What Does Jeremiah 23:3 Mean in the King James?
And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The voice that owns the scattering also gathers the surviving flock, and restoration ends in renewed fruitfulness.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks of a life where being scattered does not cancel belonging: the same voice that says, “I have driven them,” promises to gather the remnant and bring them back to their folds. The gathered flock finds care and grows fruitful again; restoration means more than a change of place, it brings life back into view.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that scattering is the final word: the verse names the same voice behind the driving as the one who gathers the remnant home.
THE ROOT
וְאָסַפְתִּי
ve'asaphti
GROWS FROM
אסף
Gather, collect, bring together.
“gather” in this verse is ve'asaphti. Gathering here is more than a headcount: what has been dispersed is brought together as a flock again. The root also appears in the language of bringing in a harvest, giving this return the shape of life gathered in.
ALSO GROWS
asaph: Gather, collect.
אָסַף
This is the root verb behind the promise to gather the remnant.
asif: Ingathering, harvest.
אָסִיף
The same root describes gathering a harvest in, echoing the flock’s return to a place where life can grow.
וַהֲשִׁבֹתִי
vahashivoti
GROWS FROM
שוב
Turn back, return.
“bring them again” in this verse is vahashivoti. The Hebrew root carries the sense of returning or turning back. The flock is brought back to its own folds: the promise restores a relationship and a home, rather than replacing what was scattered.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: Turn back, return.
שׁוּב
This is the root’s basic movement, the return that stands behind “bring them again.”
heshiv: Bring back, restore.
הֵשִׁיב
This form makes the return something actively brought about for the flock.
וּפָרוּ
u-faru
GROWS FROM
פרה
Bear fruit, be fruitful.
“fruitful” in this verse is u-faru. The flock’s return ends in fruitfulness, not mere survival. The verse describes the restored flock as able to bear life again.
ALSO GROWS
peri: Fruit.
פְּרִי
The noun makes visible what fruitfulness produces: life that can be gathered and shared.
parah: Bear fruit, be fruitful.
פָּרָה
This verb family carries the growth promised to the returned flock.
THE PATTERN
Dispersal does not cancel belonging; the scattered are sought, gathered, and returned to shared care.
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.As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.THE THREAD
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.Jeremiah ends with the same creation pair: פָּרָה (parah, bear fruit) and רָבָה (rabah, become many). Genesis uses those roots for life’s increase, so the flock’s return restores its capacity to grow and bear life.
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