Bible Strands
Jeremiah 20:4
For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. And I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away to Babylon and put them to the sword.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to Pashhur immediately after Pashhur removes him from the stocks. This oracle follows Jeremiah’s declaration that Pashhur’s name will be Magor-missabib.
The words — The Hebrew לְמָגוֹר (le.ma.Gor) translates literally as "into a terror," forming the basis of the prophetic name judgment. The verb נֹתֵן (no.ten) means "I am about to make" or "I will hand over," signaling immediate divine action rather than distant promise.
The thread — The specific detail of handing Judah to the king of Babylon and carrying captives to Babylon directly continues the judgment sequence in Jeremiah 20:5. The theme of enemies falling by the sword before the prophet’s eyes aligns with the military judgments outlined in Jeremiah 21:4 and Jeremiah 25:9.
Why it lands — The text states that divine judgment will manifest as political conquest and personal isolation, not as abstract moral failure. A reader must accept that prophetic warning carries immediate historical consequences for both the messenger and the nation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 29:21 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- Jeremiah 21:4 this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the wall, and I will assemble their forces in the center of this city.
- Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
- Jeremiah 39:6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the nobles of Judah.
- Deuteronomy 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.
- Deuteronomy 28:65 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
- 2 Kings 25:7 And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- Job 18:11 Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.
- 1 Samuel 2:33 And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and your heart to grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men.