Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
Parallel translations
- WEB Is Israel a slave? Is he born into slavery? Why has he become a captive?
- BSB Is Israel a slave? Was he born into slavery? Why then has he become prey?
- ESV “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant? Why then has he become a prey?
- NKJV “Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he plundered?
- NASB ¶“Is Israel a slave? Or is he a servant born in the home? Why has he become plunder?
- NLT “Why has Israel become a slave? Why has he been carried away as plunder?
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God asks why Israel, no slave by nature, has become plunder. Their bondage is self-inflicted, not their birthright.
Overview
Yahweh poses rhetorical questions: is Israel a slave, born to servitude? The implied answer is no, yet they have become prey to their enemies. Their captivity is not their natural lot but the bitter fruit of forsaking God, who had made them His free and cherished people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Exod 4:22And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
- Isa 50:1Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
- Eccl 2:7I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
- Gen 15:3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 2:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.