Jeremiah 2:14
in Jeremiah 2Is Israel a slave? Was he born into slavery? Why then has he become prey?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Is Israel a servant? is he a home-born slave? why is he become a prey?
KJV
Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
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This verse in Jeremiah 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 14) Is the Israelite a servant or a native? I believe that from this place, the Jews who were filled with pride said to the Savior: We are the seed of Abraham and have never served anyone. How do you say, 'You will be free' (John 8:33)? Ignorant that everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin, and each one serves the one by whom they are overcome.
This site's exposition
Is Israel a slave
on Jeremiah 2:14-19
The LORD asks of Israel, “Was he born into slavery”, since a free heir should not be plundered like property. The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved his head. The sharpest question follows, “what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile”.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
A slave - Slave is here added to home-born to express the baseness of his service, because the master had power to make those slaves who were born of slaves in his house. Why - Why is he thus tyrannized over, as if strangers had the same right over him as owners over their slaves?
Israel is my son, my first-born, Exod. iv. They are children; they are heirs. Nay, their extraction is noble; they are the seed of Abraham, God's friend, and of Jacob his chosen.
Is Israel a servant?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Israel" is rather here the whole of the remnant still left in their own land, that is, Judah. "How comes it to pass that the nation which once was under God's special protection (Jer 2:3) is now left at the mercy of the foe as a worthless slave?" The prophet sees this event as if present, though it was still future to Judah (Jer 2:19).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Is Israel a servant? - Is he a slave purchased with money, or a servant born in the family? He is a son himself. If so, then, why is he spoiled? Not because God has not shown him love and kindness; but because he forsook God, turned to and is joined with idols.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
It was Israel’s glory to be Yahweh’s servant Jer 30:10, and slaves born in the house were more prized than those bought with money as being more faithful Gen 14:14. Cannot Yahweh guard His own household? How happens it that a member of so powerful a family is spoiled? In the next verse the prophet gives the reason. Israel is a runaway slave, who has deserted the family to which he belongs by right of birth, and thereby brought upon himself trouble and misery.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַעֶ֙בֶד֙ | haeved | ¿ a slave | H5650 → | 799 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | [is] Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יְלִ֥יד | yelid | one born of | H3211 → | |
| בַּ֖יִת | bayit | [the] household | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| ה֑וּא | hu' | [is] it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| מַדּ֖וּעַ | madua' | why? | H4069 → | 72 times |
| הָיָ֥ה | hayah | has it become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָבַֽז׃ | lavaz | <into> plunder | H957 → | 25 times |
הַעֶ֙בֶד֙¿ a slave
haevedH5650 →799 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל[is] Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יְלִ֥ידone born of
yelidH3211 →
בַּ֖יִת[the] household
bayitH1004 →2046 times
ה֑וּא[is] it
hu'H1931 →1879 times
מַדּ֖וּעַwhy?
madua'H4069 →72 times
הָיָ֥הhas it become
hayahH1961 →3559 times
לָבַֽז׃<into> plunder
lavazH957 →25 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 50:1This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:30
How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
- Jeremiah 3:8
She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.
- Matthew 18:25
Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
- Deuteronomy 32:30
Through
Exodus 4:22Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,
it leads to
- Hosea 11:1
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.
- Romans 9:4
the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.
- Jeremiah 31:9
They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am…
- Hebrews 12:23
in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
- Exodus 19:5–6
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Hosea 11:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.