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.
Ver. 3. Pashur brought forth Jeremiah.] To be judged, say some; but why then did he first smite him? An officer should retain the majesty of the law, and not do anything passionately. To set him at liberty, say others; as perceiving that the "word of God could not be bound," nor a prophet's mouth stopped by a prison, as Pashur also shall well perceive ere Jeremiah hath done with him. Bonner said to Hawkes the martyr, A faggot will make you believe the sacrament of the altar. He answered, No, no, a point for your faggot; God will meet with you one day. a So true is that of the poet,
“ Pressa sub ingenti ceu pondere palms virescit,
Sub cruce sic florent debita corda Deo. ”
The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur. ] That is, black mouth, as some b derive it; or diffusing paleness, as others; but on the contrary. c
Magormissabib,] i.e., Terror round about, or, Fear on every side; a proverbial form of speech, denoting extreme consternation of spirit and greatest distress. Such as befell Tullus Hostilius, King of Rome, who had for his gods Payor and Pallor. Dignissimus sane qui deos suos semper haberet praesentes, saith Lactantius wittily; i.e., great pity but this man should ever have had his gods at hand, since he was so fond of them. Our Richard III and Charles IX of France, a pair of bloody princes, were Magormissabibs in their generations, as terrible at length to themselves as they had been formerly to others; and therefore could never endure to be awakened in the night without music or some like diversion. d
a Acts and Mon.
b Junius.
c q.d., Non Augustus, sed augustus; non nobilis, sed mobilis futurus es. Non tumor sed timer.
d Daniel; Thuan.