Zephaniah 3:20

3:20 At that time I will lead you –

at the time I gather you together. ¹ 

Be sure of this! ²  I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you ³ 

when you see me restore you,” ⁴  says the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:3

23:3 Then I myself will regather those of my people ⁵  who are still alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland. ⁶  They will greatly increase in number.

Jeremiah 31:8-9

31:8 Then I will reply, ⁷  ‘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. ⁸ 

I will lead them besides streams of water,

along smooth paths where they will never stumble. ⁹ 

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

Ephraim ¹⁰  is my firstborn son.’”

Ezekiel 34:13

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.

Hosea 1:11

1:11 Then the people ¹¹  of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, ¹²  and will flourish in the land. ¹³  Certainly, ¹⁴  the day of Jezreel will be great!

Romans 11:25-26

11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, ¹⁵  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ¹⁶  until the full number ¹⁷  of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so ¹⁸  all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;

he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

[3:20]  ¹ tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.

[3:20]  ² tn Or “for.”

[3:20]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.

[23:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “my sheep.”

[23:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “their fold.”

[31:8]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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).

[1:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sons” (twice in this verse, so NASB); KJV, ASV “children”; NIV, NRSV, TEV “people.”

[1:11]  ¹² tn Heb “head” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[1:11]  ¹³ tn Alternatively, “gain possession of the land” (cf. NRSV) or “rise up from the land” (cf. NIV). This clause may be understood in two ways: (1) Israel will gain ascendancy over the land or conquer the land (e.g., Exod 1:10; cf. NAB “come up from other lands”) or (2) Israel will be “planted” in the land (Hos 2:24-25; cf. NLT “will…plant his people”).

[1:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “For” (so NASB); NCV “because”; TEV “Yes.”

[11:25]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[11:25]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

[11:25]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “fullness.”

[11:26]  ¹⁸ tn It is not clear whether the phrase καὶ οὕτως (kai Joutws, “and so”) is to be understood in a modal sense (“and in this way”) or in a temporal sense (“and in the end”). Neither interpretation is conclusive from a grammatical standpoint, and in fact the two may not be mutually exclusive. Some, like H. Hübner, who argue strongly against the temporal reading, nevertheless continue to give the phrase a temporal significance, saying that God will save all Israel in the end (Gottes Ich und Israel [FRLANT], 118).