"מְהָרְסַיִךְ וּמַחֲרִיבַיִךְ מִמֵּךְ יֵצֵאוּ"/2

"מְהָרְסַיִךְ וּמַחֲרִיבַיִךְ מִמֵּךְ יֵצֵאוּ"

Exegetical Approaches

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External Foes Ousted

Yeshayahu comforts the nation, promising that when they return to Israel, their foreign enemies will depart from their midst.

Sources:Ibn EzraYeshayahu 49:17About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Eliezer of BeaugencyYeshayahu 49:17About R. Eliezer of Beaugency, Ibn KaspiYeshayahu 49:17About R. Yosef ibn Kaspi

Meaning of "יֵצֵאוּ" – This position understands the word "יֵצֵאוּ" in line with its common usage in Tanakh, to  mean "depart".

"מִהֲרוּ בָּנָיִךְ" – These sources read this truncated phrase as if it ends: "לשוב אלייך".  As such, the two halves of the verse speak of two complementary events.  Hashem says that the nation will quickly return to Israel, and that, as they do, their enemies will leave.

Relationship to rest of prophecy – The two ideas expressed in the verse are elaborated upon in the rest of the prophecy.  Verses 18-22 detail the in-gathering of exiles (matching "מִהֲרוּ בָּנָיִךְ"), while verse 20 speaks of the distancing of Israel's enemies (matching "מְהָרְסַיִךְ וּמַחֲרִיבַיִךְ מִמֵּךְ יֵצֵאוּ").¹

Historical Backdrop – According to this approach, the chapter might be speaking either of the return from Babylonia, or of the future redemption. There are several possibilities as to the  identity of the enemies to be ousted:

• Ibn Kaspi asserts that the verse refers to the Babylonians who had moved into Israel upon its conquest.
• It is possible that the enemies spoken of refer to "צרי יהודה ובנימין" in the time of Ezra and Nechemyah who had tried to prevent the nation from building the city's walls.
• During both exiles, people from neighboring countries had moved into Israel, occupying lands previously belonging to Israel.1² Hashem promises that these will be ousted.

Internal Foes Sprouted

Yeshayahu rebukes the people, telling them that they are the source of their own destruction.  Their "destroyers" came from within.

Sources:TanchumaPekudei 1About the Tanchuma, RidYeshayahu 49:17About R. Yeshayah of Trani, AbarbanelYeshayahu 49:17About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel #1, MetzudotMetzudat David Yeshayahu 49:17About R. David Altschuler

Meaning of "יֵצֵאוּ" – These sources understand "יֵצֵאוּ" to mean sprout, or go forth from, rather than to leave.³

"מִהֲרוּ בָּנָיִךְ" – According to the Rid, the clause should read as if written "and your children hurried to sin".  Abarbanel similarly explains: "and your children were quick to forget you". The two halves of the verse, thus, express one idea.  Israel's sins are what led to her destruction.

Relationship to rest of prophecy – According to this approach, Hashem's words of verse 17 are a reaction to the complaint of the nation in verse 14. Tzion blames Hashem for forgetting her: "עֲזָבַנִי י"י וַאדֹנָי שְׁכֵחָנִי".  Hashem responds that the nation's destruction was not His fault, but theirs. Had they not sinned, He would not have exiled them.⁴

Internal Foes Eliminated

Yeshayahu promises that with the coming of the redemption all the sinners within Israel will be destroyed.

Sources:RadakYeshayahu 49:17About R. David Kimchi, AbarbanelYeshayahu 49:17About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel #2

Meaning of "יֵצֵאוּ"

¹ See Yeshayahu 52:1 where a similar idea is expressed: "כִּי לֹא יוֹסִיף יָבֹא בָךְ עוֹד עָרֵל וְטָמֵא".

² See Tehillim 137:7 and Ovadiah 1:10-14 which allude to the happiness of the Edomites upon Israel's destruction at the hands of Babylonia.  It is likely that their reaction related, at least in part, to their desire to infiltrate and occupy the deserted land.

³ See similar usage of the word in Bereshit 1:12, Bereshit 35:11, Shemot 8:14, and Yeshayahu 61:11.

⁴ Abarbanel speaks of the people forgetting the land specifically, presenting Hashem as saying that it is not He who forgot Tzion, but its own inhabitants.  He might be referring to the idea expressed in Vayikra 26:34-35 that nonobservance of the Sabbatical year was to cause the people's exile.