Psalm 107:3

And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) Gathered them.—The usual prophetic word for the Restoration. (See references in margin, and with the verse comp. Isaiah 49:12.)

From the south.—See margin. The sea here can hardly be any sea but the Mediterranean, and therefore ought, according to general use (see Genesis 12:8, &c), to stand for the west. But as this makes the enumeration of the points of the compass imperfect, several emendations have been proposed, the best of which is yamin (the “right hand,” and so “south”) for yam.

Or is the text right, and instead of looking for a complete compass, ought we to connect this general statement with the four tableaux of misery presently painted, and so take “out of the sea” literally in reference to Psalm 107:23-30?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

107:1-9 In these verses there is reference to the deliverance from Egypt, and perhaps that from Babylon: but the circumstances of travellers in those countries are also noted. It is scarcely possible to conceive the horrors suffered by the hapless traveller, when crossing the trackless sands, exposed to the burning rays of the sum. The words describe their case whom the Lord has redeemed from the bondage of Satan; who pass through the world as a dangerous and dreary wilderness, often ready to faint through troubles, fears, and temptations. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, after God, and communion with him, shall be filled with the goodness of his house, both in grace and glory.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And gathered them out of the lands - The countries where they were scattered. In the times of the captivity the people were not all taken to one place, or did not all abide in one place. In the long exile - of seventy years - in Babylon, they would naturally be much scattered in the different provinces; and the attempt to collect them together, to restore them again to their native land, might be attended with much difficulty.

From the east ... - From all quarters; from the places where they were scattered abroad. That is, one taking his position in Babylon would see them dispersed from that place as a center into all the surrounding country.

And from the south - Margin, as in Hebrew, "from the sea." In general, in the Old Testament, the word "sea" is used for the west, because the western boundary of the land of Palestine was the Mediterranean Sea. Compare Psalm 139:9. But the supposed position of the speaker here is "Babylon," and on that account the south might be fitly designated by the word "sea;" as, on the south of Babylon, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean would be soon reached.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. gathered—alluding to the dispersion of captives throughout the Babylonian empire.

from the south—literally, "the sea," or, Red Sea (Ps 114:3), which was on the south.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Bringing them into their own land, out of the several quarters of the world into which they had been carried.

From the south, Heb. from the sea; which in Scripture commonly notes the west, because the great midland sea was on the west of Canaan; but here, as it appears from the opposition of this to the

north, it notes the south, so called from the Red Sea, which was on the south, and which is sometimes called the sea, simply and without addition, as Psalm 72:8 114:3.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And gathered them out of the lands,.... This cannot have respect to the bringing of the children of Israel out of Egypt; for they were not then brought out of several countries, but from one land only: nor to the Babylonish captivity; for, though some might be gathered out of different provinces, yet not from east, west, north, and south, as here expressed. It best suits with the gathering of the redeemed in the effectual calling, and particularly the calling of the Gentiles in Gospel times; to which the title of the Syriac version before mentioned has respect. The elect of God are gathered in consequence of being redeemed, Zechariah 10:8, they are gathered out of the world, and from among the men of it; they are gathered to Christ, and by him; they are gathered into his churches, and to communion with them, and to a participation of all privileges and ordinances: and this is usually done by the ministering of the Gospel, which is sent into all the world for this purpose; and a distinguishing blessing of grace it is to be gathered out from the rest of the world, and favoured with such rich mercies. Such have reason to adore the grace of God, and to show forth his praise, who has called them by his grace, and separated them from others for himself.

From the east and from the west, and from the north and from the south; or, "from the sea" (f); the southern sea, as the Targum; or the Red sea, the Arabian or Persian sea. The elect of God, and redeemed of the Lord, lie in all parts of the world; and from thence they are gathered by the ministry of the word unto Christ: this was fulfilled in the first times of the Gospel, and will be more so in the latter day; see Isaiah 43:5.

(f) "et a mari", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, &c.

Geneva Study Bible

And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. gathered them out of the lands] In accordance with many a prophetic promise (Jeremiah 32:37; Ezekiel 20:34; &c.); cp. the prayer of Psalm 106:47.

from the east &c.] “From the four quarters of the earth,” Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 43:5-6. Israelites from many lands doubtless returned to join the newly-founded community in Jerusalem.

from the south] Heb. from the sea, which according to general usage means the west. The Targ. explains it to mean ‘the southern sea,’ the Arabian gulf or the Indian ocean; possibly it may denote the southern part of the Mediterranean, washing the shore of Egypt: but on the whole it seems most probable that the Psalmist borrowed the phrase “from the north and from the sea” from Isaiah 49:12, and does not strictly enumerate the points of the compass. ‘The sea’ or ‘west’ there denotes the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean (Isaiah 11:11). A slight change of the text, yâmîn for yâm, would give the usual word for south (Psalm 89:12), but the text is supported by the Versions.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - And gathered them out of the lands (compare the prayer of Psalm 106:47; and for the expression, "the lands" - i.e. the foreign countries - see Psalm 106:27; Ezra 9:1). From the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. The present Hebrew text has מִיָּם, "from the sea" and so the LXX., ἀπὸ θαλάσσης - but it is thought that probably מִיָּם is a corruption of מִיָּמִין (Cheyne), which would mean "from the south." Psalm 107:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The introit, with the call upon them to grateful praise, is addressed to the returned exiles. The Psalm carries the marks of its deutero-Isaianic character on the very front of it, viz.: "the redeemed of Jahve," taken from Isaiah 62:12, cf. Psalm 63:4; Psalm 35:9.; קבּץ as in Isaiah 56:8, and frequently; "from the north and from the sea," as in Isaiah 49:12 : "the sea" (ים) here (as perhaps there also), side by side with east, west, and north, is the south, or rather (since ים is an established usus loquendi for the west) the south-west, viz., the southern portion of the Mediterranean washing the shores of Egypt. With this the poet associates the thought of the exiles of Egypt, as with וּממּערב the exiles of the islands, i.e., of Asia Minor and Europe; he is therefore writing at a period in which the Jewish state newly founded by the release of the Babylonian exiles had induced the scattered fellow-countrymen in all countries to return home. Calling upon the redeemed ones to give thanks to God the Redeemer in order that the work of the restoration of Israel may be gloriously perfected amidst the thanksgiving of the redeemed ones, he forthwith formulates the thanksgiving by putting the language of thanksgiving of the ancient liturgy (Jeremiah 33:11) into their mouth. The nation, now again established upon the soil of the fatherland, has, until it had acquired this again, seen destruction in every form in a strange land, and can tell of the most manifold divine deliverances. The call to sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving is expanded accordingly into several pictures portraying the dangers of the strange land, which are not so much allegorical, personifying the Exile, as rather exemplificative.