John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 20

Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest
Not the immediate son of Immer, but one that descended from him after many generations; for Immer was a priest in David's time, to whom the sixteenth course of the priests fell by lot, (1 Chronicles 24:14) ; who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord ;
the temple; not the high priest, since he was of the course of Immer; perhaps he was the head of the course to which he belonged, the chief of the priests of that course.

The Targum calls him the "sagan" of the priests. There was such an officer, who was called the "sagan" or deputy to the high priest, who upon certain occasions acted for him; and some think that this man was in the same office; though others take him to be the same with the captain of the temple, (Acts 4:1) .

Who heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things ;
some that heard him in the court of the temple prophesying of the evil that should come upon the city, and places adjacent to it, went and told the chief governor of it. The words may also be rendered, "now Pashur heard ^F21 ----Jeremiah prophesying these things", suggesting he heard him himself. Either he was one of the ancients of the priests that went with him to Tophet, and heard him there; or, however, when he came from thence, and stood and prophesied in the court of the temple, he heard him.

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: (rwxvp emsyw) "audivit autem", Paschchurus, Schmidt; "audiens autem", Paschhur, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet
Either with his fist, or with a rod, while he was prophesying, to stop his mouth, and hinder him from going on, and to show his resentment, and influence, the people not to believe him; or he ordered him to be smitten and scourged by some inferior officer. This was very ill treatment of a prophet, a prophet of the Lord, and one that was a priest too, of the same order with himself; and put him in the stocks ;
or ordered him to be put there.

But whether it was such an engine or instrument as we call "stocks", in which the feet of prisoners are put, is not certain. Kimchi's father says, it was an instrument made of two pieces of wood, in which the necks of prisoners were put; and some say it had besides two holes for the two hands to be put in; and so the same with our "pillory". The Septuagint render it "a cataract", a ditch or dungeon. Jarchi interprets it a prison; and so our translators render the word in (Jeremiah 29:26) ; however, it was a place of confinement, if not of torture and pain.

that [were] in the high gate of Benjamin ;
here were these stocks, pillory, or prison; which was either a gate of the city of Jerusalem, so called, because it looked towards and led out to the tribe of Benjamin, (Jeremiah 37:13) (38:7) ; or a gate of the temple, which stood on that side of it that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin; both the city and temple being partly in the tribe of Judah, and partly in the tribe of Benjamin; and it seems by this that there was an upper and lower gate of this name; and the following clause seems to incline to this sense:

which [was] by the house of the Lord ;
or, "in the house of the Lord" ^F23; the temple.

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: (hwhy tybb) "in domo Jehovae", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.

And it came to pass on the morrow
After the prophet was put into the stocks; so that he was there all night: that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks ;
either to bring him before the priests, or the sanhedrim, to be examined; or in order to dismiss him, being either admonished by his friends, or convicted in his own conscience that he had done a wrong thing; then said Jeremiah unto him ;
when he had brought him out, not being at all intimidated by him, and having a word from the Lord for him:

the Lord has not called your name Pashur ;
which, according to Jerom, signifies "blackness of mouth"; and, according to others, "diffusing paleness"; one that terrified others, and made their faces look pale; but now it should be otherwise, and he himself should be filled with terror, and have paleness of thee: but, according to a late etymologist, it signifies one abounding or "increased in liberty" ^F24 , who in a little time would become a captive; for it is not suggested hereby that he should no more be called by this name, but that he should be in a condition which would not answer to it, but to another, as follows:

but Magormissabib ;
or, "fear round about"; signifying that terrors should be all around him, and he in the utmost fright and consternation. The Septuagint version renders it "one removing"; changing from place to place; that is, going into captivity; a stranger and wanderer, as the Syriac version. The Targum is,

``but there shall be gathered together against thee those that kill with the sword round about;'' meaning the Chaldeans, which would make him a "Magormissabib".

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: (vp) "abundantiam" , & (rwx) liberum sonat", Hiller. Onomast. Sacr. p. 302. Paschchur, "auctus libertate", ib. p. 904.

For thus says the, Lord, behold, I will make you a terror to
yourself, and to all your friends
This is an interpretation of the name given, "Magormissabib": and shows that it was not a mere name he had, but that he should be in fact what that signifies; his conscience should be filled with terror at the judgments of God coming upon him for his sins; and which could not be concealed in his own breast from others, but he should be seized with such tremblings and shakings, and be such a spectacle of horror, that his own familiar friends, instead of delighting in his company, would shun it, and run away from him: unless this terror is to be understood of the Chaldean army, which should not only terrify him, but his friends, in whom he placed his confidence; these would be thrown into such a consternation, as not to be able to help him or themselves; to which the following words agree:

and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes
shall behold [it] ;
which would be an aggravation of the calamity, that not only he should be deprived of their assistance, but that they should fall into and by the hands of the Babylonians, and in his sight also:

and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon ;
the whole land, and the inhabitants of it:

and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with
the sword ;
being in his hands, he shall do as he pleases with them, either carry them captive, or slay them; and some he will dispose of one way, and some another.

Moreover, I will deliver all the strength of this city The fortifications of it; its towers, as the Syriac version; the riches of it, as the Targum; all its magazines and stores, in which its strength lay:

and all the labours thereof all the fruit of their labours; all their wealth and riches got by labour; all their goods in trade; all their manufactures and merchandise:

and all the precious things thereof all their plate and jewels, the rich furniture of their houses, and whatsoever was laid up in their treasures as rare and valuable:

and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies which they in successive reigns had been laying up in store for years together; see (Isaiah 39:6) ; which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon ; make a prey of them, seize them as their property, and carry them away with them.