מָגוֹר

From the study of Jeremiah 20:10

Range of meaning

Magor means terror or dread, from a root meaning 'to be afraid'. Missaviv means 'from round about'. Together they mean dread pressing in from every side, the feeling of a besieged city or a hunted man.

Against the English

'Terror on every side' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV) is accurate. The KJV's 'fear round about' is weaker, since 'fear' does not carry the sense of panic. What English cannot show is that this is a known, repeated phrase in Jeremiah, almost his slogan.

Used elsewhere in the period

The phrase belongs to Jeremiah: 6:25 (warning of the invader from the north); 20:3 (the new name he gives Pashhur, 'Magor-missabib'); 46:5 (Egypt's army fleeing); 49:29 (Arabian tribes). Lamentations 2:22 echoes it, and Psalm 31:14 (Heb.) has it in a line almost identical to this verse.

From the study of Psalm 31:13

Range of meaning

Māgôr means terror, dread, a horror that causes fear. It is related to the verb gûr III, 'to dread'. Missābîb means 'from round about, on every side'. Together they form a fixed, almost proverbial cry: menace closing in from every direction.

Against the English

BSB and WEB: 'terror on every side'. KJV: 'fear was on every side'. YLT: 'Fear is round about'. 'Fear' can sound like an inner emotion. Māgôr is the frightening reality outside him, and the source of the fear. Most English versions also add a verb ('there is', 'was'), which hides the exclamation-like shortness of the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah's signature phrase: Jer 6:25; 20:3 (Jeremiah renames the priest Pashhur 'Magor-missabib'); 20:10 (word for word with this verse's first five words); 46:5; 49:29; compare Lam 2:22 'my terrors round about'. The Septuagint read the same consonants as 'dwelling as aliens' (from gûr I), shown by its 'who sojourn round about'.

From the study of Jeremiah 20:4

Range of meaning

Fear, dread, terror. It means both the inner state of being terrified and a terrifying situation or object. It comes from the root gur, 'to dread, stand in awe'. This is a different root from gur 'to sojourn, live as a resident alien', which gives another noun spelled the same way, magor, 'place of sojourning' (H4033).

Against the English

English versions agree on 'terror' (KJV, BSB, WEB). YLT has 'fear'. The word is accurate, but in English 'a terror' can sound like a nuisance or a menace to others. The Hebrew stresses dread that grips Pashhur himself ('to yourself') and spreads to those around him.

How it drifted

This is not a theological drift, but colloquial English ('he's a little terror') and modern 'terror' language tied to terrorism can make the phrase sound like Pashhur will become a threat. The point is that he will be a man overwhelmed by fear, a walking sign of the catastrophe.

Used elsewhere in the period

The full phrase magor missabib, 'terror all around', is a signature phrase of Jeremiah (6:25; 20:3, 10; 46:5; 49:29). It also appears in Psalm 31:13 (31:14 in Hebrew) and, in a similar form, in Lamentations 2:22. In Jeremiah 20:10 Jeremiah's enemies mockingly throw the phrase back at him. The Septuagint renders it in 20:3–4 with words for 'sojourner/exile', apparently reading the other root, gur 'to sojourn'.