Returned as he came/ a fruitless journey/ to fail in one's mission
Like he came, so he returned. Figuratively: he arrived in vain and was forced to retrace his steps.
("And this too is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what profit has he who labors for the wind" - Ecclesiastes 5:15, and likewise: "And in the portion allotted to them, your fists to the clouds and your eyes crying out to rain— / But the clouds of blessing will pass, all as they came, so they will go" - H.N. Bialik / "They called for the snakes, and likewise: 'Go...to visit the house of the stubborn Jerusalemite...and afterward they went away as they came'" - H. Be'er / Nozot, 127)
Translation
Expression (Hebrew)
חָזַר כִּלְעֻומַּת שֶׁבָּא
Definition (Hebrew)
כְּמוֹ שֶׁיָּצָא כָּךְ חָזַר. בְּהַשְׁאָלָה: הִגִּיעַ לַשָּׁוְא וְנֶאֱלַץ לַחֲזֹר עַל עִקְבוֹתָיו.
("וְגַם זֹה רָעָה חוֹלָה כָּל עֻמַּת שֶׁבָּא כֵּן יֵלֵךְ וּמַה יִּתְרוֹן לוֹ שֶׁיַּעֲמֹל לָרוּחַ"- קֹהֶלֶת ה טוּ, וְכֵן:"וּבְפָרָשָׁתָם כֵּפֵיכֶם לְעָבִים וְשַׁוְּעוּ עֵינֵיכֶם אֶל מָטָר- / אַךְ עָבֵי הַבְּרָכָה יַחֲלֹפוּ, כָּל עֻמַּת שֶׁבָּאוּ יֵלֵכוּ" - ח.נ. בְּיָאלִיק/ קָרְאוּ לַנְּחָשִׁים, וְכֵן:"שְׁבוּ...לִפְקֹד אֶת בֵּיתוֹ שֶׁל הַיְּרוּשַׁלְמִי הָעַקְשָׁן...וּלְאַחַר מִכֵּן הָלְכוּ כִּלְעֻמַּת שֶׁבָּאוּ"- ח.בְּאֵר/ נוֹצוֹת, 127)