Verses 14-19 explain in some detail what is meant by “and became worthless” (verse 5). The condition described in these verses also stands in sharp contrast to that of verse 3: in the past Israel was “holy to the LORD,” and the LORD allowed no one to defile the nation; now Israel is a slave, hunted down by its enemies.
Whereas a slave could live in the expectation of being set free (Exo 21.2), a homeborn servant evidently had no such hope. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes this distinction: “Israel, you are no slave. And you were not born a slave, for whom there is no freedom!”
Prey is rendered “plunder” in New Revised Standard Version. The meaning is similar, and in both cases the image is of Israel being the helpless victim of stronger more violent pursuers. “Something hunted down by wild animals” or “something seized and taken by attacking enemies” would convey this. Note that those preying, if they have to be identified, are other nations, not wild animals. “Hunted” might be better in some languages.
The first part of the verse consists of two rhetorical questions, that is, questions not seeking information but rather used to have a particular impact. Obviously the response for them is “No!” As seen above, both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch turn these into statements, and in many other languages this might be necessary as well. Other translators might retain the questions but supply the answer. Bible en français courant, for example, has “Israel, is he now a servant? Or was he perhaps born a slave? No.” The third question in the verse, however, Why then has he become a prey?, although also rhetorical, is most often translated as a question, perhaps because Israel’s enemies were indeed pursuing them: “[If he’s not a slave] how then is it he’s become a prey for other people?” If the rhetorical question is not natural, translators can have “But yet his enemies hunt him down [as their prey].”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .