Jeremiah 20:4

"On the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD has not called your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib."

Key Reflection

After Jeremiah was placed in stocks for prophesying against Jerusalem and its officials, his captor Pashhur released him. However, when Jeremiah addressed Pashhure, he invoked a divine name calling: the Lord's designation of his opponent’s new name, Magormissabib (Fear on Every Side). This renaming underscored that Pashhur's authority was fleeting; God had already pronounced judgment on him, foreshadowing his imminent downfall and the terror that would come upon him and those aligned with him.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

A terror to thyself, and to all thy friends -Jeremiah plays upon the meaning of Magormissabib saying that Pusbur would be a terror to all around. It is remarkable that he prophesies no evil of PashurJeremiah 20:6. His was to be the milder fate of being carried into captivity with Jehoiachin, and dying peaceably at BabylonJeremiah 20:6, whereas his successor Zephaniah was put to death at RiblahJeremiah 52:24,Jeremiah 52:27. His punishment probably consisted in this.

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