Isaiah 6:12

12 and the Lord shall make men afar (and the Lord shall send the people far away). And that that was forsaken in the middle of [the] earth, shall be multiplied,

Isaiah 6:12 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 6:12

And the Lord have removed men far away
Not to Babylon, but to the ends of the earth, into the most distant countries, by means of the Romans; for they were but instruments of carrying the Jews captive out of their own land, and dispersing them among the several nations of the world; it was the Lord's doing, and a judgment which he inflicted upon them for their sins: and [there be] a great forsaking in the midst of the land;
not that there should be many left in the land, and multiply and increase in it; which is the sense of the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; but that the land should be greatly forsaken of men; there should be many places in the midst of the land destitute of them; and this should continue a long time, as Kimchi observes, which therefore cannot be understood of the Babylonish captivity, but of their present one.

Isaiah 6:12 In-Context

10 Make thou blind the heart of this people, and aggrieve thou the ears thereof, and close thou the eyes thereof; lest peradventure it see with his eyes, and hear with his ears, and understand with his heart, and it be converted, and I make it whole. (Make thou blind the hearts of these people, and make thou deaf their ears, and close thou their eyes; lest peradventure they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and they turn, or be converted, and I make them whole/and they be healed.)

11 And I said, Lord, how long? And he said, Till [the] cities be made desolate, without dweller, and houses without man. And the land shall be left desert, (And I said, Lord, how long? And he said, Until the cities be made desolate, yea, without any inhabitants, and the houses be left empty, yea, without anyone. And the land shall be left deserted,)

12 and the Lord shall make men afar (and the Lord shall send the people far away). And that that was forsaken in the middle of [the] earth, shall be multiplied,

13 and yet the tithing, either tenth part, shall be therein; and it shall be converted, and it shall be into showing, as a terebinth is, and as an oak, that spreadeth abroad his boughs; that shall be holy seed, that shall stand therein. (and even if but a tenth part of these people shall remain there, they shall all be destroyed, like a terebinth, or like an oak, that spreadeth abroad its boughs, and then is cut down; such shall be the fate of the holy generation, who shall be there.)