PASHHUR păsh’ hər (פַּשְׁח֖וּר; LXX generally Πασχώρ, meaning unknown, possibly from Egyp., in which case it might mean portion of the god Horus). This name occurs several times in the OT (1 Chron, Ezra, Neh, and Jer). There is no way of knowing exactly how many individuals are involved. 1. Pashhur, son (or descendant) of Immer, priest and chief governor in the house of the Lord. When he heard about Jeremiah’s predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem, he struck the prophet and had him put in the stocks for a day. Upon being released, Jeremiah strongly rebuked him and made a prophecy that was prob. a play upon Pashhur’s name. Since the name was not Heb., it would be natural for it to be popularly interpreted as a combination of the Heb. word meaning “passover,” indicating sparing and deliverance, and the Heb. word meaning “going about”; hence, “deliverance is round about.” In this rebuke Jeremiah reversed the popular meaning of the name, saying that the Lord would no longer call him “Pashhur,” but “Magor-missabib” meaning “terror is surrounding,” and declaring that Pashhur and his friends would be carried into captivity to Babylon and would die there (Jer 20:1-6).

2. Zedekiah sent two men to inquire from Jeremiah as to the ultimate fate of the city (Jer 21:1, 2). This was prob. more than fifteen years after the incident described above. One of these men was Pashhur the son of Malchiah. There is no way of knowing whether this is the same man as Pashhur son of Immer, since Immer may have been founder of the family rather than the immediate father.

3. Pashhur the son of Malchiah is mentioned again (Jer 38:1) as one of a group, including prob. his own son Gedaliah, who complained to King Zedekiah about the unfavorable predictions of Jeremiah and, upon receiving the king’s permission, put Jeremiah into a dungeon.

4. The returning exiles included 1,247 priests described as “children of Pashhur” (Ezra 2:38; Neh 7:41). Ezra 10:22 relates that six sons or descendants of Pashhur had taken strange wives. Nehemiah 10:3 lists a priest named Pashhur as one of a group that sealed a covenant, agreeing to forbid intermarriage of their children with foreigners, and to keep the law of God. The generally parallel genealogies (1 Chron 9:12 and Neh 11:12) include a priest named Pashhur.