Psalms 147:2

147:2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem, ¹ 

and gathers the exiles of Israel.

Isaiah 56:8

56:8 The sovereign Lord says this,

the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel:

“I will still gather them up.” ² 

Jeremiah 3:18

3:18 At that time ³  the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited. ⁴  Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. ” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 30:17-18

30:17 Yes, ⁶  I will restore you to health.

I will heal your wounds.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁷ 

For you have been called an outcast,

Zion, whom no one cares for.”

The Lord Will Restore Israel and Judah

30:18 The Lord says,

“I will restore the ruined houses of the descendants of Jacob.

I will show compassion on their ruined homes. ⁸ 

Every city will be rebuilt on its former ruins. ⁹ 

Every fortified dwelling will occupy its traditional site. ¹⁰ 

Ezekiel 34:12-13

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. ¹¹  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.

Ezekiel 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.

Ezekiel 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. ¹² 

Ezekiel 39:25-29

39:25 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Now I will restore ¹³  the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the entire house of Israel. I will be zealous for my holy name. 39:26 They will bear their shame for all their unfaithful acts against me, when they live securely on their land with no one to make them afraid. 39:27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will magnify myself among them in the sight of many nations. 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 ¹⁴  any longer. 39:29 I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, ¹⁵  declares the sovereign Lord.”

Luke 19:10

19:10 For the Son of Man came ¹⁶  to seek and to save the lost.”

John 10:16

10:16 I have ¹⁷  other sheep that do not come from ¹⁸  this sheepfold. ¹⁹  I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, ²⁰  so that ²¹  there will be one flock and ²²  one shepherd.

[147:2]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[56:8]  ² tn The meaning of the statement is unclear. The text reads literally, “Still I will gather upon him to his gathered ones.” Perhaps the preposition -לְ (lamed) before “gathered ones” introduces the object of the verb, as in Jer 49:5. The third masculine singular suffix on both עָלָיו (’alayv) and נִקְבָּצָיו (niqbatsayv) probably refers to “Israel.” In this case one can translate literally, “Still I will gather to him his gathered ones.”

[3:18]  ³ tn Heb “In those days.”

[3:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “the house of Judah will walk together with the house of Israel.”

[3:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “the land that I gave your [fore]fathers as an inheritance.”

[30:17]  ⁶ tn Again the particle כִּי (ki) appears to be intensive rather than causal. Compare the translator’s note on v. 12. It is possible that it has an adversative sense as an implicit contrast with v. 13 which expresses these concepts in the negative (cf. BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.e for this use in statements which are contextually closer to one another).

[30:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and will have compassion on his habitations.” For the meaning of the idiom “restore the fortunes of” see the translator’s note on 29:14. The “tents of Jacob” refers to their homes or houses (see BDB 14 s.v. אֹהֶל 2 and compare usage in Judg 19:9; Mal 2:12). The word “ruined” has been supplied in the translation to show more clearly the idea of restoration of their houses on their former sites in conformity to the concepts in the latter half of the verse.

[30:18]  ⁹ sn Heb “on its tel.” A tel is a site where successive layers of occupation are built upon one another after the destruction or decay of the former city. The original site was not abandoned because it had been chosen for strategic purposes, such as proximity to water or ease of defense. Many modern archaeological sites have the designation “Tel” as a component of their name because of this practice.

[30:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to its custom [or plan].” Cf. BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 6.d and compare usage in 1 Sam 27:11.

[34:12]  ¹¹ sn The imagery may reflect the overthrow of the Israelites by the Babylonians in 587/6 b.c.

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

[39:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “cause to return.”

[39:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “there,” referring to the foreign nations to which they were exiled. The translation makes the referent clear.

[39:29]  ¹⁵ sn See Ezek 11:19; 37:14.

[19:10]  ¹⁶ sn The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost is Jesus’ mission succinctly defined. See Luke 15:1-32.

[10:16]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And I have.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:16]  ¹⁸ tn Or “that do not belong to”; Grk “that are not of.”

[10:16]  ¹⁹ sn The statement I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold almost certainly refers to Gentiles. Jesus has sheep in the fold who are Jewish; there are other sheep which, while not of the same fold, belong to him also. This recalls the mission of the Son in 3:16-17, which was to save the world – not just the nation of Israel. Such an emphasis would be particularly appropriate to the author if he were writing to a non-Palestinian and primarily non-Jewish audience.

[10:16]  ²⁰ tn Grk “they will hear my voice.”

[10:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “voice, and.”

[10:16]  ²² tn The word “and” is not in the Greek text, but must be supplied to conform to English style. In Greek it is an instance of asyndeton (omission of a connective), usually somewhat emphatic.