God’s Word Translation
Jeremiah 2:14
14“Are the people of Israel slaves? Were they born into slavery? Why, then, have they become someone’s property?
Jeremiah 2:14 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
- New International Version (NIV)Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth? Why then has he become plunder?
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant? Why then has he become a prey?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he plundered?
Context of Jeremiah 2:14
12Be horrified over this, heaven. Be terribly afraid,” declares the Lord. 13“My people have done two things wrong. They have abandoned me, the fountain of life-giving water. They have also dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that can’t hold water. “Are the people of Israel slaves? Were they born into slavery? Why, then, have they become someone’s property? 15Young lions have roared very loudly at them. Young lions have turned the land into a wasteland. The cities have been burned down, and everyone has left. 16People from Noph and Tahpanhes have cracked your skulls, Israel.
Read all of Jeremiah 2Jeremiah 2:14 word by word
הַעֶ֙בֶד֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אִם־יְלִ֥יד בַּ֖יִת ה֑וּא מַדּ֖וּעַ הָיָ֥ה לָבַֽז׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:14
- Exodus 4:22Then tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son.
- Isaiah 50:1This is what the Lord says: Where are your mother’s divorce papers? Did I give her any to get rid of her? To which of my creditors did I sell you? You were sold because of your sins. I got rid of your mother because of your rebellion.
- Genesis 15:3You have given me no children, so this member of my household will be my heir.”
- Ecclesiastes 2:7I bought male and female slaves. In addition, slaves were born in my household. I owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Is 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14It was Israel‘s glory to be Yahweh‘s servant Jeremiah 30:10, and slaves born in the house were more prized than those bought with money as being more faithful Genesis 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…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-19Verses 14-19 Is Israel a servant? No, they are the seed of Abraham. We may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of man a slave? No, it is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like lions, prevailed against Israel. People from Egypt destroyed their glory and strength. They brought these calamities on themselves by departing from the Lord. The use and application of this is, Repent of thy…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14The Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. However, in Jeremiah's time, they became slaves again due to their agreements with Egypt and Assyria (Jeremiah 2:18).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. is he a homeborn slave--No. "Israel is Jehovah's son, even His first-born" (Ex 4:22). Jr 2:16, 18, 36, and the absence of any express contrast of the two parts of the nation are against Eichorn's view, that the prophet proposes to Judah, as yet spared, the case of Israel (the ten tribes) which had been carried away by Assyria as a warning of what they might expect if they should still put their trust in Egypt. "Were Israel's ten tribes of meaner birth…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 2:14
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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