ProlepsisOpen in the graph →

Prophecy

Scattered “among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other” (Deuteronomy 28:64, Leviticus 26:33)

The inhabitants of Jerusalem carried into captivity in Babylon (2 Kgs 25:11): artist’s impression by James Tissot (around 1896-1902). One stage of the dispersion, not all of it.
Artist’s impression The inhabitants of Jerusalem carried into captivity in Babylon (2 Kgs 25:11): artist’s impression by James Tissot (around 1896-1902). One stage of the dispersion, not all of it. — James Tissot, Wikimedia Commons · Domaine public

● Written before, according to historians

Written c. 1406 BC according to tradition; c. 640–540 BC according to historians. Event: 722 BC – 135 AD.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. In the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, attributed to Moses around 1400 BC by tradition and often dated to the 7th-6th centuries BC by historians, God threatens Israel with being scattered “among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other”, without finding rest.

What happened. The Israelites are deported by Assyria in 722 BC, then by Babylon in 597-586 BC. In the 1st century BC, the Greek geographer Strabo writes that it is hard to find an inhabited place without Jews. After AD 70 and 135, Judea is largely emptied of its Jewish population.

What is still debated. the dispersion had probably already begun when the text received its final form, and deporting the defeated was the ordinary policy of the empires of the time.

Why it is striking

The defeated of that time were deported to one specific place; the text announces a universal and lasting dispersion. A pagan with no interest in the Bible notes its extent before 70. It had, however, begun when the text probably took its final form.

Main objection (in French for now)

La déportation des vaincus était la politique ordinaire des empires assyrien et babylonien : l’annoncer à un petit royaume pris entre ces empires ne demandait aucune prescience.

The text (World English Bible)

The LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul.

Deut 28:64-65

I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

Lev 26:33

Sources