Глава 20

1–6. Threat of God's judgment to Paschor, who insulted the prophet. 7–18. The prophet's complaint about the severity of his situation and the consolation that God gives him. (Jer. 20:1–6.) Pashor, the overseer at the church, hearing Jeremiah’s prediction, struck him and locked him in the stocks for a whole day. For this, Jeremiah personally predicted that he would be taken into Babylonian captivity and death in captivity, repeating the prophecy about the entire Jewish people being taken into captivity. Jer.20:1. When Pashor the son of Emmer, the priest, who was also an overseer in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah had spoken these words prophetically, “Pashor” was the son of Emmer and, therefore, a priest from the 16th priestly succession (1 Chronicles 24.14). His position was very important. At the same time, he ascribed to himself prophetic dignity (v. 6) and, therefore, looked at Jeremiah as his rival. Jer.20:2. Then Pashor struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stock that was at the upper gate of Benjamin by the house of the Lord. The Benjamin Gate is called the upper gate, probably because it led from the inner, priestly courtyard to the outer courtyard, and the first courtyard was located above the second. Or, perhaps, they are named so in contrast to the city gates, which also bore the name “Benjamin” (see Jer 17.19). Jer.20:3. But the next day Pashor released Jeremiah from the deck, and Jeremiah said to him: The Lord did not call your name “Pashor”, but “Magor Missavib.” *** The Lord now mysteriously gives the evil priest a new name, one that fully corresponds to the sad fate awaiting him. This is a sign that Paskhor’s fate, indicated in the meaning of his new name, cannot be changed. Jeremiah 20:7–18. The insults to which the prophet was subjected make him again complain about his fate. He even decided to stop prophesying altogether, but could not bring his decision to fruition. The Lord encourages him to continue his ministry and, in the hope of His help, the prophet expresses his confidence in the destruction of his enemies. But soon human weakness again makes itself felt and the prophet curses the day of his birth. Jer.20:7. You attracted me, Lord, and I was drawn; You are stronger than me - and you prevailed, and every day I am in ridicule, everyone mocks me. From euros more precisely: “Have you captivated or persuaded me, Lord, am I acting against my will?” Jer.20:8. For as soon as I begin to speak, I scream about violence, I cry out about ruin, because the word of the Lord has turned into reproach to me and into everyday ridicule. The prophet, every time he preaches, has to complain about the violence and insults inflicted on him for his sermons. He, in fact, must proclaim such words of God as are extremely unpleasant to his fellow citizens and for which the prophet constantly has to pay. Jer.20:14. Cursed be the day on which I was born! May the day on which my mother gave birth to me not be blessed! Jeremiah 20:15. Cursed is the man who brought the news to my father and said: “You have a son,” and thereby made him very happy. The curses that the prophet sends to the day of his birth and to the person who announced to the father about the birth of his son should be interpreted in the sense that it has become unbearable for the prophet to live in the world. Jer.20:16. And let it be with that man as with the cities which the Lord destroyed and did not spare; may he hear a cry in the morning and a sob at noon Since the man who announced the birth of Jeremiah to his father can hardly be compared with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which Jeremiah has in mind here, and since it is unnatural to admit that a stranger could be admitted to a woman giving birth, much less that he could kill Jeremiah while he was in his mother’s womb, it is better to admit (with Duhm) that in v. 16. instead of the word isch man there was the word jom day, which is spelled quite similar to the first. In this case, both here and in the 17th Art. thought and expression become clear. The Prophet wants his birthday to be an unhappy day, so that no more children will be born on this day: he will be deprived of life like Sodom and Gomorrah: and only sobs will be heard on this day. Then, that day could actually kill Jeremiah so that he would be born dead, and in that sense the expression of verse 17 is natural. Special notes. The symbolic action in the Ginnom valley and the story conveyed in the twentieth chapter probably took place before the 4th year of the reign of Joachim, when the prophet could still preach in the church, which he was not allowed to do subsequently. – Jeremiah’s prophecy about Passover was probably fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar led some of the Jews to Babylon in 607. In fact, in Jer 29.25–26 v. It is no longer Paskhor, but a certain Zephaniah, who is named as the overseer of the church. You might be interested in: