What Does Jeremiah 31:10 Mean in the King James?
Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
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 verse names one hand on both sides of dispersion: the one that scatters is the one that gathers and guards.
THE MEANING
You hear the LORD’s word declaring that the one who scatters Israel gathers and keeps him like a shepherd tends his flock. Here, scattering is not the final state; the same hand remains at work gathering and guarding.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that being scattered means being abandoned or beyond God’s reach: the one who scattered Israel is still the one who gathers and guards him.
THE ROOT
יְקַבְּצֶנּוּ
yəqabbeṣennû
GROWS FROM
קבץ
Gather, collect, bring together
“gather him” in this verse is yəqabbeṣennû. The root makes gathering an active bringing together, not simply a return to where things were. The verse places that act in the same hand that scattered Israel, so dispersion does not put Israel beyond that hand’s reach.
ALSO GROWS
kevutsah: Group, collection
קְבוּצָה
A collection is what scattered parts become when they are brought together.
kibbutz: Gathering, collective
קִבּוּץ
This familiar derivative keeps the root’s sense of many being gathered into one group.
וּשְׁמָרוֹ
ûšəmārô
GROWS FROM
שמר
Guard, watch over, keep
“keep him” in this verse is ûšəmārô. The root carries the sense of active watchfulness. The shepherd does not merely collect the flock; he stays attentive to it and guards it.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: Watcher, guard
שֹׁמֵר
The one who keeps the flock is pictured as one who watches over it.
mishmeret: Guard duty, charge
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
Keeping is an ongoing charge, giving weight to the shepherd’s care after the gathering.
מְזָרֵה
məzārēh
GROWS FROM
זרה
Scatter, disperse; also winnow
“scattered” in this verse is məzārēh. The root can describe scattering and winnowing, where material is spread apart. Against that movement, the verse sets קבץ (qavats), gathering: the same account holds dispersion and bringing together in view.
ALSO GROWS
zarah: To scatter, disperse, winnow
זָרָה
This verb names the dispersing action that the verse sets beside gathering.
mizreh: Winnowing shovel or fork
מִזְרֶה
The related tool makes visible the spreading apart carried by this root’s winnowing sense.
THE PATTERN
Scattering does not end the shepherd’s care; the scattered are sought, gathered, and kept.
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.The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.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 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.“Gather” here and “I will gather” in Jeremiah 23:3 come from the same Hebrew root, קבץ (qavats), meaning to gather or bring together. The connected verse also holds the tension plainly: the one who drove the flock gathers it back into its folds.
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