Isaiah 11:12

King James Version (KJV)

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.

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

And he shall set up an ensign - See Isaiah 11:10. The Messiah shall stand in view of the nations, as a standard is erected by a military leader. An ensign or standard was usually lifted up on the mountains or on some elevated place (compare Isaiah 18:3); and the meaning here is, that the Messiah would be the conspicuous object around which the nations would rally.

And shall assemble - This word, אסף 'âsaph properly means, to gather, collect, to assemble together, as fruits are collected for preservation Exodus 23:10; to collect a people together Numbers 21:16; to gather or collect gold; 2 Kings 22:4. It may also mean to gather or collect anything for destruction Jeremiah 8:13; and hence, to take out of the way, to kill, destroy; 1 Samuel 15:6. Here, it is evidently synonymous with the word ‹recover‘ in Isaiah 11:11. It cannot be proved that it means that God will “literally” re-assemble all the scattered Jews, for the “collecting them,” or regathering them to himself “as his people,” though they may be still scattered among the nations, is all that the words necessarily imply. Thus when the word is used, as it is repeatedly, to denote the death of the patriarchs, where it is said they were ‹gathered to their fathers,‘ it does not mean that they were buried in the same grave, or the same vicinity, but that they were united to them in death; they partook of the same lot; they all alike went down to the dead; Genesis 25:8; Genesis 35:29; Genesis 49:29; Numbers 20:24; Deuteronomy 32:50.

The outcasts of Israel - The name ‹Israel,‘ applied at first to all the descendants of Jacob, came at length to denote the ‹kingdom of Israel,‘ or of the ‹ten tribes,‘ or of ‹Ephraim,‘ as the tribes which revolted under Jeroboam were called. In this sense it is used in the Scriptures after the time of Jeroboam, and thus it acquired a technical signification, distinguishing it from Judah.

The dispersed of Judah - ‹Judah,‘ also, though often used in a general sense to denote the Jews as such, without reference to the distinction in tribes, is also used technically to denote the kingdom of Judah, as distinguished from the kingdom of Israel. The tribe of Judah was much larger than Benjamin, and the name of the latter was lost in the former. A considerable part of the ten tribes returned again to their own land, with those of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; a portion remained still in the countries of the East, and were intermingled with the other Jews who remained there. All distinctions of the tribes were gradually abolished, and there is no reason to think that the ‹ten tribes,‘ here referred to by the name ‹Israel,‘ have now anywhere a distinct and separate existence; see this point fully proved in a review of Dr. Grant‘s work on ‹” The Nestorians, or, the Lost Ten tribes,”‘ in the “Bib. Rep.” for October 1841, and January 1842, by Prof. Robinson. The literal meaning here then would be, that he would gather the remains of those scattered people, whether pertaining to ‹Israel‘ or ‹Judah,‘ from the regions where they were dispersed.

It does not necessarily mean that they would be regathered in their distinctive capacity as ‹Israel‘ and ‹Judah,‘ or that the distinction would be still preserved, but that the people of God would be gathered together, and that all sources of alienation and discord would cease. The meaning, probably, is, that under the Messiah all the remains of that scattered people, in all parts of the earth, whether originally pertaining to ‹Israel‘ or ‹Judah,‘ should be collected into one spiritual kingdom, constituting one happy and harmonious people. To the fulfillment of this, it is not necessary to be supposed that they would be literally gathered into one place, or that they would be restored to their own land, or that they would be preserved as a distinct and separate community. The leading idea is, that the Messiah would set up a glorious kingdom in which all causes of alienation and discord would cease.

From the four corners of the earth - Chaldee, ‹From the four winds of the earth.‘ The Septuagint renders it, ‹From the four wings ( πτερύγων pterugōn ) of the earth.‘ It means, that they should be collected to God from each of the four parts of the earth - the east, the west, the north, and the south. The Hebrew word rendered here ‹corners,‘ means properly “wings.” It is applied, however, to the corner, or border of a thing, as a skirt, or mantle 1 Samuel 24:5, 1 Samuel 24:11; Deuteronomy 23:1; and hence, to the boundaries, or corners of the earth, because the earth seems to have been represented as a quadrangular plain; Ezekiel 7:2.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

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.

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Ellen G. White
Prophets and Kings, 376

“In that day,” says Isaiah, “there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious. 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.... 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.” Isaiah 11:10-12. PK 376.1

The day of deliverance is at hand. “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9. Among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, He sees men and women who are praying for light and knowledge. Their souls are unsatisfied; long have they fed on ashes. See Isaiah 44:20. The enemy of all righteousness has turned them aside, and they grope as blind men. But they are honest in heart and desire to learn a better way. Although in the depths of heathenism, with no knowledge of the written law of God nor of His Son Jesus, they have revealed in manifold ways the working of a divine power on mind and character. PK 376.2

At times those who have no knowledge of God aside from that which they have received under the operations of divine grace have been kind to His servants, protecting them at the risk of their own lives. The Holy Spirit is implanting the grace of Christ in the heart of many a noble seeker after truth, quickening his sympathies contrary to his nature, contrary to his former education. The “Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9), is shining in his soul; and this Light, if heeded, will guide his feet to the kingdom of God. The prophet Micah said: “When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.... He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.” Micah 7:8, 9. PK 376.3

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Cross References

set up

shall assemble