Deu 30:1-3 | KD | STEP | “ When all these words, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, shall come .” The allusion to the blessing in this connection may be explained on the ground that Moses was surveying the future generally, in which not only a curse but a blessing also would come upon the nation, according to its attitude towards the Lord as a whole and in its several members, since even in times of the greatest apostasy on the part of the nation there would always be a holy seed which could not die out; because otherwise the nation would necessarily have been utterly and for ever rejected, whereby the promises of God would have been brought to nought, - a result which was absolutely impossible. “ And thou takest to heart among all nations ,” etc., sc., what has befallen thee - not only the curse which presses upon thee, but also the blessing which accompanies obedience to the commands of God, - “ and returnest to the Lord thy God, and hearkenest to His voice with all the heart ,” etc. (cf. ); “ the Lord will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and gather thee again .” את־שׁבוּת שׁוּב does not mean to bring back the prisoners, as the more modern lexicographers erroneously suppose (the Kal שׁוּב never has the force of the Hiphil ), but to turn the imprisonment, and that in a figurative sense, viz., to put an end to the distress ( ; ; ; ; also ; , ), except that in many passages the misery of exile in which the people pined is represented as imprisonment. The passage before us is fully decisive against the meaning to bring back the prisoners, since the gathering out of the heathen is spoken of as being itself the consequence of the “turning of the captivity;” so also is , where the bringing back (השׁיב) is expressly distinguished from it. But especially is this the case with , where “turning the captivity of Jacob’s tents” is synonymous with having mercy on his dwelling-places, and building up the city, again, so that the city lying in ruins is represented as שׁבוּת, an imprisonment.

‏ Deuteronomy 30:1-3

“When all these words, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, shall come.” The allusion to the blessing in this connection may be explained on the ground that Moses was surveying the future generally, in which not only a curse but a blessing also would come upon the nation, according to its attitude towards the Lord as a whole and in its several members, since even in times of the greatest apostasy on the part of the nation there would always be a holy seed which could not die out; because otherwise the nation would necessarily have been utterly and for ever rejected, whereby the promises of God would have been brought to nought, - a result which was absolutely impossible. “And thou takest to heart among all nations,” etc., sc., what has befallen thee - not only the curse which presses upon thee, but also the blessing which accompanies obedience to the commands of God, - “and returnest to the Lord thy God, and hearkenest to His voice with all the heart,” etc. (cf. Deu 4:29); “the Lord will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and gather thee again.” את־שׁבוּת שׁוּב does not mean to bring back the prisoners, as the more modern lexicographers erroneously suppose (the Kal שׁוּב never has the force of the Hiphil), but to turn the imprisonment, and that in a figurative sense, viz., to put an end to the distress (Job 42:10; Jer 30:8; Eze 16:53; Psa 14:7; also Psa 85:2; Psa 126:2, Psa 126:4), except that in many passages the misery of exile in which the people pined is represented as imprisonment. The passage before us is fully decisive against the meaning to bring back the prisoners, since the gathering out of the heathen is spoken of as being itself the consequence of the “turning of the captivity;” so also is Jer 29:14, where the bringing back (השׁיב) is expressly distinguished from it. But especially is this the case with Jer 30:18, where “turning the captivity of Jacob’s tents” is synonymous with having mercy on his dwelling-places, and building up the city, again, so that the city lying in ruins is represented as שׁבוּת, an imprisonment. ^{▼▼Hupfeld (on Psa 14:7) has endeavoured to sustain the assertion that שׁבוּת is a later form for the older and simpler forms, שׁבי, שׁביה, by citing one single passage of the Old Testament. The abstract form of שׁבי is שׁבית, imprisonment (Num 21:29), then prisoners. This form has been substituted by Jeremiah for שׁבוּת in one passage, viz., Deu 32:44; and the Masoretic punctuators were the first to overlook the difference in the two words, and point them promiscuously.}