Yeremia 3:18

3:18 At that time ¹  the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited. ²  Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. ” ³ 

Yeremia 24:6

24:6 I will look after their welfare ⁴  and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land ⁵  and will not uproot them. ⁶ 

Yeremia 30:3

30:3 For I, the Lord, affirm ⁷  that the time will come when I will reverse the plight ⁸  of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors ⁹  and they will take possession of it once again.’” ¹⁰ 

Yeremia 30:10

30:10 So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid,

you descendants of Jacob, my servants. ¹¹ 

Do not be terrified, people of Israel.

For I will rescue you and your descendants

from a faraway land where you are captives. ¹² 

The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.

They will be secure and no one will terrify them. ¹³ 

Yeremia 31:8

31:8 Then I will reply, ¹⁴  ‘I will bring them back from the land of the north.

I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth.

Blind and lame people will come with them,

so will pregnant women and women about to give birth.

A vast throng of people will come back here.

Yeremia 32:37

32:37 ‘I will certainly regather my people from all the countries where I will have exiled ¹⁵  them in my anger, fury, and great wrath. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live here in safety.

Yeremia 50:19

50:19 But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture.

They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan.

They will eat until they are full ¹⁶ 

on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead. ¹⁷ 

Ulangan 30:3-5

30:3 the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he ¹⁸  has scattered you. 30:4 Even if your exiles are in the most distant land, ¹⁹  from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 30:5 Then he ²⁰  will bring you to the land your ancestors ²¹  possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors.

Mazmur 106:47

106:47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God!

Gather us from among the nations!

Then we will give thanks ²²  to your holy name,

and boast about your praiseworthy deeds. ²³ 

Yesaya 11:11-16

11:11 At that time ²⁴  the sovereign master ²⁵  will again lift his hand ²⁶  to reclaim ²⁷  the remnant of his people ²⁸  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ²⁹  Cush, ³⁰  Elam, Shinar, ³¹  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ³² 

11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;

he will gather Israel’s dispersed people ³³ 

and assemble Judah’s scattered people

from the four corners of the earth.

11:13 Ephraim’s jealousy will end, ³⁴ 

and Judah’s hostility ³⁵  will be eliminated.

Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah,

and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim.

11:14 They will swoop down ³⁶  on the Philistine hills to the west; ³⁷ 

together they will loot the people of the east.

They will take over Edom and Moab, ³⁸ 

and the Ammonites will be their subjects.

11:15 The Lord will divide ³⁹  the gulf ⁴⁰  of the Egyptian Sea; ⁴¹ 

he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River ⁴²  and send a strong wind, ⁴³ 

he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, ⁴⁴ 

and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

11:16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria

for the remnant of his people, ⁴⁵ 

just as there was for Israel,

when ⁴⁶  they went up from the land of Egypt.

Yesaya 13:5-6

13:5 They come from a distant land,

from the horizon. ⁴⁷ 

It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, ⁴⁸ 

coming to destroy the whole earth. ⁴⁹ 

13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment ⁵⁰  is near;

it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. ⁵¹ 

Yesaya 14:1

14:1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; ⁵²  he will again choose Israel as his special people ⁵³  and restore ⁵⁴  them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family ⁵⁵  of Jacob.

Yesaya 27:12-13

27:12 At that time ⁵⁶  the Lord will shake the tree, ⁵⁷  from the Euphrates River ⁵⁸  to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites. ⁵⁹  27:13 At that time ⁶⁰  a large ⁶¹  trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost ⁶²  in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in ⁶³  the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. ⁶⁴ 

Yehezkiel 34:12-14

34:12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day. ⁶⁵  34:13 I will bring them out from among the peoples and gather them from foreign countries; I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams and all the inhabited places of the land. 34:14 In a good pasture I will feed them; the mountain heights of Israel will be their pasture. There they will lie down in a lush ⁶⁶  pasture, and they will feed on rich grass on the mountains of Israel.

Yehezkiel 36:24

36:24 “‘I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries; then I will bring you to your land.

Yehezkiel 37:21-22

37:21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 37:22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. ⁶⁷ 

Yehezkiel 39:28

39:28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave any of them in exile ⁶⁸  any longer.

Amos 9:14

9:14 I will bring back my people, Israel; ⁶⁹ 

they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble ⁷⁰  and settle down. ⁷¹ 

They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; ⁷² 

they will grow orchards ⁷³  and eat the fruit they produce. ⁷⁴ 

[3:18]  ¹ tn Heb “In those days.”

[3:18]  ² tn Heb “the house of Judah will walk together with the house of Israel.”

[3:18]  ³ tn Heb “the land that I gave your [fore]fathers as an inheritance.”

[24:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will set my eyes upon them for good.” For the nuance of “good” see Jer 21:10; Amos 9:4 (in these cases the opposite of harm; see BDB 375 s.v. טוֹבָה 1).

[24:6]  ⁵ tn The words “There” and “firmly in the land” are not in the text but are implicit from the connection and the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:6]  ⁶ sn For these terms see Jer 1:10.

[30:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “restore the fortune.” For the translation and meaning of this idiom see the note at 29:14.

[30:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[30:3]  ¹⁰ sn As the nations of Israel and Judah were united in their sin and suffered the same fate – that of exile and dispersion – (cf. Jer 3:8; 5:11; 11:10, 17) so they will ultimately be regathered from the nations and rejoined under one king, a descendant of David, and regain possession of their ancestral lands. The prophets of both the eighth and seventh century looked forward to this ideal (see, e.g., Hos 1:11 (2:2 HT); Isa 11:11-13; Jer 23:5-6; 30:3; 33:7; Ezek 37:15-22). This has already been anticipated in Jer 3:18.

[30:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “So do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, oracle of the Lord.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.

[30:10]  ¹² tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”

[30:10]  ¹³ sn Compare the ideals of the Mosaic covenant in Lev 26:6, the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam 7:10-11, and the new covenant in Ezek 34:25-31.

[31:8]  ¹⁴ tn The words “And I will reply” are not in the text but the words vv. 8-9 appear to be the answer to the petition at the end of v. 7. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:37]  ¹⁵ tn The verb here should be interpreted as a future perfect; though some of the people have already been exiled (in 605 and 597 b.c.), some have not yet been exiled at the time this prophesy is given (see study note on v. 1 for the date). However, contemporary English style does not regularly use the future perfect, choosing instead to use the simple future or the simple perfect as the present translation has done here.

[50:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “their soul [or hunger/appetite] will be satisfied.”

[50:19]  ¹⁷ sn The metaphor of Israel as a flock of sheep (v. 17) is continued here. The places named were all in Northern Israel and in the Transjordan, lands that were lost to the Assyrians in the period 738-722 b.c. All of these places were known for their fertility, for their woods and their pastures. The hills (hill country) of Ephraim formed the center of Northern Israel. Mount Carmel lies on the seacoast of the Mediterranean north and west of the hill country of Ephraim. Gilead formed the central part of Transjordan and was used to refer at times to the territory between the Yarmuk and Jabbok Rivers, at times to the territory between the Yarmuk and the Arnon Rivers, and at times for all of Israel in the Transjordan. Bashan refers to the territory north of Gilead.

[30:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[30:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “are at the farthest edge of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[30:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on the second occurrence of the word “he” in v. 3.

[30:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “fathers” (also later in this verse and in vv. 9, 20).

[106:47]  ²² tn Heb “to give thanks.” The infinitive construct indicates result after the imperative.

[106:47]  ²³ tn Heb “to boast in your praise.”

[11:11]  ²⁴ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:11]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[11:11]  ²⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads, “the sovereign master will again, a second time, his hand.” The auxiliary verb יוֹסִיף (yosif), which literally means “add,” needs a main verb to complete it. Consequently many emend שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) to an infinitive. Some propose the form שַׁנֹּת (shannot, a Piel infinitive construct from שָׁנָה, shanah) and relate it semantically to an Arabic cognate meaning “to be high.” If the Hebrew text is retained a verb must be supplied. “Second time” would allude back to the events of the Exodus (see vv. 15-16).

[11:11]  ²⁷ tn Or “acquire”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “recover.”

[11:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the remnant of his people who remain.”

[11:11]  ²⁹ sn Perhaps a reference to Upper (i.e., southern) Egypt (so NIV, NLT; NCV “South Egypt”).

[11:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “Ethiopia” (NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:11]  ³¹ tn Or “Babylonia” (NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[11:11]  ³² tn Or perhaps, “the islands of the sea.”

[11:12]  ³³ tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.

[11:13]  ³⁴ tn Heb “turn aside”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “depart.”

[11:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “hostile ones of Judah.” Elsewhere when the substantival participle of צָרָר (tsarar) takes a pronominal suffix or appears in a construct relationship, the following genitive is objective. (For a list of texts see BDB 865 s.v. III צָרַר) In this case the phrase “hostile ones of Judah” means “those who are hostile toward Judah,” i.e., Judah’s enemies. However, the parallel couplet that follows suggests that Judah’s hostility toward Ephraim is in view. In this case “hostile ones of Judah” means “hostile ones from Judah.” The translation above assumes the latter, giving the immediate context priority over general usage.

[11:14]  ³⁶ tn Heb “fly.” Ephraim/Judah are compared to a bird of prey.

[11:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “on the shoulder of Philistia toward the sea.” This refers to the slopes of the hill country west of Judah. See HALOT 506 s.v. כָּתֵף.

[11:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Edom and Moab [will be the place of] the outstretching of their hand,” i.e., included in their area of jurisdiction (see HALOT 648 s.v. ח(וֹ)מִשְׁלֹ).

[11:15]  ³⁹ tn The verb is usually understood as “put under the ban, destroy,” or emended to חָרָב (kharav, “dry up”). However, HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם proposes a homonymic root meaning “divide.”

[11:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “tongue” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[11:15]  ⁴¹ sn That is, the Red Sea.

[11:15]  ⁴² tn Heb “the river”; capitalized in some English versions (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) as a reference to the Euphrates River.

[11:15]  ⁴³ tn Heb “with the [?] of his wind” [or “breath”]. The Hebrew term עַיָם (’ayam) occurs only here. Some attempt to relate the word to an Arabic root and translate, “scorching [or “hot”] wind.” This interpretation fits especially well if one reads “dry up” in the previous line. Others prefer to emend the form to עֹצֶם (’otsem, “strong”). See HALOT 817 s.v. עֲצַם.

[11:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “seven streams.” The Hebrew term נַחַל (nakhal, “stream”) refers to a wadi, or seasonal stream, which runs during the rainy season, but is otherwise dry. The context (see v. 15b) here favors the translation, “dried up streams.” The number seven suggests totality and completeness. Here it indicates that God’s provision for escape will be thorough and more than capable of accommodating the returning exiles.

[11:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and there will be a highway for the remnant of his people who remain, from Assyria.”

[11:16]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “in the day” (so KJV).

[13:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “from the end of the sky.”

[13:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “anger”; cf. KJV, ASV “the weapons of his indignation.”

[13:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Or perhaps, “land” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT). Even though the heading and subsequent context (see v. 17) indicate Babylon’s judgment is in view, the chapter has a cosmic flavor that suggests that the coming judgment is universal in scope. Perhaps Babylon’s downfall occurs in conjunction with a wider judgment, or the cosmic style is poetic hyperbole used to emphasize the magnitude and importance of the coming event.

[13:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “the day of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

[13:6]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “like destruction from the sovereign judge it comes.” The comparative preposition (כְּ, kÿ) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the destruction unleashed will have all the earmarks of divine judgment. One could paraphrase, “it comes as only destructive divine judgment can.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x.

[13:6]  sn The divine name used here is שַׁדַּי (shaddai, “Shaddai”). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the sovereign king/judge of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name is uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appears to Abram, introduces himself as El Shaddai, and announces his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeats these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing upon Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prays that his sons will be treated with mercy when they return to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (cf. 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, tells him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (cf. chapter 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob refers to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, and Syriac) as the one who provides abundant blessings, including “blessings of the breast and womb” (49:25). (The direct association of the name with שָׁדַיִם [shadayim, “breasts”] suggests the name might mean “the one of the breast” [i.e., the one who gives fertility], but the juxtaposition is probably better explained as wordplay. Note the wordplay involving the name and the root שָׁדַד [shadad, “destroy”] here in Isa 13:6 and in Joel 1:15.) Outside Genesis the name Shaddai (minus El, “God”) is normally used when God is viewed as the sovereign king who blesses/protects or curses/brings judgment. The name appears in the introduction to two of Balaam’s oracles (Num 24:4, 16) of blessing upon Israel. Naomi employs the name when accusing the Lord of treating her bitterly by taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20-21). In Ps 68:14; Isa 13:6; and Joel 1:15 Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Ps 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. (In Ezek 1:24 and 10:5 the sound of the cherubs’ wings is compared to Shaddai’s powerful voice. The reference may be to the mighty divine warrior’s battle cry which accompanies his angry judgment.) Last but not least, the name occurs 31 times in the Book of Job. Job and his “friends” assume that Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world (11:7; 37:23a) who is the source of life (33:4b) and is responsible for maintaining justice (8:3; 34:10-12; 37:23b). He provides abundant blessings, including children (22:17-18; 29:4-6), but can also discipline, punish, and destroy (5:17; 6:4; 21:20; 23:16). It is not surprising to see the name so often in this book, where the theme of God’s justice is primary and even called into question (24:1; 27:2). The most likely proposal is that the name means “God, the one of the mountain” (an Akkadian cognate means “mountain,” to which Heb. שַׁד [shad, “breast”] is probably related). For a discussion of proposed derivations see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 70-71. The name may originally depict God as the sovereign judge who, in Canaanite style, rules from a sacred mountain. Isa 14:13 and Ezek 28:14, 16 associate such a mountain with God, while Ps 48:2 refers to Zion as “Zaphon,” the Canaanite Olympus from which the high god El ruled. (In Isa 14 the Canaanite god El may be in view. Note that Isaiah pictures pagan kings as taunting the king of Babylon, suggesting that pagan mythology may provide the background for the language and imagery.)

[14:1]  ⁵² tn The sentence begins with כִּי (ki), which is understood as asseverative (“certainly”) in the translation. Another option is to translate, “For the Lord will have compassion.” In this case one of the reasons for Babylon’s coming demise (13:22b) is the Lord’s desire to restore his people.

[14:1]  ⁵³ tn The words “as his special people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:1]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “settle” (NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[14:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[27:12]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[27:12]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the Lord will beat out.” The verb is used of beating seeds or grain to separate the husk from the kernel (see Judg 6:11; Ruth 2:17; Isa 28:27), and of beating the olives off the olive tree (Deut 24:20). The latter metaphor may be in view here, where a tree metaphor has been employed in the preceding verses. See also 17:6.

[27:12]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “the river,” a frequent designation in the OT for the Euphrates. For clarity most modern English versions substitute the name “Euphrates” for “the river” here.

[27:12]  ⁵⁹ sn The Israelites will be freed from exile (likened to beating the olives off the tree) and then gathered (likened to collecting the olives).

[27:13]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[27:13]  ⁶¹ tn Traditionally, “great” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “loud.”

[27:13]  ⁶² tn Or “the ones perishing.”

[27:13]  ⁶³ tn Or “the ones driven into.”

[27:13]  ⁶⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[34:12]  ⁶⁵ sn The imagery may reflect the overthrow of the Israelites by the Babylonians in 587/6 b.c.

[34:14]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “good.”

[37:22]  ⁶⁷ sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).

[39:28]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “there,” referring to the foreign nations to which they were exiled. The translation makes the referent clear.

[9:14]  ⁶⁹ tn This line can also be translated “I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel” and is a common idiom (e.g., Deut 30:3; Jer 30:3; Hos 6:11; Zeph 3:20). This rendering is followed by several modern English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, NJPS).

[9:14]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “the ruined [or “desolate”] cities.”

[9:14]  ⁷¹ tn Or “and live [in them].”

[9:14]  ⁷² tn Heb “drink their wine.”

[9:14]  ⁷³ tn Or “gardens.”

[9:14]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “eat their fruit.”