20150912 Saturday, September 12 2015
Jeremiah 20: Pashur's Stocks

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD"

The English-language word stock originated from an ancient Anglo-Saxon word, stoc, which meant a branch, or trunk, of a tree. It had many applied meanings, from horticulture ("root stock") to weaponry (the "stock" of a crossbow, then of a rifle, which was originally made from wood, as some finely-crafted weapons still are today).

"Stock" was also the name applied to a device used to hold prisoners, political or criminal. They were used as a means of public humiliation (stocks were frequently located in public areas of a town so that hypocrites could mock and jeer the accused person; see also Crucified To The Sound Of Mockers), or as a means of maximum security within a prison yard or cell. Stocks, in one form or another, also sometimes enabled sadistic jailers to more easily torture, or "safely" murder, then-defenseless prisoners - a despicable evil committed by sissy-minded cowards that is just as Satanically evident today as it was in the most ancient times.

In English-language translations of the Holy Bible, "stock" is used to translate a number of Hebrew words, including (pronounced) sad, meaning to stop, eh-kess, meaning an anklet, ates, meaning a wooden staff or plank, mah-peh-keth, meaning a wrench, and tsee-noke, meaning to confine. In the New Testament, the Greek word (pronounced) xoo-lon, meaning timber, is often translated as "stock." There were various forms of stocks, some held only the feet, some the neck and hands, some the feet and hands.

Pashur, from the Hebrew name meaning freedom or released (an ironic name, since he imprisoned the people with his corruption, before the LORD had him taken away in the Babylonian captivity - see A Faithful Winner Among Unrepentant Losers) was a high-ranking Temple official in the time of the LORD's warning, through the prophet Jeremiah, to the religious mis-leadership of Judah to repent of their turning their backs to the LORD. As is still very-often the case in the thug-brained world today, Pashur's "leadership" was merely a matter of brute force - power-lusting narcissistic pushers, not genuine leaders.

After Jeremiah delivered the Word of the LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour), Pashur had Jeremiah beaten and bound in the stocks near the Temple - convenient to Jeremiah, because even in the stocks he could still be heard from there. When he had Jeremiah brought out to see if he had "repented" of the truth that he preached, Jeremiah delivered another prophecy from the LORD - this time including a personal one for Pashur. His name would be changed from Pashur, meaning "freedom," to Magormissabib, meaning terror on every side. Pashur was soon going to get what was due to him (see Reap What You Sow).

"20:1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. 20:2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD. 20:3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib. 20:4 For thus saith the LORD, 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 into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. 20:5 Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. 20:6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

20:7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. 20:8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. 20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. 20:10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

20:11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. 20:12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

20:13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers. 20:14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. 20:15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad. 20:16 And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; 20:17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me. 20:18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?" (Jeremiah 20:1-18 KJV)

Fact Finder: Why were the true prophets of the LORD not "popular" among the defiantly-corrupt people that they were sent to warn?
See Why Were The Prophets Of Truth Hated? and Iniquity In History And Prophecy