“Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, 'Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him'" (New International Version, Ezekiel 37:16 Multilingual).
Ketriel Blad: In other words, in order for a total restoration to take place, the restored Ephraimites from among the nations will have to become Jewish, in the legal sense of the word, thus accepting the Jewish authorities and becoming obedient to Jewish halachah. In the prophecy of Ezekiel 37:19 the Hebrew text can be understood as HaShem giving Yehuda's stick the function of being over Ephraim's stick and this way both sticks will become one. This teaches us that the Ephraimite movement that comes from heaven cannot rise apart from the Jewish people without submission to the Jewish leaders' authority. This is not for all the gentiles.
"And having come, He dwelt in a city called Natzrat so that it should be fulfilled that having been spoken through the Prophets that He shall be called a Nazirite" (Matthew 2:23 Multilingual).
Sergei Komarov: By the way, we don't find this anywhere in the Prophets. It's a bit of an exegetical riddle.
Peter Leithart: Jesus' residence in Nazareth was a part of His humiliation. Jesus' fulfillment of the Nazirite institution points in the same direction: As the True Nazirite, the True Separated One, Jesus Christ took up the task set before Him on behalf of His people. Nazareth is a sign of self-denial, of kenosis; so also, the True Nazirite denied Himself the joy that He had had with the Father from eternity, and took on the form of a servant. Jesus Christ was willing to empty Himself of glory, to become a Nazarene, so that He could, as the True Nazirite, prosecute the holy war against Satan. As both Nazarene and Nazirite, He was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. As both Nazarene and Nazirite, He endured the cross for the joy set before Him, the eschatological feast that He would enter upon the completion of His task, where He could sit to eat and drink among His people.
Jesus lived in Nazareth of Galilee, a place held in contempt by the Jews; this fulfilled Old Testament prophecies about the suffering Messiah; and the suffering Messiah is the consecrated Nazirite who denies Himself until His task is done. Jesus was from Nazareth, and hence was a Nazarene; the fact that He was a Nazarene indicates further that He faithfully carried out His Nazirite vow to deliver His people (cf. Jud. 13:5), though it cost Him His life.
Hillel Fendel: Buffalo are currently raised in Moshav Bitzaron, just east of Ashdod, having been brought over from Italy. Zivotofsky says that these buffalo are the same as those that used to live here in Israel. "The Italian Jewish community still uses these animals today for their milk and meat," he said.
Hillel Fendel: Israel's Chief Rabbi has declared the water buffalo a kosher animal.
Ari Z. Zivotofsky: The Asiatic water buffalo (Bubalus arnee or Bubalus bubalis) is native to India and was probably not introduced to western Asia, i.e. the biblical lands, until shortly before the Common Era, near the very end of the biblical period.
Saul Jay Singer: The Zohar at Vol. 1, 72:2 teaches that an intensely bright and colorful rainbow will appear as a harbinger of the commencement of the long-awaited Messianic era.
DUSTIN HERRON: Next time you read the Parable of the Prodigal Son, try looking at it in a different light. Consider the two brothers and their relationship. The Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin is like the firstborn, who never intended to abandon the father. But it is the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who first went out and "sowed their wild oats," chose other gods and foreigners. Doesn't it sound like the younger son who committed many sins in a foreign land?
The 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel have been scattered and lost for a long time. Yeshua's death on the cross made a way also for the "lost sheep of the House of Israel" to be brought back into relationship with the Father.
God's desire is for Israel to return to His household, and for His other son to receive Israel with open arms.
David Treybig: Some have mistakenly assumed that because its founders chose the name Israel, this nation is now home for all of the descendants of ancient Israel. Several passages in the Bible make it clear that the modern nation of Israel does not represent all of the ancient Israelites.
Ketriel Blad: In other words, in order for a total restoration to take place, the restored Ephraimites from among the nations will have to become Jewish, in the legal sense of the word, thus accepting the Jewish authorities and becoming obedient to Jewish halachah. In the prophecy of Ezekiel 37:19 the Hebrew text can be understood as HaShem giving Yehuda's stick the function of being over Ephraim's stick and this way both sticks will become one. This teaches us that the Ephraimite movement that comes from heaven cannot rise apart from the Jewish people without submission to the Jewish leaders' authority. This is not for all the gentiles.
Pete Rambo: Increasingly, there are those, both in Judaism and in the "Hebrew roots movement," that recognize those in Christendom coming to Torah as being "Ephraim" or the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Emil G. Hirsch, Frants Buhl: according to Judges iii. 27, the Benjamites also were dwellers in the Ephraim hill country.
Richard L. Wheeler: Those that believe in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, "must choose" to covenant with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They "must choose" to change their allegiance and citizenship to the Commonwealth of Israel; no longer a citizen of the nations. Therefore, by being grafted into the cultivated Olive Tree, which is Israel, we are "No Longer Gentiles" (of the Nations), and are now Israelites; at least according to the apostle Paul.
Neil Asher Silberman, Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin, and Baruch Halpern: The Book of Joshua (12:21) specifically mentions the defeat of the king of Megiddo and the allotment of his territory to the tribe of Manasseh;
NETANYA MUNICIPALITY: thanks to the Lord for giving them {Netan~ya, lot. "gift of God"} the ability to continue the legacy of the 12 tribes who settled in the Land of Israel, and particularly of the half~tribe of Manasseh, which settled in the region.
Stephen Epstein: Some went down the Mekong River into Vietnam, the Philippines, Siam, Thailand and Malaysia, while some of the Israelites moved to Burma and west to India.