Jeremiah 33:11

33:11 Once again there will be sounds ¹  of joy and gladness and the glad celebrations of brides and grooms. ²  Once again people will bring their thank offerings to the temple of the Lord and will say, “Give thanks to the Lord who rules over all. For the Lord is good and his unfailing love lasts forever.” ³  For I, the Lord, affirm ⁴  that I will restore the land to what it was ⁵  in days of old.’ ⁶ 

Jeremiah 33:26

33:26 Just as surely as I have done this, so surely will I never reject the descendants of Jacob. Nor will I ever refuse to choose one of my servant David’s descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed, ⁷  I will restore them ⁸  and show mercy to them.”

Jeremiah 23:3

23:3 Then I myself will regather those of my people ⁹  who are still alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland. ¹⁰  They will greatly increase in number.

Jeremiah 29:14

29:14 I will make myself available to you,’ ¹¹  says the Lord. ¹²  ‘Then I will reverse your plight ¹³  and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the Lord. ¹⁴  ‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’

Jeremiah 30:3

30:3 For I, the Lord, affirm ¹⁵  that the time will come when I will reverse the plight ¹⁶  of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors ¹⁷  and they will take possession of it once again.’” ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 32:44

32:44 Fields will again be bought with silver, and deeds of purchase signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, the towns in Judah, the southern hill country, the western foothills, and southern Judah. ¹⁹  For I will restore them to their land. ²⁰  I, the Lord, affirm it!’” ²¹ 

Psalms 14:7

14:7 I wish the deliverance ²²  of Israel would come from Zion!

When the Lord restores the well-being of his people, ²³ 

may Jacob rejoice, ²⁴ 

may Israel be happy! ²⁵ 

Psalms 85:1

Psalm 85 ²⁶ 

For the music director; written by the Korahites, a psalm.

85:1 O Lord, you showed favor to your land;

you restored the well-being of Jacob. ²⁷ 

Psalms 126:1

Psalm 126 ²⁸ 

A song of ascents. ²⁹ 

126:1 When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion, ³⁰ 

we thought we were dreaming. ³¹ 

Psalms 126:4

126:4 O Lord, restore our well-being,

just as the streams in the arid south are replenished. ³² 

Isaiah 11:12-16

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.

Zephaniah 3:20

3:20 At that time I will lead you –

at the time I gather you together. ⁴⁷ 

Be sure of this! ⁴⁸  I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you ⁴⁹ 

when you see me restore you,” ⁵⁰  says the Lord.

[33:11]  ¹ tn Heb “33:10 Thus says the Lord, ‘There will again be heard in this place of which you are saying [masc. pl.], “It is a ruin without people and without animals,” [that is] in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem which are desolate without people and without inhabitants and without animals 33:11 the sound of….” The long run-on sentence in Hebrew has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style.

[33:11]  ² sn What is predicted here is a reversal of the decimation caused by the Babylonian conquest that had been threatened in 7:34; 16:9; 25:10.

[33:11]  ³ sn This is a common hymnic introduction to both individual songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 118:1) and communal songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 136 where it is a liturgical refrain accompanying a recital of Israel’s early history and of the Lord’s continuing providence).

[33:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[33:11]  ⁵ tn Or “I will restore the fortunes of the land.”

[33:11]  ⁶ tn This phrase simply means “as formerly” (BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן 3.a). The reference to the “as formerly” must be established from the context. See the usage in Judg 20:32; 1 Kgs 13:6; Isa 1:26.

[33:26]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is probably intensive here as it has been on a number of occasions in the book of Jeremiah (see BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for the category).

[33:26]  ⁸ tn Or “I will make them prosperous once again,” or “I will bring them back from captivity.”

[23:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “my sheep.”

[23:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their fold.”

[29:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will let myself be found by you.” For this nuance of the verb see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא Niph.1.f and compare the usage in Isa 65:1; 2 Chr 15:2. The Greek version already noted that nuance when it translated the phrase “I will manifest myself to you.”

[29:14]  ¹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[29:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “restore your fortune.” Alternately, “I will bring you back from exile.” This idiom occurs twenty-six times in the OT and in several cases it is clearly not referring to return from exile but restoration of fortunes (e.g., Job 42:10; Hos 6:11–7:1; Jer 33:11). It is often followed as here by “regather” or “bring back” (e.g., Jer 30:3; Ezek 29:14) so it is often misunderstood as “bringing back the exiles.” The versions (LXX, Vulg., Tg., Pesh.) often translate the idiom as “to go away into captivity,” deriving the noun from שְׁבִי (shÿvi, “captivity”). However, the use of this expression in Old Aramaic documents of Sefire parallels the biblical idiom: “the gods restored the fortunes of the house of my father again” (J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 100-101, 119-20). The idiom means “to turn someone's fortune, bring about change” or “to reestablish as it was” (HALOT 1386 s.v. 3.c). In Ezek 16:53 it is paralleled by the expression “to restore the situation which prevailed earlier.” This amounts to restitutio in integrum, which is applicable to the circumstances surrounding the return of the exiles.

[29:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “restore the fortune.” For the translation and meaning of this idiom see the note at 29:14.

[30:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fathers.”

[30:3]  ¹⁸ 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.

[32:44]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “They will buy fields with silver and write in the deed and seal [it] and have witnesses witness [it] in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the towns in Judah, in the towns in the hill country, in the towns in the Shephelah, and in the towns in the Negev.” The long Hebrew sentence has again been restructured to better conform to contemporary English style. The indefinite “they will buy” is treated as a passive. It is followed by three infinitive absolutes which substitute for the finite verb (cf. GKC 345 §113.y) which is a common feature of the style of the book of Jeremiah.

[32:44]  ²⁰ tn Or “I will reverse their fortunes.” For this idiom see the translator’s note on 29:14 and compare the usage in 29:14; 30:3, 18; 31:23.

[32:44]  ²¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[14:7]  ²² sn The deliverance of Israel. This refers metonymically to God, the one who lives in Zion and provides deliverance for Israel.

[14:7]  ²³ tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv).

[14:7]  ²⁴ tn The verb form is jussive.

[14:7]  ²⁵ tn Because the parallel verb is jussive, this verb, which is ambiguous in form, should be taken as a jussive as well.

[85:1]  ²⁶ sn Psalm 85. God’s people recall how he forgave their sins in the past, pray that he might now restore them to his favor, and anticipate renewed blessings.

[85:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “you turned with a turning [toward] Jacob.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv). See Pss 14:7; 53:6.

[126:1]  ²⁸ sn Psalm 126. Recalling the joy of past deliverance, God’s covenant community asks for a fresh display of God’s power and confidently anticipate their sorrow being transformed into joy.

[126:1]  ²⁹ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[126:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew noun שִׁיבַת (shivat) occurs only here in the OT. For this reason many prefer to emend the form to the more common שְׁבִית (shevit) or שְׁבוּת (shÿvut), both of which are used as a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv; see Ps 14:7). However an Aramaic cognate of שְׁבִית appears in an eighth century b.c. Old Aramaic inscription with the verb שׁוּב. This cognate noun appears to mean “return” (see J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Treaties of Sefire [BibOr], 119-20) or “restoration” (see DNWSI 2:1125). Therefore it appears that שְׁבִית should be retained and understood as a cognate accusative of שׁוּב. In addition to Fitzmyer (119-20) see L. C. Allen, who offers the literal translation, “turn with a turning toward” (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 170). Allen takes שְׁבִית as construct and understands “Zion” as an objective genitive.

[126:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “we were like dreamers.” This could mean the speakers were so overcome with ecstatic joy (see v. 3b) that they were like those who fantasize about pleasurable experiences in their sleep (see Isa 29:7-8). Since dreams are more commonly associated in the OT with prophetic visions, the community may be comparing their experience of God’s renewed favor to a prophet’s receiving divine visions. Just as a prophetic dream sweeps the individual into a different dimension and sometimes brings one face-to-face with God himself (see Gen 28:11-15; 1 Kgs 3:5-15), so the community was aware of God’s presence in a special way in the day of Zion’s restoration. Though the MT as it stands makes good sense, some choose to understand a homonymic root here meaning “to be healthy; to be strong” (see BDB 321 s.v. I חָלַם) and translate, “we were like those restored to health.” This reading appears to have the support of several ancient translations as well as 11QPs^a. See L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 170-71) for a discussion of the viewpoints.

[126:4]  ³² tn Heb “like the streams in the Negev.”

[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).

[3:20]  ⁴⁷ tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.

[3:20]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “for.”

[3:20]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “I will make you into a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.” Here the word “name” carries the nuance of “good reputation.”

[3:20]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.