Jeremiah 20:2

Jeremiah the prophet. This is the first time in the book that Jeremiah’s name and title appear together. The reason is doubtless to highlight the indignity and outrage suffered by Jeremiah.

Stocks. Heb. mahpeketh, “something compelling crooked posture,” that is, an instalment of punishment that put the body in a most uncomfortable and painful position. In this suffering, humiliating condition Jeremiah spent the night in one of the most prominent places in Jerusalem, “the high gate of Benjamin.” The gate is probably the same as the Sheep Gate (see ch. 37:13), though some think that these stocks were in another place, and that the high, or upper, gate of Benjamin was an entrance to the Temple enclosure (RSV). The map on p. 490 shows the two possible locations.