Is this a contemptuous inquiry?--Israel a servant, Israel a home-born slave. Is there not scorn underlying the interrogation, as who should say, Thou art a worm, a thing to be crushed by the foot, or a servile thing to be made no account of by the auditor of the universe? Nothing of the kind. There is a tone of tenderness in this inquiry. In Bible times to be a home-born slave was to be next the son of the family; there was a domestic interest in such a slave, full of pathos, and the condition brought with it its own advantages and rights; a slave born in the house took rank almost with the son, certainly immediately after the son; and the Lord seems to say, Is not Israel a servant, a home-born slave,--has he not rights at home, has he not domestic interests and family claims, a status which he can assert and maintain, and the fruit of which he is at liberty to enjoy? Why then is he spoiled; why has he thrown his inheritance away; why does he not seize the possessions to which he is entitled, and live within the light and the security of the privilege which belongs to him in his domestic relations? So there is no scorn in the words “home-born slave.” The Divine voice infused the pathos of emphasis into the word “homeborn.” Who can say “home” in a tone that is worthy of its music? Surely only He who has made the universe a home for His creatures, and offered them the hospitality of His infinite love. God comes after us, and says, Are ye not Mine; do you not belong to My house; are you not in the covenant of My love; is not your name upon the record of My memory; and goes not out after you all the solicitude of My heart? Why then have you spoiled your destiny, perverted your way, gone in a forbidden course, and exposed yourselves to the paw and the teeth of the lion?(J. Parker, D. D.)
