Deuteronomy 30:3

That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity.—The word “turn” is not active as we should expect (in the Hebrew), but neuter, and upon this fact the Rabbis have grounded the following observation that “in some way the Shechinah is abiding upon Israel during the stress of their captivity, and whensoever they are redeemed, He has prescribed Redemption for Himself, that He will return with them.” And further, that the day of the gathering of the captivity is great, and attended with difficulty; as though He Himself must be there to take hold visibly of the hand of each man, and bring him from his place, as it is said, “And ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel” (Isaiah 27:12). But it is observed that the same form of the verb is employed in Jeremiah with respect to Moab (Jeremiah 48:47). This note at least shows that the Jews look for the fulfilment of this prophecy as a thing yet to come.

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 30:3. The Lord will turn thy captivity — That is, will bring back thy captives, as the following words imply. Indeed, captivity is often put for captives, Psalm 14:7; and Psalm 68:18; Jdg 5:12. This was fulfilled in part when they returned from Babylon, and will be more completely fulfilled when they shall turn from ungodliness, and believe with their heart unto righteousness in Jesus of Nazareth, as the Son of God, and true Messiah; but surely not before; for as they were cast out of their own land for rejecting him, it is not to be supposed that they will be restored to it till they receive him. Nor is there any intimation in any part of Scripture that they shall. Their repentance and reformation must precede their obtaining this mercy: see Romans 11:26. Thus Moses here, When thou shalt return unto the Lord with all thy heart and all thy soul, then the Lord will have compassion upon thee, and gather thee from all the nations, &c. Till then any efforts that may be used to re-establish them in Canaan will prove ineffectual.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

30:1-10 In this chapter is a plain intimation of the mercy God has in store for Israel in the latter days. This passage refers to the prophetic warnings of the last two chapters, which have been mainly fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and in their dispersion to the present day; and there can be no doubt that the prophetic promise contained in these verses yet remain to come to pass. The Jewish nation shall in some future period, perhaps not very distant, be converted to the faith of Christ; and, many think, again settled in the land of Canaan. The language here used is in a great measure absolute promises; not merely a conditional engagement, but declaring an event assuredly to take place. For the Lord himself here engages to circumcise their hearts; and when regenerating grace has removed corrupt nature, and Divine love has supplanted the love of sin, they certainly will reflect, repent, return to God, and obey him; and he will rejoice in doing them good. The change that will be wrought upon them will not be only outward, or consisting in mere opinions; it will reach to their souls. It will produce in them an utter hatred of all sin, and a fervent love to God, as their reconciled God in Christ Jesus; they will love him with all their hearts, and with all their soul. They are very far from this state of mind at present, but so were the murderers of the Lord Jesus, on the day of Pentecost; who yet in one hour were converted unto God. So shall it be in the day of God's power; a nation shall be born in a day; the Lord will hasten it in his time. As a conditional promise this passage belongs to all persons and all people, not to Israel only; it assures us that the greatest sinners, if they repent and are converted, shall have their sins pardoned, and be restored to God's favour.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Will turn thy captivity - Will change or put an end to thy state of captivity or distress (compare Psalm 14:7; Psalm 85:2; Jeremiah 30:18). The rendering of the Greek version is significant; "the Lord will heal thy sins."

The promises of this and the following verses had no doubt their partial fulfillment in the days of the Judges; but the fact that various important features are repeated in Jeremiah 32:37 ff, and in Ezekiel 11:19 ff, Ezekiel 34:13 ff, Ezekiel 36:24 ff, shows us that none of these was regarded as exhausting the promises. In full analogy with the scheme of prophecy we may add that the return from the Babylonian captivity has not exhausted their depth. The New Testament takes up the strain (e. g. in Romans 11), and foretells the restoration of Israel to the covenanted mercies of God. True these mercies shall not be, as before, confined to that nation. The "turning again of the captivity" will be when Israel is converted to Him in whom the Law was fulfilled, and who died "not for that nation only," but also that he might "gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad" John 11:51-52. Then shall there be "one fold and one shepherd" John 10:16. But whether the general conversion of the Jews shall be accompanied with any national restoration, any recovery of their ancient prerogatives as the chosen people; and further, whether there shall be any local replacement of them in the land of their fathers, may be regarded as of "the secret things" which belong unto God Deuteronomy 29:29; and so indeed our Lord Himself teaches us Acts 1:6-7.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 30

De 30:1-10. Great Mercies Promised unto the Penitent.

1-10. when all these things are come upon thee, … and thou shalt return … then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity—The hopes of the Hebrew people are ardently directed to this promise, and they confidently expect that God, commiserating their forlorn and fallen condition, will yet rescue them from all the evils of their long dispersion. They do not consider the promise as fulfilled by their restoration from the captivity in Babylon, for Israel was not then scattered in the manner here described—"among all the nations," "unto the utmost parts of heaven" (De 30:4). When God recalled them from that bondage, all the Israelites were not brought back. They were not multiplied above their fathers (De 30:5), nor were their hearts and those of their children circumcised to love the Lord (De 30:6). It is not, therefore, of the Babylonish captivity that Moses was speaking in this passage; it must be of the dispersed state to which they have been doomed for eighteen hundred years. This prediction may have been partially accomplished on the return of the Israelites from Babylon; for, according to the structure and design of Scripture prophecy, it may have pointed to several similar eras in their national history; and this view is sanctioned by the prayer of Nehemiah (Ne 1:8, 9). But undoubtedly it will receive its full and complete accomplishment in the conversion of the Jews to the Gospel of Christ. At the restoration from the Babylonish captivity, that people were changed in many respects for the better. They were completely weaned from idolatry; and this outward reformation was a prelude to the higher attainments they are destined to reach in the age of Messiah, "when the Lord God will circumcise their hearts and the hearts of their seed to love the Lord." The course pointed out seems clearly to be this: that the hearts of the Hebrew people shall be circumcised (Col 2:2); in other words, by the combined influences of the Word and spirit of God, their hearts will be touched and purified from all their superstition and unbelief. They will be converted to the faith of Jesus Christ as their Messiah—a spiritual deliverer, and the effect of their conversion will be that they will return and obey the voice (the Gospel, the evangelical law) of the Lord. The words may be interpreted either wholly in a spiritual sense (Joh 11:51, 52), or, as many think, in a literal sense also (Ro 11:1-36). They will be recalled from all places of the dispersion to their own land and enjoy the highest prosperity. The mercies and favors of a bountiful Providence will not then be abused as formerly (De 31:20; 32:15). They will be received in a better spirit and employed to nobler purposes. They will be happy, "for the Lord will again rejoice over them for good, as He rejoiced over their fathers."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Turn thy captivity, i.e. bring back thy captives, as captivity is taken, Psalm 14:7 Ephesians 4:8. Gather thee, i.e. thy children; either spiritually such, as it is explained John 11:51,52; or literally such, as it is promised Ro 11.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion on thee,.... Return them from their captivity, or bring them out of it, both in a temporal and spiritual sense; free them from their present exile, and deliver them from the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law; and all this as the effect of his grace and mercy towards them, and compassion on them; see Jeremiah 30:18; The Targum of Jonathan is,"his Word shall receive with good will your repentance;''it being cordial and unfeigned, and fruits meet for it brought forth:

and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God scattered thee; or, "will again gather thee" (k); as he had gathered them out of all places where they had been scattered, on their return from the Babylonish captivity; so will he again gather them from all the nations of the earth, east, west, north, and south, where they are now dispersed; when they shall turn to the Lord, and seek David their King, the true Messiah. Maimonides (l) understands this passage of their present captivity, and deliverance from it by the Messiah.

(k) , Sept. "et rursum congregabit te", V. L. "et iterum colliget te", Piscator. (l) Hilchot Melachim, c. 11. sect. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. turn thy captivity] The Heb. phrase can hardly mean this, for the return from captivity comes later in this passage, in Deuteronomy 30:4, and such a sense is impossible in Job 42:10. Render turn thy fortune. So Amos 9:14, Hosea 6:11, Ezekiel 16:53; Ezekiel 16:55, and frequently in Jer.

have compassion upon thee] Deuteronomy 13:17.

gather thee] So frequently in Jer. and Ezek.

scattered thee] Deuteronomy 28:64.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity. This does not mean will cause thy captives to return, for

(1) the verb in Kal (as it is here, שָׁב) never has the force of the Hiph.; and

(2) the returning of the dispersed is afterwards referred to as consequent on the turning of the captivity. The plural is used here as elsewhere to indicate the cessation of affliction or suffering (cf. Job 41:10; Psalm 14:7; Psalm 85:2; Psalm 126:1, 4; Jeremiah 30:18; Ezekiel 16:53). The rendering of the LXX. here is noticeable, καὶ ἰάσεται Κύριος τὰς ἁμαρτίας: "and the Lord will heal thy sins," i.e. will remit thy guilt and will deliver thee from the pernicious and destructive power of sin (cf. Psalm 41:4; Jeremiah 3:22; Jeremiah 17:14; Hosea 14:4; Matthew 13:15, etc.). Deuteronomy 30:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"When all these words, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, shall come." The allusion to the blessing in this connection may be explained on the ground that Moses was surveying the future generally, in which not only a curse but a blessing also would come upon the nation, according to its attitude towards the Lord as a whole and in its several members, since even in times of the greatest apostasy on the part of the nation there would always be a holy seed which could not die out; because otherwise the nation would necessarily have been utterly and for ever rejected, whereby the promises of God would have been brought to nought, - a result which was absolutely impossible. "And thou takest to heart among all nations," etc., sc., what has befallen thee - not only the curse which presses upon thee, but also the blessing which accompanies obedience to the commands of God, - "and returnest to the Lord thy God, and hearkenest to His voice with all the heart," etc. (cf. Deuteronomy 4:29); "the Lord will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and gather thee again." את־שׁבוּת שׁוּב does not mean to bring back the prisoners, as the more modern lexicographers erroneously suppose (the Kal שׁוּב never has the force of the Hiphil), but to turn the imprisonment, and that in a figurative sense, viz., to put an end to the distress (Job 42:10; Jeremiah 30:8; Ezekiel 16:53; Psalm 14:7; also Psalm 85:2; Psalm 126:2, Psalm 126:4), except that in many passages the misery of exile in which the people pined is represented as imprisonment. The passage before us is fully decisive against the meaning to bring back the prisoners, since the gathering out of the heathen is spoken of as being itself the consequence of the "turning of the captivity;" so also is Jeremiah 29:14, where the bringing back (השׁיב) is expressly distinguished from it. But especially is this the case with Jeremiah 30:18, where "turning the captivity of Jacob's tents" is synonymous with having mercy on his dwelling-places, and building up the city, again, so that the city lying in ruins is represented as שׁבוּת, an imprisonment.

(Note: Hupfeld (on Psalm 14:7) has endeavoured to sustain the assertion that שׁבוּת is a later form for the older and simpler forms, שׁבי, שׁביה, by citing one single passage of the Old Testament. The abstract form of שׁבי is שׁבית, imprisonment (Numbers 21:29), then prisoners. This form has been substituted by Jeremiah for שׁבוּת in one passage, viz., Deuteronomy 32:44; and the Masoretic punctuators were the first to overlook the difference in the two words, and point them promiscuously.)