Bible Strands
Isaiah 27:12
In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah pronounces a future divine intervention where Yahweh personally threshes Israel from the Euphrates River to the Wadi of Egypt, following a context of national judgment for spiritual blindness (Isaiah 27:11). This gathering directly precedes the trumpet call and return of exiles from Assyria and Egypt to worship in Jerusalem (Isaiah 27:13).
The words — The Hebrew יַחְבֹּט (yach-bot) literally means "he will beat out" or thresh, describing Yahweh's action of separating the people. The phrase מִשִּׁבֹּלֶת הַנָּהָר (mi-shibboleth ha-nahar) denotes "from the flowing stream of the River," specifying the northern boundary of this gathering.
The thread — The geographical boundary "from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt" echoes the land promise given to Abram in Genesis 15:18. The theme of gathering exiles from distant nations aligns with the restoration promises in Deuteronomy 30:3 and Nehemiah 1:9.
Why it lands — The text declares a precise, divine gathering of Israelites from a vast territory, contrasting human abandonment with Yahweh's deliberate collection. It requires the reader to acknowledge that national restoration follows judgment and depends entirely on divine initiative rather than human merit.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
Cross-references
- Genesis 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Deuteronomy 30:3 then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you.
- Nehemiah 1:9 but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’
- Isaiah 56:8 Thus declares the Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will gather to them still others besides those already gathered.”
- Psalms 68:22 The Lord said, “I will retrieve them from Bashan, I will bring them up from the depths of the sea,
- Psalms 72:8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
- Isaiah 11:11 On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Isaiah 17:6 Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
- Isaiah 24:13 So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
- Jeremiah 3:14 “Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.