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" b; 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" c, 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" d; 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.
b מבין הגויים "e medio ipsarum gentium", Junius Tremellius "ex gentibus", Starckius; "e [vel] medio gentium", Piscator, Cocceius. c הלכו "ambulant, vel ambulantes sunt". d מסביב "circumquaque", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Starckius.