Isaiah 11:12

 Isaiah 11:12

And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

a. NASB 2020: And He will lift up a flag for the nations And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.  [NASB20] New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation; All Rights Reserved]

b. YLT:  And He hath lifted up an ensign to nations, And gathereth the driven away of Israel, And the scattered of Judah He assembleth, From the four wings of the earth.  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: And He will raise up a signal for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel and will gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. The Milstein Edition, Later Prophets, Isaiah. With Rabbinic Commentary:  He will raise a banner for the nations and assemble the castaways of Israel; and he will gather the dispersed ones of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES\MILSTEIN EDITION THE LATTER PROPHETS, ISAIAH Ⓒ Copyright 2013 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV: He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel,

and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

1. “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel…” 

b. [And he shall] set up [Strong: 5375 nâsâʼ, naw-saw'; or נָסָה nâçâh; (Psalm 4:6 [7]), a primitive root; to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative:—accept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable ( man), lade, lay, lift (self) up, lofty, marry, magnify, × needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive, regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, swear, take (away, up), × utterly, wear, yield.]

c. [an] ensign [Strong: 5251 nêç, nace; from H5264; a flag; also a sail; by implication, a flagstaff; generally a signal; figuratively, a token:—banner, pole, sail, (en-) sign, standard.]

d. [for the] nations [Strong: 1471 gôwy, go'-ee; rarely (shortened) גֹּי gôy; apparently from the same root as H1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:—Gentile, heathen, nation, people.]

e. [and shall] assemble [Strong: 622 ʼâçaph, aw-saf'; a primitive root; to gather for any purpose; hence, to receive, take away, i.e. remove (destroy, leave behind, put up, restore, etc.):—assemble, bring, consume, destroy, fetch, gather (in, together, up again), × generally, get (him), lose, put all together, receive, recover (another from leprosy), (be) rereward, × surely, take (away, into, up), × utterly, withdraw.]

f. [the] outcasts [Strong: 1760 dâchâh, daw-khaw'; or דָּחַח dâchach; (Jeremiah 23:12), a primitive root; to push down:—chase, drive away (on), overthrow, outcast, × sore, thrust, totter.]

g. [of] Israel [Strong: 3478 Yisrâʼêl, yis-raw-ale'; from H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisraël, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity:—Israel.]

2. “...and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

a. [and] gather together [Strong: 6908 qâbats, kaw-bats'; a primitive root; to grasp, i.e. collect:—assemble (selves), gather (bring) (together, selves together, up), heap, resort, × surely, take up.]

b. [the] dispersed [Strong: 5319 nâphats, naw-fats'; a primitive root; to dash to pieces, or scatter:—be beaten in sunder, break (in pieces), broken, dash (in pieces), cause to be discharged, dispersed, be overspread, scatter.]

c. [of] Judah [Strong: 3063 Yᵉhûwdâh, yeh-hoo-daw'; from H3034; celebrated; Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory:—Judah.]

d. [from the] four [Strong: 702 ʼarbaʻ, ar-bah'; masculine אַרְבָּעָה ʼarbâʻâh; from H7251; four:—four.]

e. corners [Strong: 3671 kânâph, kaw-nawf'; from H3670; an edge or extremity; specifically (of a bird or army) a wing, (of a garment or bedclothing) a flap, (of the earth) a quarter, (of a building) a pinnacle:— bird, border, corner, end, feather(-ed), × flying, (one an-) other, overspreading, × quarters, skirt, × sort, uttermost part, wing(-ed).]

f. [of the] earth [Strong: 776 ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × nations, way, + wilderness, world.]

1). Isaiah, Victor Buksbazen: Once israel is reconciled to god, those very nations which brought about Israel’s exile and dispersion will be used by the messiah to help assemble his people from the four corners of the earth. The expression “the dispersed of Israel and the scattered of Judah” indicates that isaiah had in mind a world wide dispersion.

2). By Dr. David R. Reagan Founder & Director, Lamb & Lion Ministries: Some have tried to debunk any modern application of this prophecy by claiming that it was fulfilled about 500 years before the time of Jesus by the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. But that cannot be. The passage refers to a "second" regathering (the return from Babylon being the first). Further, it states this will be a regathering "from the islands of the sea," which is a Hebrew colloquialism for the whole world, as is made clear in verse 12 where it states that the regathering will be "from the four corners of the earth." Also, verse 12 says that "the banished ones" of both Israel and Judah will be regathered. The return from Babylon was a regathering of Jews from Judah.

3). ICR Days of Praise, 11/29/2030: The great prophet Isaiah lived during the time when the 10 tribes of Israel were being carried into captivity by the Assyrians, and about a hundred years before his own nation of Judah would be carried into exile by the Babylonians. Yet, in one of the most remarkable prophecies of the Bible (Isaiah 44:28–45:6), Isaiah promised that his people would someday return and build Jerusalem and its temple again. Furthermore, he even named the future emperor of Persia (the nation that would succeed Assyria and Babylonia as the dominant world power), calling him Cyrus. This great king fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy about 175 years after it was given (note Ezra 1:1-4). But Isaiah not only prophesied this first return from exile, as noted in the key verse above; he foresaw that, in the distant future, God would also “set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people.” The context of this passage is nothing less than the glorious future time of Messiah’s reign over all the earth (Isaiah 11:9-10). The outcasts of Israel and Judah would return home, not only from the nations of the Middle East, which will evidently be active enemies of Israel again in that future day (note that Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, and Hamath were the ancient names of the nations now identified as Upper Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, respectively), but even from “the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12). Isaiah thus predicted an even greater exile and worldwide homecoming long beyond that of the Babylonian captivity. Such information could have come only from God Himself. HMM

4). John Walvrood, Every Prophecy of the Bible: Isaiah predicted that israel would enjoy the future glorious kingdom. Having cut down Assyria as a tree is cut down (Isaiah 10:33, 34), now God would raise up a new “Shoot” which “will come up from the stump of jesse” (Isaiah 11:1). This Branch which came from the root of Jesse, or David’s line, “will bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). This was fulfilled by the birth of Jesus Christ in his first coming.Thew passage, however, revealed primarily Christ’s position as King and Judge at the time of his second coming. It was prophesied that the Holy Spirit would rest on Him and that he would have wisdom, power, and knowledge (Isaiah 11:3, 4). He “will slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:4) and “righteousness” and “faithfulness” will characterize His rule (Isaiah 11:5). These passages, of course, will be fulfilled at the time of the second coming of Christ and do not refer to God’s present rule on earth. The future kingdom reign of Christ will be characterized by peace among animals as well as among men. Wolf and lamb will live together and “the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together” (Isaiah 11:6). The peacefulness of nature was summarized in verse 9, “They will neither harm nor destroy all My holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” It should be obvious that any literal fulfillment of this passage requires a millennial kingdom after the second coming of Christ.Even a nonliteral sense, this does not describe the present age.To apply it to heaven or to the new heaven and new earth, as some amillenarians hold, again does not fit the picture provided in other Scriptures of heaven and of the new earth. The restoration of Israel in the time when Christ reigns on earth will follow His second coming (Isaiah 11:10-16). The “Root of Jesse,” referring to Christ, will be One to whom the nations rally (Isaiah 11:10). Israel will be regathered from the nations to which Israel was scattered (Isaiah 11:11, 12). The animosity between the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel will vanish, and Ephraim and Judah will be at peace. Together they will bring into subjection their former enemies (Isaiah 11:14). To assist the regathering of israel, “the gulf of the Egyptian Sea” may “dry up” and the Euphrates River will not be a formidable water barrier (Isaiah 11:15. While this may be supernatural, Russia has already built a number of dams across the Euphrates River, and when these are closed, the Euphrates River dries up in several sections. The drying up of the Euphrates River will permit people to cross easily (Compare Revelation 16:12).