For I [am] with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee,.... Not only from temporal enemies, but from spiritual ones, sin, Satan, and the world; and to save them with a spiritual and everlasting salvation, which the presence and power of God, through his rich grace, will bring all his people to:though I will make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee; a full end has been made of the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians; these people and their names are no more; and of Rome Pagan, which, upon the opening of the sixth seal, departed as a scroll that is rolled together; and so will all the antichristian states be made a full end of, when the vials of God's wrath are poured out upon them; and yet the people of the Jews, a poor, mean, and despicable people, have been continued a distinct people, notwithstanding their dispersion so many hundreds of years; and will continue so until they are called and converted:but I will correct thee in measure; or "in", or "according to judgment" ; as in Jer 10:24; wisely, moderately, and with clemency; which the Targum paraphrases "judgment remitted"; which is not strict and rigorous, but is abated of its rigour, and is mixed with mercy:and will not leave thee altogether unpunished; or, "let thee go free"; from correction and chastisement in a merciful way.
The Targum is,"in destroying I will not destroy thee;''or utterly destroy thee. And Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it of cutting off, from the use of the word in Zec 5:3.