"You will bring them and plant them" (Exodus 15:17-19). The fathers prophesied and did not know what they prophesied. It is not written here "You will bring us and plant us," but rather "You will bring them and plant them." They said: the children enter, but the fathers do not enter. And so it says, "If you do not know, O fairest among women" and so forth. They said: the kids enter, but the he-goats do not enter. Another interpretation: "You will bring them and plant them" like this vineyard which is planted in rows upon rows, as it is said (see Ezekiel 48:1-7), "From the east side to the west side, Judah one portion, Dan one portion, Naphtali one portion." Another interpretation: "You will bring them and plant them": a planting that has no uprooting, as it is said (Jeremiah 24:6), "And I will build them and not pull down, and I will plant them and not pluck up." (Ezekiel 20:40) "For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel": on the mountain of Your inheritance, on the mountain that You promised us, as it is said, "on the mountain height of Israel."
The Fathers Prophesied Without Knowing What They Foretold
Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 253:1
(שמות טו יז-יט) תְּבִאֵמוֹ וְתִטָּעֵמוֹ, נִתְנַבְּאוּ אָבוֹת וְלֹא יָדְעוּ מַה נִתְנַבְּאוּ, תְּבִיאֵנוּ וְתִטָּעֵנוּ אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן, אֶלָּא תְּבִאֵמוֹ וְתִטָּעֵמוֹ, אָמְרוּ, הַבָּנִים נִכְנָסִים וְאֵין הָאָבוֹת נִכְנָסִין. וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר "אִם לֹא תֵדְעִי לָךְ הַיָּפָה בַּנָּשִׁים" וְגוֹ', אָמְרוּ, הַגְּדָיִים נִכְנָסִין וְאֵין הַתְּיָשִׁים נִכְנָסִין. דָּבָר אַחֵר תְּבִאֵמוֹ וְתִטָּעֵמוֹ כְּכֶרֶם זֶה שֶׁהוּא נָטוּעַ שׁוּרוֹת שׁוּרוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (עי' יחזקאל מח, א ז) "מִפְּאַת קָדִימָה עַד פְּאַת יָמָּה יְהוּדָה אֶחָד דָּן אֶחָד נַפְתָּלִי אֶחָד". דָּבָר אַחֵר תְּבִאֵמוֹ וְתִטָּעֵמוֹ, נְטִיעָה שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ נְטִישָׁה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ירמיה כד, ו) "וּבְנִיתִים וְלֹא אֱהֶרֹס וּנְטַעְתִּים וְלֹא אֶתּוֹשׁ". (יחזקאל כ, ג) "כִּי בְהַר קָדְשִׁי בְּהַר מְרוֹם יִשְׂרָאֵל", בְּהַר נַחֲלָתְךָ, בָּהָר שֶׁהִבְטַחְתָּנוּ בּוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "בְּהַר מְרוֹם יִשְׂרָאֵל".