruction, he faces insult and reproach (and indeed violence.) But when he tries to avoid the conflict and not speak anymore, his heart is lit on fire and he cannot hold in his speech.  Jeremiah suffers one way or another.

Jeremiah 20:10, Report him!

I hear many whispering, "Terror on every side! 

Report him! Let's report him!" 

All my friends are waiting for me to slip, 

saying, "Perhaps he will be deceived; 

then we will prevail over him 

and take our revenge on him." 

The people are angry at him, even his friends want him to fail.

Jeremiah 20:11-13, Mighty warrior

But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; 

so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. 

They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; 

their dishonor will never be forgotten. 

 O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous

 and probe the heart and mind, 

let me see your vengeance upon them,

 for to you I have committed my cause. 

Sing to the LORD! 

Give praise to the LORD! 

He rescues the life of the needy

 from the hands of the wicked. 

Jeremiah's lament changes -- he now sees YHWH as a mighty warrior and so, of course, Jeremiah will continue to speak. He calls for justice and vengeance on those who abuse him and then sings a song of praise for the One who rescues the needy.

Jeremiah 20:14-18, Cursed be my birth

Cursed be the day I was born! 

May the day my mother bore me not be blessed! 

Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, 

who made him very glad, saying, "A child is born to you--a son!" 

May that man be like the towns the LORD overthrew without pity. 

May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon. 

For he did not kill me in the womb, 

with my mother as my grave, 

her womb enlarged forever. 

Why did I ever come out of the womb 

to see trouble and sorrow 

and to end my days in shame?

Jeremiah can praise God and speak out, while still lamenting the pain and suffering he is experiencing. Like Job (Job 3) he can wish he had not been born for this struggle.