Jeremiah 31:10 Study Bible: Hear the word of the LORD, you nations, and declare it in the islands afar off; and say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as shepherd does his flock."

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◄ Jeremiah 31:10 ►

Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: "The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Study Bible

Hear the word of the LORD
This phrase is a divine summons, an imperative call to attention. The Hebrew word for "hear" is "שָׁמַע" (shama), which implies not just listening but also obeying. It is a call to heed the message with the intent to act upon it. In the context of ancient Israel, hearing the word of the LORD was a sacred duty, as God's words were delivered through prophets like Jeremiah. This call to hear is timeless, urging believers today to prioritize God's voice amidst the noise of the world.

O nations
The term "nations" (Hebrew: "גּוֹיִם" - goyim) refers to the Gentiles, or non-Israelite peoples. This is significant because it indicates that the message of God is not limited to Israel but is intended for all humanity. Historically, Israel was chosen to be a light to the nations, and this verse underscores the universal scope of God's plan. It foreshadows the New Testament revelation that the Gospel is for all people, Jew and Gentile alike.

and declare it in the distant coastlands
The phrase "distant coastlands" (Hebrew: "אִיִּים" - iyim) suggests far-off places, emphasizing the global reach of God's message. In the ancient world, coastlands were often seen as the ends of the earth, representing the farthest reaches of the known world. This command to declare God's word in distant lands highlights the missionary aspect of Israel's calling and prefigures the Great Commission given by Christ to His disciples.

The One who scattered Israel will gather them
This statement is a profound promise of restoration. The scattering of Israel refers to the exile, a consequence of their disobedience. Yet, the same God who allowed their dispersion promises to gather them. The Hebrew word for "scatter" is "פּוּץ" (puts), and "gather" is "קָבַץ" (qavats), indicating a reversal of fortunes. This reflects God's redemptive nature and His faithfulness to His covenant. It is a message of hope, assuring that God's discipline is always coupled with His mercy and plans for restoration.

and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock
The imagery of a shepherd (Hebrew: "רֹעֶה" - ro'eh) is rich with meaning. In the ancient Near East, a shepherd was responsible for the safety and well-being of the sheep, guiding, protecting, and providing for them. This metaphor is frequently used in Scripture to describe God's relationship with His people. It conveys intimacy, care, and leadership. Jesus later identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd, fulfilling this promise by offering His life for the sheep, ensuring their eternal security and guidance. This phrase reassures believers of God's constant presence and protection, echoing the pastoral care that is central to the Christian faith.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Jeremiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, known for his prophecies concerning the judgment and restoration of Israel.

2. Israel
The nation chosen by God, often scattered due to disobedience but promised restoration.

3. Nations
Refers to the Gentile nations, indicating that God's message is for all people, not just Israel.

4. Distant Coastlands
Symbolic of the far reaches of the earth, emphasizing the global scope of God's message.

5. Shepherd
A metaphor for God, illustrating His care, guidance, and protection over His people.

Teaching Points

God's Sovereignty in Restoration
God is in control of both the scattering and gathering of His people. Trust in His timing and plan for restoration.

The Global Scope of God's Message
The call to "hear" and "proclaim" is for all nations, emphasizing the universal nature of the Gospel. We are called to share God's message beyond our immediate circles.

The Shepherd's Care
Just as a shepherd cares for his flock, God provides guidance, protection, and provision. We can find comfort in His attentive care.

Hope in God's Promises
Despite current circumstances, God's promises of restoration and care are sure. Hold onto hope and faith in His word.

Our Role in God's Plan
We are called to be active participants in God's plan by proclaiming His word and being instruments of His restoration.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does understanding God as a shepherd influence your view of His care and guidance in your life?

2. In what ways can you participate in proclaiming God's message to the "distant coastlands" in your own context?

3. Reflect on a time when you felt scattered or lost. How did you experience God's gathering and restoration?

4. How do the promises of restoration in Jeremiah 31:10 encourage you in your current circumstances?

5. What other biblical passages reinforce the theme of God as a shepherd, and how do they deepen your understanding of His character?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Ezekiel 34
This chapter also uses the shepherd metaphor, where God promises to be the shepherd of Israel, seeking out the lost and bringing them back.

John 10
Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd, connecting the Old Testament promise of God as shepherd to the New Testament fulfillment in Christ.

Isaiah 40:11
Describes God as a shepherd who gathers the lambs in His arms, reinforcing the theme of divine care and restoration.

Psalm 23
The well-known psalm that portrays the Lord as a shepherd, providing and guiding His people.

Matthew 15:24
Jesus speaks of being sent to the lost sheep of Israel, highlighting His mission to gather and restore.

Sermons

The Scatterer Also the Gatherer	D. Young	Jeremiah 31:10
The Scatterer the Gatherer	S. Conway	Jeremiah 31:10
Development by Crises	J. Clifford, D. D.	Jeremiah 31:10-11
God's Grace Shown to Israel	C. Inglis.	Jeremiah 31:10-11
God's Word	G. J. Till.	Jeremiah 31:10-11
The Redemption of Israel a Great and Notable Event	A.F. Muir	Jeremiah 31:10-14

People

Gareb, Jacob, Jeremiah, Rachel, Rahel

Places

Corner Gate, Egypt, Gareb, Goah, Horse Gate, Kidron, Ramah, Samaria, Tower of Hananel, Zion

Topics

Afar, Coastlands, Declare, Distant, Ear, Flock, Gather, Islands, Isles, Keeper, Keeps, Kept, Nations, News, O, Proclaim, Scattered, Scattering, Sea-lands, Shepherd, Wandering, Watch

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Jeremiah 31:10

     1220   God, as shepherd
     4248   islands
     7130   flock, God's
     7520   dispersion, the
     7785   shepherd, occupation
     7786   shepherd, king and leader

Jeremiah 31:9-10

7141 people of God, OT

Jeremiah 31:10-11

5942 security

Library

What the Stable Creation Teaches
'If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever.'--JER. xxxi. 36. This is the seal of the new covenant, which is to be made in days future to the prophet and his contemporaries, with the house of Israel and of Judah. That new covenant is referred to in Hebrews as the fundamental law of Christ's kingdom. Therefore we have the right to take to ourselves the promises which it contains, and to think of 'the house …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

What the Immense Creation Teaches
'If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.'--JER. xxxi. 37. In the former sermon we considered the previous verse as presenting the stability of creation as a guarantee of the firmness of God's gracious covenant. Now we have to consider these grand closing words which bring before us another aspect of the universe as a guarantee for another side of God's gracious …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

August the Twenty-First Satisfaction
"My people shall be satisfied with My goodness." --JEREMIAH xxxi. 10-14. And how unlike is all this to the feasts of the world! There is a great show, but no satisfaction. There is much decorative china, but no nutritious food or drink. "Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again." We rise from the table, and our deepest cravings are unappeased. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" We know. We have had a condiment, but no meat; a showy menu-card, but no reviving feast. Nothing but …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

God in the Covenant
But I have been thinking for the last two or three days, that the covenant of grace excels the other covenant most marvelously in the mighty blessings which it confers. What does the covenant of grace convey? I had thought this morning of preaching a sermon upon "The covenant of grace; what are the blessings it gives to God's children?" But when I began to think of it, there was so much in the covenant, that if I had only read a catalogue of the great and glorious blessings, wrapped up within its …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Two Covenants: their Relation
"It is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid, and one by the freewoman. Howbeit, the one by the bondmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the freewoman is born through promise. Which things contain an allegory: for these women are two covenants." -GAL. iv. 22-24. THERE are two covenants, one called the Old, the other the New. God speaks of this very distinctly in Jeremiah, where He says: "The days come, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not after the …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

The New Covenant
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."--JER. xxxi. 33, 34. ISAIAH has often been called …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Conversion of all that Come.
"Turn Thou me and I shall be turned." --Jer. xxxi. 18. The elect, born again and effectually called, converts himself. To remain unconverted is impossible; but he inclines his ear, he turns his face to the blessed God, he is converted in the fullest sense of the word. In conversion the fact of cooperation on the part of the saved sinner assumes a clearly defined and perceptible character. In regeneration there was none; in the calling there was a beginning of it; in conversion proper it became a …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Old Things are Passed Away.
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Whether the Active Life Remains after this Life?
Objection 1: It would seem that the active life remains after this life. For the acts of the moral virtues belong to the active life, as stated above [3738](A[1]). But the moral virtues endure after this life according to Augustine (De Trin. xiv, 9). Therefore the active life remains after this life. Objection 2: Further, teaching others belongs to the active life, as stated above [3739](A[3]). But in the life to come when "we shall be like the angels," teaching will be possible: even as apparently …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Waiting Faith Rewarded and Strengthened by New Revelations
'And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A vision of Judgement and Cleansing
'And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the Angel. 4. And He answered and spake unto those that stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him He said, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Perseverance in Holiness
May the King himself come near and feast his saints to-day! May the Comforter who convinced of sin now come to cheer us with the promise! We noticed concerning the fig tree, that it was confirmed in its barrenness: it had borne no fruit, though it made large professions of doing so, and it was made to abide as it was. Let us consider another form of confirmation: not the curse of continuance in the rooted habit of evil; but the blessing of perseverance in a settled way of grace. May the Lord show …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 35: 1889

Appendix xiv. The Law in Messianic Times.
THE question as to the Rabbinic views in regard to the binding character of the Law, and its imposition on the Gentiles, in Messianic times, although, strictly speaking, not forming part of this history, is of such vital importance in connection with recent controversies as to demand special consideration. In the text to which this Appendix refers it has been indicated, that a new legislation was expected in Messianic days. The ultimate basis of this expectancy must be sought in the Old Testament …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Conversion --Varied Phenomena or Experience.
We have spoken of the meaning of this term, inquired into the nature of the change, and noted its essential elements. We have also learned that there are some who do not need it because they are in a converted state, and that all who are not in such a state of Grace, do need conversion, regardless of anything that may or may not have taken place in the past. We inquire now as to the agencies or means by which this change is brought about. For it is a change which man can certainly not effect by his …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

The Girdle of the City. Nehemiah 3
The beginning of the circumference was from 'the sheep-gate.' That, we suppose, was seated on the south part, yet but little removed from that corner, which looks south-east. Within was the pool of Bethesda, famous for healings. Going forward, on the south part, was the tower Meah: and beyond that, "the tower of Hananeel": in the Chaldee paraphrast it is, 'The tower Piccus,' Zechariah 14:10; Piccus, Jeremiah 31:38.--I should suspect that to be, the Hippic tower, were not that placed on the north …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The King in Exile
'And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him. 14. When he arose, he took the young child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt; 15. And was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

"We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. "
1 John ii. 1.--"We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." There is no settlement to the spirit of a sinner that is once touched with the sense of his sins, and apprehension of the justice and wrath of God, but in some clear and distinct understanding of the grounds of consolation in the gospel, and the method of salvation revealed in it. There is no solid peace giving answer to the challenges of the law and thy own conscience, but in the advocation of Jesus Christ, the Saviour …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Lord's Supper Instituted.
(Jerusalem. Evening Before the Crucifixion.) ^A Matt. XXVI. 26-29; ^B Mark XIV. 22-25; ^C Luke XXII. 19, 20; ^F I. Cor. XI. 23-26. ^a 26 And as they were eating, ^f the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; 24 and when he had given thanks, { ^b blessed,} ^f he brake it, ^a and he gave to the disciples, and said, ^b Take ye: ^a Take, eat; this is my body. ^f which is ^c given ^f for you: this do in remembrance of me. [As only unleavened bread was eaten during the paschal supper, …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The First Covenant
"Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice, and keep My covenant, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me."--EX. xix. 5. "He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments."--DEUT. iv. 13.i "If ye keep these judgments, the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant,"--DEUT. vii. 12. "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, which My covenant they brake."--JER. xxxi. 31, 32. WE have …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Sanctification.
I. I will remind you of some points that have been settled in this course of study. 1. The true intent and meaning of the law of God has been, as I trust, ascertained in the lectures on moral government. Let this point if need be, be examined by reference to those lectures. 2. We have also seen, in those lectures, what is not, and what is implied in entire obedience to the moral law. 3. In those lectures, and also in the lectures on justification and repentance, it has been shown that nothing is …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

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