זכריה, פרק ב׳, פסוק י״א

A dramatic cry echoes out to the displaced people of Judah, urging them to abandon their places of exile and return to their homeland. The prophet issues a loud declaration, serving as a gathering call to the exiled community [רש״י]. Though displaced, this community is still identified intimately as Zion, and the urgent message demands that they flee and seek immediate safety [מצודת ציון].

The primary approach among commentators is that this is a direct command to the exiled congregation of Judah to escape from the foreign populations they currently live among and make their way back to Zion [רש״י, מצודת דוד, אבן עזרא]. They are specifically told to separate themselves from the local inhabitants and the broader society of Babylon [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Providing a wider perspective on their location, [אברבנאל] explains that addressing the exiles as dwellers of Babylon does not necessarily mean the entire nation was physically living within Babylonian borders at that time. Because the tragedy of the displacement originated with Nebuchadnezzar's forced deportation to Babylon, the name serves as a symbol for their exiled state. Therefore, the urgent call to escape and return is directed at all the scattered exiles of Jerusalem, regardless of the specific province or country where they currently reside [אברבנאל].