ישעיהו, פרק מ״ט, פסוק י״ב

The future gathering of the exiles is destined to be a global event that precedes the rebuilding of Zion. While the scattered people of Israel return from the four directions of the earth and all of nature fills with joy, Jerusalem still sits desolate like a widow. She remains in mourning, completely unaware of the sudden salvation about to unfold before her eyes [מלבי״ם].

The prophetic vision maps out a massive return from every corner of the globe [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Those arriving from a great distance represent the exiles returning from the east. Because the land of Israel is located at the center of the inhabited world but leans slightly to the west, the eastern edge is considered the most distant point [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. This eastern direction specifically points to the Ten Tribes who were exiled to these faraway lands [מלבי״ם]. Meanwhile, another group arrives from the north, with some identifying this northern return specifically as the gathering of the Babylonian exile [אבן עזרא].

Other returning populations arrive by way of the sea, a direction generally understood to mean the west [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ], although an alternative perspective links this journey to Assyria [אבן עזרא]. Finally, the arrival from the land of Sinim is the subject of various interpretations. The primary approach among commentators is that it refers to the south, named after the Sinite people, a family of Canaanite descent mentioned in the Torah [רד״ק, מצודת ציון]. Another view also positions this land to the south, specifically toward Egypt, suggesting its name shares a root with the Hebrew word for a thornbush [אבן עזרא]. In contrast to these southern locations, a different perspective identifies this region as the distant land of China [שד״ל].