Monday 2021.08.30
Today in my OT reading, I read chapters eighteen through twenty-two of Jeremiah. Jeremiah 20:1ff tells of a priest named Pashhur ben Immer (not to be confused with another priest Pashhur ben Malchiah, recorded in Jeremiah 21:1, 38:1 - 6).
Pashhur ben Immer was the chief officer in the Temple of Yehovah. He was unhappy with the prophecies of condemnation and destruction uttered against the Kingdom of Judah by Jeremiah ben Hilkiah and punished Jeremiah by beating him and locking him in stocks.
The next day, after Jeremiah ben Hilkiah was released from the stocks, Jeremiah prophesied to Pashhur ben Immer that his name would no longer be called Pashhur but instead be called Magor-missabib.
Pashhur, when broken into its Hebrew root words, can be taken to mean "pws" (to rest) + "sehor" (round about), whereas Magor-missabib means "terror on every side". Thus, Jeremiah ben Hilkiah was using a word play to tell Pashhur ben Immer that instead of having rest all around him, he would be facing terror on every side.
Jeremiah 20:1 - 4 ASV
1 Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of Jehovah, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
2 Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Jehovah.
3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, Jehovah hath not called thy name Pashhur, but Magor-missabib.
4 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
See the following link for an explanation on the word play between Pashhur and Magor-missabib:
