Isaiah 11:11

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) The Lord shall set his hand again the second time . . .—The “first” time, implied in the “second,” was obviously that of the Exodus. Then, as from a state of extremest misery, they had entered on their life as a nation, and what had been in the past should be reproduced yet more wonderfully in the future. The list of countries that follows rests in part on the fact of a dispersion already begun, as in 2Kings 15:29; 2Kings 17:6, and Isaiah 43:5-6, partly on the prophet’s prevision of the coming years. The great kingdoms by which Judah was surrounded are all enumerated:—(1) Assyria; (2) Egypt, i.e., Lower Egypt; (3) Pathros, probably the region of Upper Egypt, of which Thebes was the capital (the name has been interpreted as “Southland,” or as connected with the worship of the goddess Athor); (4) Cush, i.e., Ethiopia, higher up the valley of the Nile, governed at this time by a warlike and powerful dynasty (see Isaiah 37:9); (5) Elam, often translated Persia, but probably used, with a wider range, for the region east of the lower course of the Tigris and Euphrates; (6) Shinar, as in Genesis 11:1, the plain south of the junction of those rivers; (7) Hamath, the nearest of the hostile kingdoms (see Note on Isaiah 10:9); and, lastly, the “island” or coast regions of the Mediterranean Sea. In Zephaniah 3:10 we have traces of an Ethiopian captivity; in Ezra 2:7, of exiles in Elam.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 11:11-12. And it shall come to pass in that day — As this chapter contains a general prophecy of the advancement which Christ’s kingdom should make in the world, and as this advancement was to be made by different steps and degrees, so the several parts of this prophecy may be supposed to point at different ages or periods of time: see note on Isaiah 2:2. “And, I take this part of the chapter,” says Lowth, “from Isaiah 11:10 onward, to foretel those glorious times of the church, which shall be ushered in by the restoration of the Jewish nation, when they shall embrace the gospel, and be restored to their own country, from the several dispersions where they are scattered. This remarkable scene of providence is plainly foretold by most of the prophets of the Old Testament, and by St. Paul in the New.” See the margin. Bishop Lowth also observes, that “this part of the chapter contains a prophecy, which certainly remains yet to be accomplished.” The Lord shall set his hand again the second time — The first time to which this word second relates, seems to be, either, 1st, The deliverance out of Egypt, and then this second must be that out of Babylon; or, rather, 2d, The deliverance out of Babylon; and then this second deliverance must be in the days of the Messiah. This latter interpretation seems more probable, 1st, Because that first deliverance, like the second, is supposed to be a deliverance of the remnant of this people from several countries into which they were dispersed: whereas that out of Egypt was a deliverance, not of a remnant, but of the whole nation, and out of Egypt only: 2d, Because this second deliverance was universal, extending to the generality of the outcasts and dispersed ones, both of Israel, or the ten tribes, and of Judah, or the two tribes, as is evident from these verses, whereas that out of Babylon reached only to the two tribes, and to some few of the ten tribes which were mixed with them: 3d, Because this second deliverance was to be given them in the days of the Messiah, and to accompany, or follow, the conversion of the Gentiles, as is evident from Isaiah 11:9-10, whereas that out of Babylon was long before the coming of the Messiah and the calling of the Gentiles. And from the islands of the sea — From all places, both far and near, into which either the ten tribes, or the two tribes, were carried captives. Pathros was a province of Egypt. The other places here named are well known, and have been spoken of before in our notes on other texts. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations — All nations, Jews and Gentiles. And shall assemble the outcasts of Israel — Those of the ten tribes that had been driven out of their own land into foreign parts; and gather together the dispersed of Judah —

Here distinguished from those of Israel. The reader must observe here, that the prophet’s ideas respecting this future and spiritual deliverance of the Jews and Israelites, are wholly taken from their temporal deliverances out of Egypt and Assyria.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:10-16 When the gospel should be publicly preached, the Gentiles would seek Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and find rest of soul. When God's time is come for the deliverance of his people, mountains of opposition shall become plains before him. God can soon turn gloomy days into glorious ones. And while we expect the Lord to gather his ancient people, and bring them home to his church, also to bring in the fulness of the Gentiles, when all will be united in holy love, let us tread the highway of holiness he has made for his redeemed. Let us wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, looking to him to prepare our way through death, that river which separates this world from the eternal world.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And it shall come to pass - The prophet having, in the previous verse, stated the effect of the reign of the Messiah on the Gentile world, proceeds to state the result on the scattered Jews. Whether it is to be a literal re-collecting of the scattered tribes to the land of their fathers, has been a subject of debate, and is still so by expositors. We may be able to determine what is the correct general interpretation after the particular phrases have been examined.

In that day - That future time referred to in this whole prophecy. The word "day" is often used to denote a long time - or the time during which anything continues, as "the day" denotes all the hours until it is terminated by night. So "day" denotes the time of a man's life - 'his day;' or time in general; or the time when one shall be prominent, or be the principal object at that time. Thus it is applied to the time of the Messiah, as being the period of the world in which he will be the prominent or distinguished object; John 8:56 : 'Abraham rejoiced to see my day;' Luke 17:24 : 'So shall the Son of man be in his day.' The expression here means, that somewhere in that future time, when the Messiah should appear, or when the world should be put under him as the Mediator, the event would take place which is here predicted. As the word 'day' includes "all" the time of the Messiah, or all his reign from his first to his second advent, it is not to be supposed that the event would take place when he was personally on earth. Isaiah saw it in vision, as "one" of the events which was to occur after the 'root of Jesse' should stand as an ensign to the nations.

That the Lord shall set his hand - That Yahweh shall undertake this, and accomplish it. To set the hand to anything is to undertake to perform it.

The second time - שׁנית shênı̂yth. This word properly means, as it is here translated, the second time, implying that the prophet here speaks of a deliverance which would resemble, in some respects, a "former" deliverance or recovery. By the former recovery to which he here refers, he cannot mean the deliverance from Egypt under Moses, for at that time there was no recovery from scattered and distant nations. Besides, if "that" was the reference by the former deliverance, then that mentioned here as the 'second' deliverance would be that from the Babylonian captivity. But on the return from that captivity, there was not a collecting of the Jews from all the nations here specified. When the Jews were led back to Judea under Nehemiah, there is no record of their having been collected from 'Egypt,' or from 'Cush,' or from 'the islands of the sea.' It is evident, therefore, I think, that by the former deliverance to which the prophet here alludes - the deliverance which was to precede that designated here as the "second" - he refers to the return from the captivity of Babylon; and by the 'second,' to some still more future recovery that should take place under the administration of the Messiah. This is further confirmed from the fact that the whole scope of the prophecy points to that future period.

To recover - Hebrew, 'To possess,' or, to obtain possession of - לקנות lı̂qenôth. This word properly means to obtain possession of by purchasing or buying anything. But it is also applied to any possession obtained of an object by power, labor, skill, or by delivering from bondage or captivity, and is thus synonymous with "redeem" or "deliver." Thus it is applied to the deliverance of the people from Egypt; Deuteronomy 32:6; Exodus 15:16; Psalm 74:2. It means here, that Yahweh would redeem, rescue, recover his people; but it does not specify the "mode" in which it would be done. Any mode - either by collecting and rescuing them from the regions into which they were scattered into one place, or by a "spiritual" turning to him, wherever they might be, would meet the force of this word. If in the lands where they were scattered, and where they had wandered away from the true God, they were converted, and should become again his people, the event would correspond with all that is meant by the word here.

They would "then" be purchased, possessed, or recovered to himself, by being delivered from their spiritual oppression. It is not necessary, therefore, to resort to the interpretation that they should, in the 'second' deliverance, be restored literally to the land of Canaan. Any argument for that doctrine from this passage must be drawn from the word here used - 'recover' - and that "that" idea is not necessarily involved in this word is abundantly manifest from its familiar use in the Old Testament. All that that word implies, is, that they should "be possessed" by God as his people; an idea which is fully met by the supposition that the scattered Jews everywhere will be converted to the Messiah, and thus become his true people. For this use of the word, see Genesis 25:10; Genesis 47:22; Genesis 49:30; Genesis 50:13; Joshua 24:32; 2 Samuel 12:3; Leviticus 27:24; Nehemiah 5:8. In no place does it necessarily imply the idea of "collecting or restoring" a scattered people to their Own land.

The remnant of his people - That is, the remnant of the Jews, still called his people. In all the predictions respecting the calamities that should ever come upon them, the idea is "always" held out that the nation would not be wholly extinguished; but that, however great the national judgments, a remnant would still survive. This was particularly true in regard to the fearful judgments which Moses denounced on the nation if they should be disobedient, and which have been so strikingly fulfilled; Deuteronomy 28. As the result of those judgments, Moses does not say that Yahweh would annihilate the nation, or extinguish their name, but that the would be 'left few in number,' Deuteronomy 28:62; that Yahweh would scatter them among all people, from the one end of the earth even to the other, Deuteronomy 28:64; and that among these nations they should find no ease, neither should the sole of their foot have rest.

In like manner it was predicted that they should be scattered everywhere. 'I will scatter them also among the pagan, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach, a proverb, a taunt, and a curse, in all places whither I will drive them;' Jeremiah 9:16; Jeremiah 24:9-10. 'I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds;' Ezekiel 5:10. 'I will also scatter them among the nations, among the pagan, and disperse them in the countries;' Ezekiel 12:15, 'I will sift the house of Israel among the nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. They shall be wanderers among the nations;' Amos 9:9. 'I will make a full end of the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished;' Jeremiah 46:28.

From all these, and from numerous other passages in the Old Testament, it is evident that it was designed that the Jewish nation should never be wholly destroyed; that though they were scattered among the nations, they should still be a distinct people; that while other nations would wholly cease to exist, yet that a "remnant" of the Jewish people, with the national peculiarities and customs, would still survive. How entirely this has been fulfilled, the remarkable history of the Jewish people everywhere testifies. Their present condition on the earth, as a people scattered in all nations, yet surviving; without a king and a temple, yet preserving their national prejudices and peculiarities, is a most striking fulfillment of the prophecy; see Keith's "Evidence of the Fulfillment of Prophecy," pp. 64-82.

From Assyria - The name Assyria is commonly applied to that region of country which lies between Media, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Babylon, and which is now called Kurdistan. The boundaries of the kingdom have often varied, and, as a kingdom or separate nation, it has long since ceased to exist. The name "Assyria" in Scripture is given,

(1) To ancient Assyria, lying east of the Tigris, and between Armenia, Susiana, and Media - the region comprising mostly the modern kingdoms and the pashalic of Mosul.

(2) Most generally the name Assyria means the "kingdom of Assyria," including Babylonia and Mesopotamia, and extending to the Euphrates; Isaiah 7:20; Isaiah 8:7.

(3) After the overthrow of the Assyrian empire, the name continued to be applied to those countries which were formerly held under its dominion - including Babylonia 2 Kings 23:29; Jeremiah 2:18, Persia Ezra 6:22, and Syria. - "Robinson; Calmet."

It is in this place applied to that extensive region, and means that the Jews scattered there - of whom there have always been many - shall be brought under the dominion of the Messiah. If the Nestorian Christians in the mountains of Kurdistan are the descendants of the lost ten tribes (see the note at Isaiah 11:12), then the reference here is, doubtless, to them. There are, however, other Jews there, as there always has been; "see" Dr. Grant's work on 'The Nestorians, or, the Lost Ten tribes,' New York, 1841.

continued...

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. set … hand—take in hand the work. Therefore the coming restoration of the Jews is to be distinct from that after the Babylonish captivity, and yet to resemble it. The first restoration was literal, therefore so shall the second be; the latter, however, it is implied here, shall be much more universal than the former (Isa 43:5-7; 49:12, 17, 18; Eze 37:21; Ho 3:5; Am 9:14, 15; Mic 4:6, 7; Zep 3:19, 20; Zec 10:10; Jer 23:8). As to the "remnant" destined by God to survive the judgments on the nation, compare Jer 46:28.

Pathros—one of the three divisions of Egypt, Upper Egypt.

Cush—either Ethiopia, south of Egypt, now Abyssinia, or the southern parts of Arabia, along the Red Sea.

Elam—Persia, especially the southern part of it now called Susiana.

Shinar—Babylonian Mesopotamia, the plain between the Euphrates and the Tigris: in it Babel was begun (Ge 10:10). In the Assyrian inscriptions Rawlinson distinguishes three periods: (1) The Chaldean; from 2300 B.C. to 1500, in which falls Chedorlaomer (Ge 14:1-17), called in the cuneiform characters Kudur of Hur, or Ur of the Chaldees, and described as the conqueror of Syria. The seat of the first Chaldean empire was in the south, towards the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. (2) The Assyrian, down to 625 B.C. (3) The Babylonian, from 625 to 538 B.C., when Babylon was taken by the Persian Cyrus.

islands of … sea—the far western regions beyond the sea [Jerome].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The second time: the first time, to which this word second relates, seems to be, either,

1. The deliverance out of Egypt, as most both Jewish and Christian interpreters understand it; and then this second deliverance must be that out of Babylon. Or,

2. The deliverance out of Babylon; and then this second deliverance must be in the days of the Messiah; which, with submission to better judgments, seems to me more probable,

1. Because that first deliverance is supposed to be, like the second, a deliverance of the remnant of this people from several countries, into which they were dispersed; whereas that out of Egypt was a deliverance not of a remnant, but of the whole nation, and that out of Egypt only.

2. Because this second deliverance was universal, extending to the generality of the outcasts and dispersed ones, both of Israel, or the ten tribes, and of Judah, or the two tribes, as is evident from Isaiah 11:12,13; whereas that out of Babylon reached only to the two tribes, and to some few of the ten tribes which were mixed with them, as is acknowledged, both by Jews and Christians.

3. Because this second deliverance was given them in the days of the Messiah, and did accompany or follow the conversion of the Gentiles, as is evident from Isaiah 11:9,10; whereas that out of Babylon was long before the coming of the Messiah, and the calling of the Gentiles.

From Assyria, & c.; from all places, both far and near, into which either the ten tribes or the two tribes were carried captives; for the places of both their captivities are here named; of which it is needless to discourse particularly., because they are well known, and have been considered in former texts. Only Pathros was not named before; and that was a province in Egypt, which yet is sometimes distinguished from Egypt strictly so called. See on Jeremiah 44:1,15 Eze 29:14 30:14.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it shall come to pass in that day,.... Before spoken of, and which includes the whole Gospel dispensation:

that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time; which refers to a first, in which the Lord exerted his power in the recovery of his people out of the hands of their enemies; and that was the deliverance of them out of Egypt, and which was typical of the deliverance of the Lord's people in the times of Christ; and it is usual with the Jews (i) to call Moses the first redeemer, and the Messiah the latter; wherefore this "second time" refers to the times of the Messiah, and not to the time of the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; for that, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi observe, was not a perfect redemption; only Judah and Benjamin returned, not the ten tribes, and so did not answer to the first time, when all Israel came out of Egypt; and much less can it be understood of the return of those, in the times of Hezekiah, carried captive by Tilgathpilneser and Shalmaneser: or the first and second time may be distinguished thus; the first time may intend the calling of a large number, both of Jews and Gentiles, through the preaching of the Gospel by the apostles; and the second time the bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles, and the conversion of the Jews, in the latter day; or the first time may respect the calling of the Gentiles, and the second the gathering in of the Jews: or both may intend later times; the first time, the reformation from Popery; the second time, deliverance from Babylon, or the antichristian yoke, under which all nations will again be brought, before the destruction of the man of sin:

to recover the remnant of his people; or to "obtain", or to "possess" (k); for this is not to be understood of the recovery or redemption of them by the price of Christ's blood, but of the calling and conversion of them, when the Lord claims them, possesses and enjoys them, as his own; and as they are but a remnant whom God has chosen for his people, and Christ has redeemed by his blood, so they are no other that are called; though here they may be called a remnant, or what remains, with respect to those who have been called already:

which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt; Egypt, and other places following, being joined with Assyria, show that this cannot be understood of the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; but designs the several places where Christ would have a people in Gospel times, and who would be found out, and called by grace; some of which already have been, as in Babylon and Egypt, 1 Peter 5:13 and others will be hereafter, according to the prophecies, Psalm 68:31 and as Assyria and Egypt are now in the hands of the Turks, it may design the call and conversion of many in those parts, when the Turkish empire shall be destroyed; or else the deliverance of God's people from the tyranny of the Romish antichrist, called Egypt and Babylon, at the time of his ruin:

from Pathros; by which some understand Parthia, as Manasseh ben Israel (l), and Calvin thinks it probable; many of this country were converted in the first times of the Gospel; the Apostle John's first epistle is called by the ancients the Epistle to the Parthians, see Acts 2:9 and very likely there will be more of them in the latter day: others think Arabia Petraea is intended; it seems to be a part of Egypt last mentioned, as appears from Ezekiel 29:14 and is mentioned with some cities in Egypt, Jeremiah 44:1 and had its name very likely from Pathrusim, a son of Mizraim, Genesis 10:14. Thebais is here meant, the extreme part of Egypt, next to Ethiopia, which is designed by what fellows, according to Sir John Marsham (m), and Bochart (n), and Vitringa after them:

and from Cush; or Ethiopia; from whence some have been called, see Acts 8:27 and others will, according to prophecy, Psalm 68:31 and in part of this country now live the Abyssines, who profess Christianity: or rather Arabia, see Galatians 1:17. The Targum renders it,

"from India:''

and from Elam; a province in Persia, Daniel 8:2 the inhabitants of this place are called Elamites, Acts 2:9 some of these heard the apostles speak the wonderful things of God in their own language, and were converted:

and from Shinar; in Chaldea, in the plain of which the tower of Babel was built, Genesis 10:10 wherefore the Targum renders it,

"from Babylon:''

and from Hamath; meaning either Antiochia, as some, or Cilicia, as others. Cocceius says it is a country which lies towards the Mediterranean sea, over against Cyprus, above Mount Libanus, where now is Tripoli:

and from the islands of the sea; or of the west; the European islands, particularly England, Ireland, and Scotland, and others. Aben Ezra refers this prophecy to the times of the Messiah, and so does Manasseh ben Israel.

(i) Midrash Koheleth, fol. 63. 2.((k) "ad possidendum", Grotius; , Aquila. (l) Spes Israelis p. 72. (m) Canon. Chron. p. 25. (n) Geograph. l. 4. c. 27. col. 276.

Geneva Study Bible

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand {g} again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the isles of the sea.

(g) For God first delivered his people out of Egypt and now promises to deliver them out of their enemies hands as from the Parthians, Persians, Chaldeans and them of Antioch among whom they were dispersed and this is chiefly meant of Christ, who calls his people being dispersed through all the world.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. the Lord shall set his hand again] Or, the Lord shall again (lift up) his hand. The verb has to be supplied from the context.

the second time] If the standpoint (actual or ideal) of the prophecy be post-exilic, the most probable reference would be to the first return from exile under Cyrus. Otherwise, we must understand “the first time” of the exodus from Egypt, which is hardly natural, although the prophecy does abound in allusions to that great deliverance.

the remnant] An Isaianic word, but used in a non-Isaianic sense. See introductory note to this chapter. For recover read purchase, or “redeem.”

Pathros (Upper Egypt, Genesis 10:14) and Cush (Ethiopia) are dependencies of Egypt; Elam (Susiana), Suinar (Babylonia) and Hamath (see on ch. Isaiah 10:9) of Assyria. It should be noticed that the use of the name “Assyria” for the supreme power in Western Asia occurs in post-exilic writings (Ezra 6:22).

the islands of the sea] The coast-lands or countries bordering on the Mediterranean.

11, 12. The gathering of the “dispersed of Israel.” It is of course impossible to disprove that in Isaiah’s time scattered Israelites were to be found in all the countries mentioned at the end of Isaiah 11:11. Some might have been included among the captives whom Sargon settled in Elam, Babylonia and Hamath; fugitives from the Northern Kingdom might have taken refuge in considerable numbers in Egypt at the fall of Samaria; and the slave-trade might have carried small groups of Hebrews to the remoter regions. But the language here seems to imply a Jewish dispersion on a large scale, and the only wholesale deportations that had taken place in Isaiah’s time were those of Northern Israelites to the Assyrian Empire (2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 17:6). On the other hand, the references exactly fit the circumstances of the post-exilic period, when large colonies of Jews are known to have been spread over the lands here enumerated.

Ch. 11:(10) Isaiah 11:11-16. A Prophecy of the Return from Exile

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - The Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover, etc. The first recovery was from the servitude in Egypt. Isaiah now foresees that there will be a dispersion of the Israelites through several distant lands, instead of a mere transference of them from one land to another, as in Jacob's time (Genesis 46:1-29). God, who brought them out of Egypt, will likewise some day "set his hand" to recover them from the various countries through which they will have been dispersed, and restore them to their own land once more. The first fulfillment of the prophecy was undoubtedly, the return from the Babylonian captivity. A secondary fulfillment may have been the gathering of so many Jews from all quarters into the Christian Church (Acts 2:9-41). It is possible that there may be ultimately a further fulfillment in a final gathering together of Israel into their own land. From Assyria. Assyria is placed first because already the bulk of the Israelites, as distinct from the Jews, had been carried into Assyria by Tiglath-Pileser (2 Kings 15:29) and Sargon (2 Kings 17:6; 2 Kings 18:11), and were captives there at the time when Isaiah wrote. The transportation of Israelites to the other places mentioned was subsequent to his day. Egypt... Pathros. There was a great migration of Jews into Egypt in the time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 43:7; Jeremiah 44:1), and a steady influx for some generations under the early Ptolemies. There was also a second large migration in the time of Onias. The Jewish element in Alexandria for some centuries both before and after Christ was very considerable. Pathros was probably a portion of Upper Egypt, perhaps the Phaturite nome, which was the district about Thebes. It is mentioned as the residence of certain Jews in the time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 44:1, 15). From Cush. "Cush" here may he either the African or the Asiatic. It is slightly in favor of the African that we hear in the Acts of an Ethiopian eunuch who was a Jew in the service of Candace, Queen of the African Ethiopia (Acts 8:27). And it is against the Asiatic that it was so remote. It adjoined, however, upon Elam. From Elam, and from Shinar. "Elam" was the fertile tract of alluvial land to the east of the Tigris, between that stream and the mountains, parallel with Babylonia. Its capital was Susa, and in Isaiah's time it was an important country, frequently at war with Assyria. Shinar was an ancient name of Babylonia (Genesis 10:10; Genesis 11:1-9). The word is used also by Daniel (Daniel 1:2) and Zechariah (Zechariah 5:11). Some regard it as meaning "the land of the two fleers." From Hamath. (On this town, see note to Isaiah 10:9.) From the islands of the sea; i.e. the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. During the Maccabee period, there was a gradual spread of Jews over the Western world. Alliances were made with Rome end Sparta (1 Macc. 8:1 1 Macc. 12:2-21 1 Macc. 14:20-23, etc.), and Jews became familiar with both Greece and Italy. St. Paul finds numerous Jews at Rome, and in almost every city of Greece. Isaiah 11:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

A second question also concerns Israel. The nation out of which and for which this king will primarily arise, will before that time be scattered far away from its native land, in accordance with the revelation in Isaiah 6:1-13. How, then, will it be possible for Him to reign in the midst of it? "And it will come to pass in that day, the Lord will stretch out His hand again a second time to redeem the remnant of His people that shall be left, out of Asshur, and out of Egypt, and out of Pathros, and out of Ethiopia, and out of 'Elam, and out of Shinar, and out of Hamath, and out of the islands of the sea. And he raises a banner for the nations, and fetches home the outcasts of Israel; and the dispersed of Judah will He assemble from the four borders of the earth." Asshur and Egypt stand here in front, and side by side, as the two great powers of the time of Isaiah (cf., Isaiah 7:18-20). As appendices to Egypt, we have (1.) Pathros, hierogl. to-rēs, and with the article petorēs, the southland, i.e., Upper Egypt, so that Mizraim in the stricter sense is Lower Egypt (see, on the other hand, Jeremiah 44:15); and (2.) Cush, the land which lies still farther south than Upper Egypt on both sides of the Arabian Gulf; and as appendices to Asshur, (1.) 'Elam, i.e., Elymais, in southern Media, to the east of the Tigris; and (2.) Shinar, the plain to the south of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris. Then follow the Syrian Hamath at the northern foot of the Lebanon; and lastly, "the islands of the sea," i.e., the islands and coast-land of the Mediterranean, together with the whole of the insular continent of Europe. There was no such diaspora of Israel at the time when the prophet uttered this prediction, nor indeed even after the dissolution of the northern kingdom; so that the specification is not historical, but prophetic. The redemption which the prophet here foretells is a second, to be followed by no third; consequently the banishment out of which Israel is redeemed is the ultimate form of that which is threatened in Isaiah 6:12 (cf., Deuteronomy 30:1.). It is the second redemption, the counterpart of the Egyptian. He will then stretch out His hand again (yōsiph, supply lishloach); and as He once delivered Israel out of Egypt, so will He now redeem it - purchase it back (kânâh, opp. mâcar) out of all the countries named. The min attached to the names of the countries is to be construed with liknōth. Observe how, in the prophet's view, the conversion of the heathen becomes the means of the redemption of Israel. The course which the history of salvation has taken since the first coming of Christ, and which is will continue to take to the end, as described by Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, is distinctly indicated by the prophet. At the word of Jehovah the heathen will set His people free, and even escort them (Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 62:10); and thus He will gather again ('âsaph, with reference to the one gathering point; kibbētz, with reference to the dispersion of those who are to be gathered together) from the utmost ends of the four quarters of the globe, "the outcasts of the kingdom of Israel, and the dispersed of the kingdom of Judah" (nidchē Yisrâe ūnephutzōth Yehūdâh: nidchē equals niddechē, with the dagesh dropped before the following guttural),

(Note: The same occurs in ויסעוּ, וישׂאוּ, ויקנאוּ, מלאוּ, שׁלחוּ, תּקחוּ. In every case the dagesh has fallen out because of the following guttural (Luzzatto, Gramm. 180).)

both men and women.