In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth,
&c.] The Jews or Israelites so described; not from the halting of Jacob their father, as Abarbinel thinks; nor because of their halting between two opinions, worshipping both the true God and idols, as in the times of Elijah; for this will not suit with the Jews in their present state; but because they were like lame and maimed sheep, to which the allusion is; or because they were guilty of sins, which are sometimes expressed by halting, ( Jeremiah 20:10 ) ( Psalms 38:16 Psalms 38:17 ) . The word signifies such that go sideways, and not uprightly; and fitly describes such who deviate from the ways of God, and walk not according to the divine word: now "in that day" or time before referred to, the last days of the Gospel dispensation, the Lord will convert the Jews; or "heal" these lame and maimed ones, so Jarchi interprets the word; or will gather them by his Spirit and grace to the Messiah, and assemble them into his church, and among his people, and bring them into the sheepfold, under the care of the one Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ: and I will gather her that is driven out;
out of the land of Israel, and scattered among the nations of the world; even driven out by the Lord himself, because of their transgressions against him; see ( Jeremiah 16:15 ) ( 24:9 ) ; and her that I have afflicted;
with various calamities, with famine and sword, with captivity and poverty; the Targum adds,
``for the sins of my people;''the Israelites for their idolatry, and the Jews for the rejection of the Messiah, and other sins.