Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Thy children - The children of Zion - the true people of God. But there is here considerable variety in the interpretation. The Hebrew of the present text is bânâyı̂k ("thy sons" ). But Jerome reads it, Structores tui - ' Thy builders;' as if it were . The Septuagint renders it, ' Thou shalt be speedily built ( ̀ ̓́ͅ tachu oikodomēthēsē ) by those by whom thou hast been destroyed.' The Chaldee renders it, ' Those that rebuild thy waste places shall hasten.' The Syriac reads it, ' Thy sons;' and the Arabic, ' Thou shalt be rebuilt by those by whom thou hast been destroyed.' But there is no good authority for changing the present Hebrew text. nor is it necessary. The sense probably is, the descendants of those who dwelt in Zion, who are now in exile, shall hasten to rebuild the wastes of the desolate capital, and restore its ruins. And may it not mean, that in the great work under the Messiah, of restoring the nation to the worship of God, and of spreading the true religion, God would make use of those who dwelt in Zion; that is, of the Jews, as his ambassadors?
They that made thee waste - Language drawn from the destruction of Jerusalen. The sense is, that they would seek no longer to retain possession, but would permit its former inhabitants to return, and engage in repairing its ruins.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Isaiah 49:17:
Isaiah 60:4
Zechariah 10:4
John 13:1
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