Why is Israel referred to with a male pronoun in Jeremiah 31:10?

Question

“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
    and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’

—Jeremiah 31:10 (ESV)

Why is the masculine pronoun "him" used to describe Israel in this passage? Why doesn't Jeremiah refer to the people of Israel with the plural pronoun "them"?

Answer 1

Verse 10 starts a paragraph in the Hebrew, and the following verse (v. 11) mentions "Jacob" in parallel... That is, Israel = Jacob, which is a masculine name. So the context of verses 10-11 refers to the faithful remnant of Israelites in both the northern and southern kingdoms (="Jacob"), who will be reestablished through the New Covenant (Jer 31:31).

In other words, "Jacob" is masculine, which refers to the faithful remnant in both the northern kingdom and southern kingdom, and so the pronouns for "Israel" in that chapter are masculine in gender.

Answer 2

I think the use of the male pronoun casts Israel into an image of God's loved 'son'. It is the same but maybe more clearly used here:

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. (Ho 11:1, ESV)