Psalms 44:11

44:11 You handed us ¹  over like sheep to be eaten;

you scattered us among the nations.

Leviticus 26:33

26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ²  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

Deuteronomy 4:26-27

4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you ³  today that you will surely and swiftly be removed ⁴  from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be ⁵  annihilated. 4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you ⁶  among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

Deuteronomy 28:37

28:37 You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you.

Deuteronomy 28:64-65

28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair.

Deuteronomy 32:26-27

The Weakness of Other Gods

32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. ⁷ 

I want to make people forget they ever existed.

32:27 But I fear the reaction ⁸  of their enemies,

for ⁹  their adversaries would misunderstand

and say, “Our power is great, ¹⁰ 

and the Lord has not done all this!”’

Ezekiel 20:23

20:23 I also swore ¹¹  to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. ¹² 

¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

² tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).

³ sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the Lord’s covenant with them (see Deut 30:19; Isa 1:2; 3:13; Jer 2:9). Since court proceedings required the testimony of witnesses, the Lord here summons heaven and earth (that is, all creation) to testify to his faithfulness, Israel’s disobedience, and the threat of judgment.

⁴ tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”

⁵ tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.

⁶ tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”

⁷ tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).

⁸ tn Heb “anger.”

⁹ tn Heb “lest.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”

¹¹ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

¹² sn Though the Pentateuch does not seem to know of this episode, Ps 106:26-27 may speak of God’s oath to exile the people before they had entered Canaan.