The Lord shall scatter you among the nations - This was amply verified in their different captivities and dispersions.

And the LORD shall (s) scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
(s) So that his curse will make his former blessings ineffectual.

And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations,.... As they were by both captivities; the ten tribes were dispersed among the cities of the Medes, and the two tribes throughout the empire of Babylon:
and ye shall be left few in number among the Heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you; or be "men of number" (i), so few that they might be easily numbered; which intimates that it should be other wise with them than when in Egypt; there they were multiplied and increased the more they were afflicted, but in these captivities they should be greatly diminished.
(i) "viri numeri", Montanus, Drusius.

Jehovah would scatter them among the nations, where they would perish through want and suffering, and only a few (מספּר מתי, Genesis 34:30) would be left. "Whither" refers to the nations whose land is thought of (cf. Deuteronomy 12:29; Deuteronomy 30:3). For the thing intended, see Leviticus 26:33, Leviticus 26:36, Leviticus 26:38-39, and Deuteronomy 28:64., from which it is evident that the author had not "the fate of the nation in the time of the Assyrians in his mind" (Knobel), but rather all the dispersions which would come upon the rebellious nation in future times, even down to the dispersion under the Romans, which continues still; so that Moses contemplated the punishment in its fullest extent.