Ezekiel 29:12

12 "'I'll make Egypt the most desolate of all desolations. For forty years I'll make her cities the most wasted of all wasted cities. I'll scatter Egyptians to the four winds, send them off every which way into exile.

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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Ezekiel 29:12 In-Context

10 therefore I am against you and your rivers. I'll reduce Egypt to an empty, desolate wasteland all the way from Migdol in the north to Syene and the border of Ethiopia in the south.
11 Not a human will be seen in it, nor will an animal move through it. It'll be just empty desert, empty for forty years.
12 "'I'll make Egypt the most desolate of all desolations. For forty years I'll make her cities the most wasted of all wasted cities. I'll scatter Egyptians to the four winds, send them off every which way into exile.
13 "'But,' says God, the Master, 'that's not the end of it. After the forty years, I'll gather up the Egyptians from all the places where they've been scattered.
14 I'll put things back together again for Egypt. I'll bring her back to Pathros where she got her start long ago. There she'll start over again from scratch.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.