Jeremiah 23:3

23:3 Then I myself will regather those of my people ¹  who are still alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland. ²  They will greatly increase in number.

Jeremiah 31:8-10

31:8 Then I will reply, ³  ‘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.

31:9 They will come back shedding tears of contrition.

I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. ⁴ 

I will lead them besides streams of water,

along smooth paths where they will never stumble. ⁵ 

I will do this because I am Israel’s father;

Ephraim ⁶  is my firstborn son.’”

31:10 Hear what the Lord has to say, O nations.

Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea.

Say, “The one who scattered Israel will regather them.

He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.”

Isaiah 1:9

1:9 If the Lord who commands armies ⁷  had not left us a few survivors,

we would have quickly become like Sodom, ⁸ 

we would have become like Gomorrah.

Isaiah 6:13

6:13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, ⁹  like one of the large sacred trees ¹⁰  or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. ¹¹  That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.” ¹² 

Isaiah 10:22

10:22 For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as ¹³  the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. ¹⁴  Destruction has been decreed; ¹⁵  just punishment ¹⁶  is about to engulf you. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 11:11-12

11:11 At that time ¹⁸  the sovereign master ¹⁹  will again lift his hand ²⁰  to reclaim ²¹  the remnant of his people ²²  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ²³  Cush, ²⁴  Elam, Shinar, ²⁵  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ²⁶ 

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

he will gather Israel’s dispersed people ²⁷ 

and assemble Judah’s scattered people

from the four corners of the earth.

Isaiah 17:6

17:6 There will be some left behind,

like when an olive tree is beaten –

two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,

four or five on its fruitful branches,”

says the Lord God of Israel.

Isaiah 24:13-15

24:13 This is what will happen throughout ²⁸  the earth,

among the nations.

It will be like when they beat an olive tree,

and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest. ²⁹ 

24:14 They ³⁰  lift their voices and shout joyfully;

they praise ³¹  the majesty of the Lord in the west.

24:15 So in the east ³²  extol the Lord,

along the seacoasts extol ³³  the fame ³⁴  of the Lord God of Israel.

Ezekiel 34:11-14

34:11 “‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. 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. ³⁵  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 ³⁶  pasture, and they will feed on rich grass on the mountains of Israel.

Zechariah 13:7-9

13:7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,

against the man who is my associate,”

says the Lord who rules over all.

Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; ³⁷ 

I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

13:8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord,

that two-thirds of the people ³⁸  in it will be cut off and die,

but one-third will be left in it. ³⁹ 

13:9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire;

I will refine them like silver is refined

and will test them like gold is tested.

They will call on my name and I will answer;

I will say, ‘These are my people,’

and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” ⁴⁰ 

Romans 9:27

9:27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children ⁴¹  of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved,

Romans 11:4-6

11:4 But what was the divine response ⁴²  to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand people ⁴³  who have not bent the knee to Baal.” ⁴⁴ 

11:5 So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 11:6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

[23:3]  ¹ tn Heb “my sheep.”

[23:3]  ² tn Heb “their fold.”

[31:8]  ³ 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.

[31:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “They will come with weeping; I will bring them with supplication.” The ideas of contrition and repentance are implicit from the context (cf. vv. 18-19) and are supplied for clarity.

[31:9]  ⁵ sn Jer 31:8-9 are reminiscent of the “New Exodus” motif of Isa 40-66 which has already been referred to in Jer 16:14-15; 23:7-8. See especially Isa 35:3-10; 40:3-5, 11; 41:17-20; 42:14-17; 43:16-21; 49:9-13. As there, the New Exodus will so outstrip the old that the old will pale in comparison and be almost forgotten (see Jer 23:7-8).

[31:9]  ⁶ sn Ephraim was the second son of Joseph who was elevated to a place of prominence in the family of Jacob by the patriarch’s special blessing. It was the strongest tribe in northern Israel and Samaria lay in its territory. It is often used as a poetic parallel for Israel as here. The poetry is not speaking of two separate entities here; it is a way of repeating an idea for emphasis. Moreover, there is no intent to show special preference for northern Israel over Judah. All Israel is metaphorically God’s son and the object of his special care and concern (Exod 4:22; Deut 32:6).

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” The title pictures God as the sovereign king who has at his disposal a multitude of attendants, messengers, and warriors to do his bidding. In some contexts, like this one, the military dimension of his rulership is highlighted. In this case, the title pictures him as one who leads armies into battle against his enemies.

[1:9]  ⁸ tc The translation assumes that כִּמְעָט (kim’at, “quickly,” literally, “like a little”) goes with what follows, contrary to the MT accents, which take it with what precedes. In this case, one could translate the preceding line, “If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors.” If כִּמְעָט goes with the preceding line (following the MT accents), this expression highlights the idea that there would only be a few survivors (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:20; H. Zobel, TDOT 8:456). Israel would not be almost like Sodom but exactly like Sodom.

[6:13]  ⁹ tn Or “be burned” (NRSV); NIV “laid waste.”

[6:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like a massive tree or like a big tree” (perhaps, “like a terebinth or like an oak”).

[6:13]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text has “which in the felling, a sacred pillar in them.” Some take מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) as “stump,” and translate, “which, when chopped down, have a stump remaining in them.” But elsewhere מַצֶּבֶת refers to a memorial pillar (2 Sam 18:18) and the word resembles מַצֶּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”). בָּם (bam, “in them”) may be a corruption of בָּמָה (bamah, “high place”; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has במה). אֳשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) becomes a problem in this case, but one might emend the form to וּכְּאֲשֵׁרָה (ukÿ’asherah, “or like an Asherah pole”) and translate, “like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole.” Though the text is difficult, the references to sacred trees and a sacred pillar suggest that the destruction of a high place is in view, an apt metaphor for the judgment of idolatrous Judah.

[6:13]  ¹² tn Heb “a holy offspring [is] its sacred pillar.” If מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) is taken as “stump,” one can see in this statement a brief glimpse of hope. The tree (the nation) is chopped down, but the stump (a righteous remnant) remains from which God can restore the nation. However, if מַצֶּבֶת is taken as “sacred pillar” (מַצֶּבָה, matsevah; see the previous note), it is much more difficult to take the final statement in a positive sense. In this case “holy offspring” alludes to God’s ideal for his covenant people, the offspring of the patriarchs. Ironically that “holy” nation is more like a “sacred pillar” and it will be thrown down like a sacred pillar from a high place and its land destroyed like the sacred trees located at such shrines. Understood in this way, the ironic statement is entirely negative in tone, just like the rest of the preceding announcement of judgment. It also reminds the people of their failure; they did not oppose pagan religion, instead they embraced it. Now they will be destroyed in the same way they should have destroyed paganism.

[10:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “are like.”

[10:22]  ¹⁴ sn The twofold appearance of the statement “a remnant will come back” (שְׁאָר יָשׁוּב, she’ar yashuv) in vv. 21-22 echoes and probably plays off the name of Isaiah’s son Shear-jashub (see 7:3). In its original context the name was meant to encourage Ahaz (see the note at 7:3), but here it has taken on new dimensions. In light of Ahaz’s failure and the judgment it brings down on the land, the name Shear-jashub now foreshadows the destiny of the nation. According to vv. 21-22, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that a remnant of God’s people will return; the bad news is that only a remnant will be preserved and come back. Like the name Immanuel, this name foreshadows both judgment (see the notes at 7:25 and 8:8) and ultimate restoration (see the note at 8:10).

[10:22]  ¹⁵ tn Or “predetermined”; cf. ASV, NASB “is determined”; TEV “is in store.”

[10:22]  ¹⁶ tn צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) often means “righteousness,” but here it refers to God’s just judgment.

[10:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “is about to overflow.”

[11:11]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[11:11]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Or “acquire”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “recover.”

[11:11]  ²² tn Heb “the remnant of his people who remain.”

[11:11]  ²³ sn Perhaps a reference to Upper (i.e., southern) Egypt (so NIV, NLT; NCV “South Egypt”).

[11:11]  ²⁴ tn Or “Ethiopia” (NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:11]  ²⁵ tn Or “Babylonia” (NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[11:11]  ²⁶ tn Or perhaps, “the islands of the sea.”

[11:12]  ²⁷ tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.

[24:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in the midst of” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[24:13]  ²⁹ sn The judgment will severely reduce the earth’s population. See v. 6.

[24:14]  ³⁰ sn The remnant of the nations (see v. 13) may be the unspecified subject. If so, then those who have survived the judgment begin to praise God.

[24:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “they yell out concerning.”

[24:15]  ³² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “in the lights,” interpreted by some to mean “in the region of light,” referring to the east. Some scholars have suggested the emendation of בָּאֻרִים (ba’urim) to בְּאִיֵּי הַיָּם (bÿ’iyyey hayyam, “along the seacoasts”), a phrase that is repeated in the next line. In this case, the two lines form synonymous parallelism. If one retains the MT reading (as above), “in the east” and “along the seacoasts” depict the two ends of the earth to refer to all the earth (as a merism).

[24:15]  ³³ tn The word “extol” is supplied in the translation; the verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.

[24:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “name,” which here stands for God’s reputation achieved by his mighty deeds.

[34:12]  ³⁵ sn The imagery may reflect the overthrow of the Israelites by the Babylonians in 587/6 b.c.

[34:14]  ³⁶ tn Heb “good.”

[13:7]  ³⁷ sn Despite the NT use of this text to speak of the scattering of the disciples following Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt 26:31; Mark 14:27), the immediate context of Zechariah suggests that unfaithful shepherds (kings) will be punished by the Lord precisely so their flocks (disobedient Israel) can be scattered (cf. Zech 11:6, 8, 9, 16). It is likely that Jesus drew on this passage merely to make the point that whenever shepherds are incapacitated, sheep will scatter. Thus he was not identifying himself with the shepherd in this text (the shepherd in the Zechariah text is a character who is portrayed negatively).

[13:8]  ³⁸ tn The words “of the people” are supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).

[13:8]  ³⁹ sn The fractions mentioned here call to mind the affliction of God’s people described by Ezekiel, though Ezekiel referred to his own times whereas Zechariah is looking forward to a future eschatological age. Ezekiel spoke of cutting his hair at God’s command (Ezek 5:1-4) and then of burning a third of it, striking a third with a sword, and scattering the rest. From this last third a few hairs would survive to become the nucleus of a new Israel. It is this “third” Zechariah speaks of (v. 9), the remnant who will be purified and reclaimed as God’s covenant people.

[13:9]  ⁴⁰ sn The expression I will say ‘It is my people,’ and they will say ‘the Lord is my God’ is reminiscent of the restoration of Israel predicted by Hosea, who said that those who had been rejected as God’s people would be reclaimed and once more become his sons and daughters (Hos 2:23).

[9:27]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “sons.”

[11:4]  ⁴² tn Grk “the revelation,” “the oracle.”

[11:4]  ⁴³ tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it appears to be a generic usage (“people”) since when Paul speaks of a remnant of faithful Israelites (“the elect,” v. 7), he is not referring to males only. It can also be argued, however, that it refers only to adult males here (“men”), perhaps as representative of all the faithful left in Israel.

[11:4]  ⁴⁴ sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:18.