Ezekiel 29:12

12 I will make Egypt desolate, and it will be surrounded by other desolate nations. Its cities will be empty and desolate for forty years, surrounded by other ruined cities. I will scatter the Egyptians to distant lands.

Ezekiel 29:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 29:12

And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the
countries that are desolate
As Judea and others, made desolate by the king of Babylon: and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate
forty years;
such as Thebes, Sais, Memphis, and others; which should share the same fate as Jerusalem and other principal cities in other countries, which fell into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse
them through the countries;
such as were not carried captive into Babylon fled into other countries, as Arabia, Ethiopia, and other places, Berosus ^F21 makes mention of this captivity of the Egyptians under Nebuchadnezzar the son, which no other writer does.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 10. c. 11. sect. 1.

Ezekiel 29:12 In-Context

10 I am now the enemy of both you and your river. I will make the land of Egypt a totally desolate wasteland, from Migdol to Aswan, as far south as the border of Ethiopia.

11 For forty years not a soul will pass that way, neither people nor animals. It will be completely uninhabited.

12 I will make Egypt desolate, and it will be surrounded by other desolate nations. Its cities will be empty and desolate for forty years, surrounded by other ruined cities. I will scatter the Egyptians to distant lands.

13 “But this is what the Sovereign LORD also says: At the end of the forty years I will bring the Egyptians home again from the nations to which they have been scattered.

14 I will restore the prosperity of Egypt and bring its people back to the land of Pathros in southern Egypt from which they came. But Egypt will remain an unimportant, minor kingdom.