Ezekiel 37:21

21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land.

Ezekiel 37:21 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 37:21

And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God
Or, as the Targum,

``thou shalt prophesy to them;''
for what follows is a prophecy of what shall be in the latter day: behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the Heathen,
whither they be gone,
or, "from among the Gentiles" F2; not only the Chaldeans, where they were carried captives; but from among the nations where they are now dispersed, and among whom they go freely of their own accord from place to place, for the sake of traffic: and this phrase, "whither they be gone", or "are going" F3, travelling about from one country to another, better describes the present Jews, and their state, than those in the Babylonian captivity: and will gather them on every side,
or, "round about" F4; from the several parts of the world where they are: and bring them into their own land;
the land of Canaan, given by the Lord to their fathers, and to them their posterity, for an inheritance; though now in the possession of others, who, it seems, are not the right owners.
FOOTNOTES:

F2 (Myywgh Nybm) "e medio ipsarum gentium", Junius & Tremellius; "ex gentibus", Starckius; "e [vel] medio gentium", Piscator, Cocceius.
F3 (wklh) "ambulant, vel ambulantes sunt".
F4 (bybom) "circumquaque", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Starckius.

Ezekiel 37:21 In-Context

19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with it; and I will put the stick of Judah upon it, and make them one stick, in order that they may be one in my hand.
20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes,
21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land.
22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.
23 They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.