Chapter 20: Imprisonment, and cursing day of birth

(18 Pesukim)

Overview

This chapter captures a dramatic moment in Yermiyahu’s life: physical abuse, public humiliation, and deep inner struggle. After being beaten and imprisoned by Pashhur, the chief officer in the Temple, Yermiyahu delivers a chilling prophecy of judgment against him. The chapter then shifts to the prophet’s raw lament—his sense of betrayal, relentless persecution, and burning compulsion to speak Hashem’s word despite the cost. It ends with one of the most intense personal cries in all of Scripture.

1. Pashhur Attacks Yirmiyahu (20:1-6)

• The imprisonment: Pashhur the son of Immer, a priest and Temple official, heard Yermiyahu’s prophecies of destruction and reacted violently—striking him and locking him in the prison that is by the upper Benjamin Gate, in the Temple.
• Renaming Pashhur: When Yermiyahu was released from the prison by Pashhur, he declared to him that Hashem will no longer call him by the name Pashhur, and has renamed him Magor-Missaviv (“Terror on Every Side”).
• Hashem’s judgment on Pashhur: Yermiyahu related the following judgment of Hashem to Pashhur:
  • Terror: Pashhur will become a terror to himself and his friends.
  • Death: He and his friends will fall by the sword before their enemies.
  • Plunder: Judah will be handed over to Babylon—its people exiled, its treasures plundered. “All the wealth of this city, including its labour, valuable possessions, and the treasures belonging to the kings of Judah, will be handed over to their adversaries. These adversaries will seize these assets and transport them to Babylon.”
  • Captivity: Pashhur and his household will go into captivity and die in Babylon, along with those he misled with false prophecies.

2. The Prophet’s Inner Fire (20:7-10)

Yermiyahu pours out his heart to Hashem:

• “You persuaded me, and I yielded; You overpowered me.”
• He feels mocked and ridiculed daily because of his message of violence and destruction.
• He tries to stop speaking, but Hashem’s word burns inside him like fire in his bones—he cannot hold it back.

3. Isolation and Threats (20:10-11)

• Yermiyahu hears whispers and plots: “Report him! Let’s trap him!”
• Even former friends wait for him to stumble so they can take revenge.
• Yet he affirms: “Hashem is with me like a mighty warrior; my persecutors will fail and be shamed forever.”

4. Praise Amid Pain (20:12-13)

• The Lord of Hosts examines the righteous and observes their innermost thoughts and intentions. I request that You demonstrate Your judgment upon them, as I have entrusted my concerns to You.
• Yermiyahu praises Hashem for rescuing the oppressed from evildoers:
  “Sing to Hashem! Praise Hashem!”
• But his joy quickly turns to despair.

5. Cursing the Day of His Birth (20:14-18)

In one of the most haunting passages, Yermiyahu curses the day of his birth:

• Cursed be the day in which I was begotten; the day in which my mother bore me shall not be blessed.
• He wishes the messenger who announced his birth had never lived. “Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, “A male child has been born to you,” making him glad.”
• He longs that his mother’s womb had been his grave. “That he did not put me to death from the womb, that my mother should be my grave and her womb a perpetual pregnancy.”
• He asks: “Why did I come out of the womb only to see trouble and sorrow, and end my days in shame?”