The Lame Made a Remnant
6 “In that day,” says Yahweh, “I will assemble that which is lame, and I will gather that which is driven away, and that which I have afflicted; 7 and I will make that which was lame a remnant, and that which was cast far off a strong nation: and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion from then on, even forever.” 8 You, tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come. Yes, the former dominion will come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
God gathers a limping people, names himself as the one who lamed them, and the word he uses is the word used of Jacob after Peniel.
The verb in verse 6 is worth pinning down. The one gathered is the limping woman, and outside this passage the participle describes a man walking away from a night of wrestling: the sun rose on Jacob as he passed Peniel, and he limped Genesis 32:31. The people gathered here are called Jacob throughout this book, and they are gathered under Jacob's own injury.
The clause that follows is harder than the picture. God assembles the lame, the driven away — and the one whom I have afflicted. The passage does not separate the wounding from the gathering or assign the first to anyone else. Another prophet pairs the same two groups in the same order Zephaniah 3:19.
Verse 7 states the outcome: the lame become a remnant H7611, the cast-off a strong nation, and Yahweh reigns over them on Mount Zion from that time onward. Weakness is not repaired before the reign begins. It is what the reign begins with.
Verse 8 addresses a tower of the flock, and the Hebrew names a particular place — the watchtower beyond which Israel pitched his tent after burying Rachel on the road to Bethlehem Genesis 35:19–21. The former dominion is promised a return, and the address is already drifting toward the village named in the next chapter.
held with reason What this mark means