A technical term used to refer to God's people as they are scattered throughout the world.
The dispersion of the Jews
Promised and predicted
Deuteronomy 4:25–28; 1 Kings 14:15 See also Deuteronomy 28:15–68; Leviticus 26:27–35; Nehemiah 1:8–9; Jeremiah 13:24; Ezekiel 6:8–10, Ezekiel 20:23–24, Ezekiel 22:15
After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form— doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger— I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed. Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.
The prediction fulfilled
Jeremiah 50:17; Daniel 9:7 See also Esther 3:8; Psalm 44:9–16; Lamentations 4:16; Ezekiel 36:17–20; Zephaniah 3:10; Zechariah 1:19; John 7:35 In NT times there were more Jews living outside Palestine than within.
Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame— the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.
The promise of return
Isaiah 11:12 See also Deuteronomy 4:29–31; Jeremiah 31:10; Ezekiel 11:16–17
He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
The dispersion of Christians
Acts 8:1 Christians scattered because of persecution; 1 Peter 1:1 See also Acts 8:4, Acts 11:19; James 1:1
And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.