Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 2:14

"Is Israel a servant? is he a home-born [slave]? why is he become a prey?" — Jeremiah 2:14 (ASV)

Is Israel a servant? —The word “servant,” we must remember, had become, through its frequent use in Isaiah (Isaiah 20:3; Isaiah 41:8, and others), a word not of shame, but honour; and of all servants, he who was born in the house—as in the case of Eleazar (Genesis 15:3)—occupied the most honourable place, nearest to a son. The point of the question is accordingly not “Has Israel become a slave,” kidnapped, as it were, and spoiled, but rather this: “Is Israel the servant of Jehovah, as one born in His house? Why, then, is he treated as one with no master to protect him?”