Bible Study Jeremiah 20
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Jeremiah 20 · WEB

Jeremiah in the Stocks

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Now Pashhur the son of Immer, the priest, who was chief officer in Yahweh's house, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
2Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in Yahweh's house.
3On the next day, Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, "Yahweh has not called your name 'Pashhur,' but 'Magor-Missabib.'"
4For Yahweh says, "Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive to Babylon, and will kill them with the sword.
5Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all its precious things, and I will give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies. They will plunder them, take them, and carry them to Babylon.
6You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house will go into captivity. You will come to Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied lies."
7Yahweh, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded. You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long. Everyone mocks me.
8For whenever I speak, I cry out; I cry, "Violence and destruction!" because Yahweh's word has been made a reproach to me, and a derision, all day long.
9If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones. I am weary with holding it in, and I can't.
10For I have heard the whispering of many, terror on every side. "Denounce, and we will denounce him," they say. All my familiar friends watch for my stumbling. "Perhaps he will be persuaded, and we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him."
11But Yahweh is with me as a mighty, awesome one. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they won't prevail. They will be greatly disappointed, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which will never be forgotten.
12But, Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have revealed my cause to you.
13Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
14Cursed is the day in which I was born. Don't let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.
15Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying, "A boy is born to you," making him very glad.
16Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn't repent. Let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime,
17because he didn't kill me from the womb. So my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
18Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
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Summary

Jeremiah 20 is the most emotionally violent chapter in the book. It begins with the chief temple officer Pashhur beating Jeremiah and locking him in stocks overnight for prophesying against the temple. When released, Jeremiah renames Pashhur "Magor-Missabib" — "Terror on Every Side" — and prophesies his exile and death in Babylon. Then the chapter plunges into Jeremiah's most anguished confession: God has "persuaded" (or overpowered) him, he has become a laughingstock, and every time he speaks it brings only mockery and danger. Yet when he tries to stop prophesying, God's word burns inside him like an uncontainable fire. The chapter swings from despair to defiant faith to sudden praise — then crashes into the darkest lament in the prophetic corpus: Jeremiah curses the day of his birth, wishing he had died in the womb.

Themes

  • Persecution of the prophet — religious authority punishing the messenger
  • The compulsion of God's word — unable to stop prophesying even when it brings suffering
  • The wild swings of faith — praise and despair coexisting in the same prayer
  • Cursing the day of birth — the limit of human endurance under divine calling

Key verses

  • Jer 20:14 — “Cursed is the day in which I was born.”
  • Jer 20:7 — “Yahweh, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded. You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long.”
  • Jer 20:9 — “If I say, 'I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,' then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones.”

Context & background

Pashhur was the chief officer (*paqid nagid*) of the temple — essentially the head of temple security and operations, making him one of the most powerful figures in Jerusalem (modern Jerusalem, Israel). The stocks (*mahpeketh*) were a device that contorted the body into a cramped, painful position — not just restraint but torture. The upper Benjamin Gate was a prominent public location in the temple complex, meaning Jeremiah's humiliation was on full display. Jeremiah's confession (vv. 7-18) is the sixth and final of his "confessions" or laments scattered through chapters 11-20. The Hebrew verb *patah* in verse 7 ("persuaded") can mean "enticed" or even "seduced" — Jeremiah uses the strongest possible language, accusing God of overpowering him against his will. The birth-curse (vv. 14-18) closely parallels Job 3:1-19, connecting Jeremiah to the wider wisdom tradition of innocent suffering. Babylon (modern central Iraq) is named explicitly for the first time as the destination of exile.

Cross-references

  • 1 Kings 19:4 — Elijah wanting to die under the broom tree, another prophet at the breaking point
  • 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 — "Hard pressed on every side, but not crushed... struck down, but not destroyed"
  • Acts 5:40-42 — The apostles beaten and rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
  • Jeremiah 1:6-8 — Jeremiah's original protest that he was too young, and God's promise of protection
  • Job 3:1-19 — Job curses the day of his birth in nearly identical language

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What does Pashhur the chief temple officer do to Jeremiah (v. 2)?

  2. Observe

    What happens when Jeremiah tries to stop prophesying (v. 9)?

  3. Interpret

    What does Jeremiah's "burning fire shut up in my bones" reveal about prophetic calling (v. 9)?

  4. Interpret

    How can verse 13 ("Sing to Yahweh!") sit beside verse 14 ("Cursed is the day in which I was born")?

  5. Apply

    How does one persevere when faithful service brings only opposition (vv. 7-10)?

  6. Apply

    What does Jeremiah's raw honesty (vv. 7-18) teach about prayer?

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