(29) In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel- beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor—Gilead, Galilee, the entire region of Naphtali; and he deported the inhabitants-d to Assyria.
Into a ruin in open country,
Into ground for planting vineyards;
For I will tumble her stones into the valley
And lay her foundations bare.
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: The members of the ten tribes come to the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “And it shall come to pass on that day, that a great shofar will be sounded, and they shall come who were lost in the land of Assyria and who were dispersed in the land of Egypt, and they shall worship the Lord at the holy mountain in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13). Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Here too, Rabbi Akiva abandoned his piety and uncharacteristically interpreted the verses harshly, as it is stated with regard to the ten tribes: “Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return you faithless Israel, says the Lord; I will not frown upon you; for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not bear a grudge forever” (Jeremiah 3:12). The prophet prophesies about the return of the ten tribes to Eretz Yisrael.
(21) and you shall declare to them: Thus said the Lord GOD: I am going to take the Israelite people from among the nations they have gone to, and gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. (22) I will make them a single nation in the land, on the hills of Israel, and one king shall be king of them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. (23) Nor shall they ever again defile themselves by their fetishes and their abhorrent things, and by their other transgressions. I will save them in all their settlements where they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. (24) My servant David shall be king over them; there shall be one shepherd for all of them. They shall follow My rules and faithfully obey My laws. (25) Thus they shall remain in the land which I gave to My servant Jacob and in which your fathers dwelt; they and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, with My servant David as their prince for all time. (26) I will make a covenant of friendship with them—it shall be an everlasting covenant with them—I will establish them and multiply them, and I will place My Sanctuary among them forever.
Targum Yonatan Exodus 34:10
... [Although] I make a covenant that I will not exchange this nation for another, from you [Moses] shall come a righteous multitude; and with all your people will I do wondrous things in the time when they go into captivity by the rivers of Babylon. For I will bring them up from there, and make them dwell from within the River Sambatyon...
In an hour of favor I answer you,
And on a day of salvation I help you—
I created you and appointed you a covenant people-c—
Restoring the land,
Allotting anew the desolate holdings, (9) Saying to the prisoners, “Go free,”
To those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
They shall pasture along the roads,
On every bare height shall be their pasture.
Yalkut Shimoni Yeshayahu 269 "What is meant by the words 'That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth'? Three exiles were experienced by Israel: one was exiled to the Sambatyon River; one was exiled beyond the Sambatyon River - and it is the same distance from the Land of Israel to the Sambatyon as it is from the Sambatyon to this place; and one was exiled to Antioch and was absorbed there.
Bamidbar Rabbah 16:25
He raised up from him sixty myriads, as stated (in I Chron. 23:17), “but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.” And in the world to come the Holy One shall gather them. Thus it is stated (in Is. 49:12), “Look! These are coming from afar. And look! These are from the north and from the sea (i.e., from the west), and these from the land of Sinim.” Moreover, the exiles shall come with them, also the tribes who are located beyond the River Sambatyon46Gk.: Sabbatikos (“Sabbatical”). See Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Exod. 34:10; ySanh. 10:6 or 5 (29c); Gen. R. 73:6; Lam. R. 2:5 (9); PR 31:10; above, Gen. 10:17, it was beyond, or on an island in, this legendary river that at least some of the ten tribes were exiled. See also Tanh., Exod. 9:33; Gen. R. 11:5, PR 23:8; according to which the river carried stones in its current during the whole week but rested on the Sabbath. See also Pliny, HN 31:18 (24); Sanh. 65b. Cf. Josephus, BJ 7:5:1 (96–99), according to whom the Sabbath was the only day on which the river flowed. and beyond the hills of darkness.47Cf. Ezek. 34:12. They shall be gathered and come to Jerusalem. Isaiah said (in Is. 49:9), “Saying to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’” i.e., to those who are located beyond the Sambatyon. (Ibid., cont.,) “To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves,’”48higgalu. the verb can also mean “be exiled. these are those who are located beyond the cloud of darkness. (Ibid., cont.,) “They shall pasture along the roads, and in all the heights shall be their pasture,” these are those who are located in Daphne of Antioch.49According to ySanh. 10:6 or 5 (29c) the exiles were divided into three parts: one beyond the Sambatyon River, one to Daphne at Antioch, and one into a cloud cover. At that time they shall be redeemed and come to Zion with gladness, as stated (in Is. 51:11), “So let those ransomed by the Lord return [and come to Zion with exaltation, with joy everlasting upon their heads. Let them attain joy and gladness; may sorrow and sighing flee].”
Eichah Rabbah 2
"He has laid waste Israel, laid waste all her citadels": Rabbi Berechyah in the name of Rabbi Chelbo in the name of Rabbi Samuel son of Nachman said: "In three place Israel was exiled: one to beside the River Sambatyon, as it is written: "Saying to the prisoners, “Go free,” to those who are in darkness, "Show yourselves" (Isaiah 49:9)". One was outside the River Sambatyon: "They shall pasture along the roads (Isaiah 49:9)": these are those on whom a cloud descended on them and covered them. "On every bare height shall be their pasture (Isaiah 49:9)": These are those who were exiled to Daphne in Antioch".
Talmud Babli Sanhedrin 65b
The wicked Turnus Rufus, the Roman governor of Judea, asked this question of Rabbi Akiva as well. Turnus Rufus said to him: And what makes this day, Shabbat, different from other days? Rabbi Akiva said to him: And what makes this man, referring to his interlocutor, more distinguished than other men? Turnus Rufus said to him: I am more distinguished because my master the emperor wants it that way. Rabbi Akiva said to him: Shabbat too is unique because my Master wants it that way, as he has sanctified that day.
Turnus Rufus said to him: This is what I mean to say to you: Who is to say that now is Shabbat? Perhaps a different day of the week is Shabbat. Rabbi Akiva said to him: The Sabbatyon River can prove that today is Shabbat, as it is calm only on Shabbat.
אֲמַר לֵיהּ הֲרֵי נְהַר סַמְבַּטְיוֹן יוֹכִיחַ, שֶׁמּוֹשֵׁךְ אֲבָנִים כָּל יְמוֹת הַשַּׁבָּת, וּבְשַׁבָּת הוּא נָח
Bereshit Rabbah 11:5
Kabbalistic Circles in Jerusalem by Jonathan Meir
Ch. 4 Search For The Ten Lost Tribes
, Shimon Zvi Horowitz, the co-founder of the Sha’ar haShamayim Yeshiva, sought to reach a wider audience than the majority of Jerusalem’s Sharabian kabbalists. In certain respects, he was indeed successful. A case in point is his efforts to find the Ten Tribes – an idea that is part and parcel of his kabbal-istic approach. Horowitz tried to get Jerusalem’s Sephardic kabbalists on the bandwagon, but came up empty-handed. Moreover, his efforts to turn Sha’ar haShamayim into a center for expeditions of this sort drew mixed results. , Shimon Zvi Horowitz, the co-founder of the Sha’ar haShamayim Yeshiva, sought to reach a wider audience than the majority of Jerusalem’s Sharabian kabbalists. In certain respects, he was indeed successful. A case in point is his efforts to find the Ten Tribes – an idea that is part and parcel of his kabbal-istic approach. Horowitz tried to get Jerusalem’s Sephardic kabbalists on the bandwagon, but came up empty-handed. Moreover, his efforts to turn Sha’ar haShamayim into a center for expeditions of this sort drew mixed results.