Ezekiel 29:13

Translation
King James Version
Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
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KJV (with Strong's)
Yet thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD H3069; At the end H7093 of forty H705 years H8141 will I gather H6908 the Egyptians H4714 from the people H5971 whither they were scattered H6327:
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Complete Jewish Bible
"For this is what Adonai ELOHIM says: 'At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered -
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Berean Standard Bible
For this is what the Lord GOD says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations to which they were scattered.
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American Standard Version
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples whither they were scattered;
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World English Bible Messianic
For thus says the Lord GOD: “At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered;
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Geneva Bible (1599)
Yet thus saieth the Lord God, At the end of fourtie yeeres will I gather the Egyptians from the people, where they were scattered,
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Young's Literal Translation
But thus said the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years I gather the Egyptians Out of the peoples whither they have been scattered,
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See also
Isaiah 19:22Jeremiah 46:26
In the KJVVerse 21,197 of 31,102

Study This Verse

SUMMARY

Ezekiel 29:13 presents a profound divine declaration concerning the future of Egypt, revealing that after a specific period of forty years of desolation and scattering among the nations, the Lord God Himself will sovereignly gather the Egyptians back to their land. This verse, embedded within a larger prophetic oracle against Egypt, powerfully underscores God's absolute sovereignty over the destinies of all nations, demonstrating His power to both execute precise judgment and orchestrate a measured, purposeful restoration according to His divine timeline and overarching plan for human history.

CONTEXT

  • Literary Context: Ezekiel 29:13 is intricately woven into a series of detailed prophecies against Egypt, spanning Ezekiel 29 through Ezekiel 32. This particular oracle, commencing in Ezekiel 29:1, vividly portrays Pharaoh as a great "dragon" or "crocodile" of the Nile, a powerful symbol of his immense pride, self-deification, and perceived invincibility, as seen in Ezekiel 29:3. The preceding verses detail God's impending judgment, promising to put hooks in Pharaoh's jaws and drag him and his land into utter desolation. Specifically, Ezekiel 29:10-12 prophesy a forty-year period during which Egypt would become a desolate wasteland, uninhabited by humans or animals, with its people scattered among the nations. Verse 13 then introduces a surprising and significant turning point: a future divine gathering after this period of judgment, setting the stage for Egypt's subsequent status as a "base kingdom" (Ezekiel 29:15), never again to exalt itself.
  • Historical & Cultural Context: The prophecies of Ezekiel were delivered during the early 6th century BCE, a tumultuous period marked by the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar. At this time, Egypt, though a historically dominant power, was experiencing a decline in its regional influence. It frequently served as an unreliable and ultimately deceptive ally for Judah against the formidable Babylonian threat. Pharaoh Hophra, the contemporary ruler, embodied Egypt's pride and its tendency to be a "staff of reed" for Israel, offering false hope and then breaking under pressure, as illustrated in Ezekiel 29:6-7. The practice of scattering conquered populations was a well-established and brutal strategy employed by empires like Assyria and Babylon, designed to dismantle national identity and suppress rebellion. Thus, the prophecy of Egypt's scattering and subsequent, albeit limited, gathering speaks directly to the geopolitical realities and imperial practices of the ancient Near East, but crucially frames them within the overarching context of God's sovereign control over all earthly powers.
  • Key Themes: This verse profoundly contributes to several central themes within the book of Ezekiel and broader biblical theology. Firstly, it powerfully underscores the theme of Divine Sovereignty over Nations, unequivocally demonstrating that Yahweh's authority extends far beyond Israel, encompassing the rise, fall, and even the measured restoration of all earthly kingdoms. Secondly, it highlights the theme of Judgment and Limited Restoration, presenting a recurring biblical pattern where divine judgment, though severe and comprehensive, is not always absolute destruction but often a purposeful, time-bound discipline leading to a modified future state. The "forty years" is a potent biblical motif, frequently signifying a period of testing, purification, or significant transition, reminiscent of the forty years of Israel's wilderness wandering. Finally, the prophecy emphasizes God's Unwavering Faithfulness to His Word, as He precisely declares both the judgment and the subsequent, albeit humbled, restoration, ensuring that His meticulously planned purposes for even Gentile nations will be accomplished.

EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS

Key Word Analysis

  • Lord GOD (Hebrew, ʼĂdônây_ _Yᵉhôvih', H136): This compound divine title, represented by H136 and H3069 in the Strong's concordance, carries immense theological weight. ʼĂdônây (H136) is an emphatic form of "lord" or "master," exclusively used as a proper name for God, emphasizing His absolute sovereignty, ownership, and authority over all creation. Yᵉhôvih (H3069) is a specific vocalization of the divine name YHWH (Yahweh), used after ʼĂdônây to prevent the repetition of the same sound (as Jewish tradition pronounces YHWH as ʼĂdônây). Together, "Lord GOD" underscores God's supreme, self-existent, and covenant-keeping nature, the ultimate Master who declares and executes His unchallengeable will over all creation, including the destinies of powerful nations like Egypt.
  • gather (Hebrew, qâbats', H6908): The verb qâbats (H6908) means "to grasp" or "to collect," and is frequently employed in the Old Testament for the re-gathering of scattered peoples, most notably the exiles of Israel. Its application here to Egypt is remarkably striking and significant, indicating that even the return of a Gentile nation from dispersion is not a random occurrence but a direct, intentional, and sovereign act of divine will. This gathering is not for a return to their former glory or power but for a specific, humbled purpose within God's larger global plan, powerfully highlighting His meticulous control over the destinies of all nations.
  • scattered (Hebrew, pûwts', H6327): The verb pûwts (H6327) means "to dash in pieces" or "to disperse." It vividly describes the violent, comprehensive, and complete dispersion of the Egyptians among other peoples. This scattering is presented as a direct and severe consequence of God's judgment, a breaking apart of their national unity, pride, and power. The forceful imagery conveyed by this word emphasizes the severity and totality of the divine punishment, making the subsequent promise of "gathering" even more remarkable as an act of unexpected, sovereign intervention and grace.

Verse Breakdown

  • "Yet thus saith the Lord GOD;": This opening phrase functions as a powerful and authoritative prophetic formula, asserting the divine origin and absolute certainty of the message that follows. It unequivocally declares that the pronouncement is not merely human speculation or political analysis but a direct, infallible revelation from the sovereign God, the ultimate Master and Self-Existent One, whose word is truth, power, and unchangeable decree.
  • "At the end of forty years": This clause specifies a precise and biblically significant duration for the period of Egypt's desolation and the scattering of its inhabitants, a judgment previously detailed in Ezekiel 29:11-12. The "forty years" is a recurring motif in scripture, often associated with periods of testing, judgment, purification, or a crucial transitional phase, indicating that God's severe judgment on Egypt is not eternal or arbitrary but has a defined purpose, a set duration, and a predetermined conclusion.
  • "will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:": This climactic clause declares God's active, personal, and sovereign role in reversing the scattering He Himself orchestrated. Despite having been dispersed among various nations as a result of divine judgment, God Himself promises to re-collect them. This gathering is explicitly not a restoration to their former imperial power or pride but a return to their land, albeit as a "base kingdom" (Ezekiel 29:15), demonstrating God's meticulous and comprehensive control over the destinies of all nations and His unique ability to orchestrate even their partial restoration for His own ultimate purposes.

Literary Devices

Ezekiel 29:13 employs several potent literary devices to convey its profound message. The most prominent is Divine Pronouncement, powerfully signaled by the authoritative and recurring prophetic formula, "Thus saith the Lord GOD," which imbues the prophecy with undeniable divine authority, certainty, and an air of unalterable decree. This declaration functions as a Prophetic Decree, a formal and binding statement of God's unchangeable will concerning Egypt's future. The specific mention of "forty years" serves as potent Symbolism, where the number forty often represents a biblically significant period of trial, purification, judgment, or a major transition, lending a deeper theological and redemptive weight to the duration of Egypt's suffering and subsequent, humbled return. Furthermore, there is a striking implicit Contrast between the preceding scattering (a direct result of divine judgment and dispersion) and the promised gathering (a sovereign act of divine intervention and re-collection), powerfully highlighting God's absolute power to both dismantle and reassemble, to judge and to restore, albeit for a new, divinely ordained, and humbled purpose.

THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS

Ezekiel 29:13 profoundly illustrates God's comprehensive and meticulous sovereignty over all nations, not merely His covenant people, Israel. It reveals that divine judgment, while often severe and far-reaching, is frequently meted out with a specific, purposeful duration, demonstrating God's unwavering justice intertwined with His ultimate, overarching redemptive plan. The "forty years" signifies a period of humbling, purification, and re-orientation, after which a limited restoration occurs, not to former imperial glory, but to a state where Egypt will no longer be a source of national pride or a deceptive, unreliable reliance for Israel. This precise pattern underscores that God's control extends to the very timing and nature of national destinies, ensuring that His global purposes—which ultimately include all peoples—are meticulously fulfilled.

  • Isaiah 19:23-25: Prophesies a future eschatological time when Egypt, alongside Assyria, will be blessed by God and even called "My people," indicating a broader, ultimate redemption that transcends specific historical judgments and points to a universal scope of God's grace.
  • Jeremiah 46:26: Foretells Egypt's temporary deliverance into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, but also explicitly promises that "afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old," powerfully echoing the theme of a future, albeit altered, restoration following a period of judgment.
  • Zephaniah 3:9-10: Speaks of a future time when God will "restore to the peoples a pure language, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord," implying a universal scope to God's redemptive work that includes Gentile nations, gathering them to Himself.

REFLECTION AND APPLICATION

Ezekiel 29:13 offers profound reassurance and a vital perspective for believers navigating the complexities of the modern world. It serves as a powerful reminder that God is not a distant observer but is actively and precisely involved in the affairs of all nations, and that His sovereign plans are meticulous, purposeful, and ultimately unthwartable. In an era often characterized by geopolitical upheaval, rampant national pride, and shifting global alliances, this verse anchors our hope in the unchanging, unwavering sovereignty of God. It teaches us that even periods of severe judgment, widespread scattering, or profound desolation have a divinely appointed end and serve a specific, often redemptive, purpose—typically to humble, purify, or reorient. For us, this means cultivating a deep trust in God's perfect timing, even when circumstances seem chaotic, unjust, or beyond human comprehension. It encourages us to pray fervently for our nations and their leaders, recognizing that God holds their destinies firmly in His hands, and that He possesses the power to bring about restoration and re-gathering even after periods of profound desolation. Our ultimate allegiance and hope must always be placed in the Lord GOD, who orchestrates all things—both judgment and restoration—for His own glory and the ultimate good of His people.

Questions for Reflection

  • How does the "forty years" of Egypt's desolation and scattering resonate with other biblical instances of "forty," and what spiritual lessons can we draw from this recurring motif regarding periods of testing, purification, or transition in our own lives or in the life of the church?
  • In what ways might God be "scattering" or "gathering" aspects of our personal lives, our families, or our communities today, and how can we discern His sovereign purposes and respond faithfully to these movements?
  • How does understanding God's absolute sovereignty over nations, as so clearly demonstrated in this verse, shape our prayers, our engagement with current global events, and our ultimate hope for the world?

FAQ

Was the "forty years" of desolation for Egypt a literal period, and when did it occur?

Answer:The "forty years" mentioned in Ezekiel 29:11-13 is widely understood by biblical scholars as a literal period of desolation and scattering for Egypt. While the precise historical fulfillment has been debated, many scholars connect it to the period following Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt, which is believed to have occurred around 568/567 BCE. Historical records, though fragmented, suggest a significant decline in Egyptian power and influence during this era, with many Egyptians potentially fleeing or being exiled to other lands. The prophecy indicates that after this specific period, the Egyptians would be gathered back to their land, but crucially, as a "base kingdom" (Ezekiel 29:15), never again to exalt themselves among the nations. This historical outcome aligns with the prophetic trajectory of Egypt's diminished status.

CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT

While Ezekiel 29:13 specifically addresses the temporal judgment and limited restoration of ancient Egypt, it points to a profound, overarching pattern of divine sovereignty, judgment, and ultimate redemption that finds its fullest and most glorious expression in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Lord GOD's absolute power to scatter and to gather, to execute precise judgment and to orchestrate a purposeful restoration, foreshadows the ultimate, cosmic work of Christ. Just as God promised to gather the scattered Egyptians back to their land, so too does Christ promise to gather all His elect—His chosen people—from every nation, tribe, people, and language, bringing them into His eternal kingdom (Matthew 24:31; Revelation 7:9). The "forty years" of Egypt's humbling can be seen as a microcosm of the longer periods of trial, testing, and spiritual preparation that God's people endure throughout history, ultimately leading to a far more profound and spiritual restoration found exclusively in Christ. He is the true and good Shepherd who gathers His sheep, bringing them out of the scattering of sin and spiritual exile into the unity and safety of His body, the Church (John 10:16). Through His atoning sacrifice and victorious resurrection, Christ not only brings about the ultimate gathering of a new humanity reconciled to God but also establishes an eternal kingdom that will never be a "base kingdom" but an everlasting, glorious, and unshakable reign, thereby fulfilling all of God's promises of restoration in a way that infinitely surpasses any earthly nation's return to its land (Daniel 7:14; Hebrews 12:28).

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Commentary on Ezekiel 29 verses 8–16

This explains the foregoing prediction, which was figurative, and looks something further. Here is a prophecy,

I. Of the ruin of Egypt. The threatening of this is very full and particular; and the sin for which this ruin shall be brought upon them is their pride, Eze 29:9. They said, The river is mine and I have made it; therefore their land shall spue them out. 1. God is against them, both against the king and against the people, against thee and against thy rivers. Waters signify people and multitudes, Rev 17:15. 2. Multitudes of them shall be cut off by the sword of war, a sword which God will bring upon them to destroy both man and beast, the sword of civil war. 3. The country shall be depopulated. The land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste (Eze 29:9), the country not cultivated, the cities not inhabited. The wealth of both was their pride, and that God will take away. It shall be utterly waste (wastes of waste, so the margin reads it), and desolate (Eze 29:10); neither men nor beasts shall pass through it, nor shall it be inhabited (Eze 29:11); it shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are so, Eze 29:12. This was the effect not so much of those wars spoken of before, which were made by them, but of the war which the king of Babylon made upon them. It shall be desolate from one end of the land to the other, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. The sin of pride is enough to ruin a whole nation. 4. The people shall be dispersed and scattered among the nations (Eze 29:12), so that those who thought the balance of power was in their hand should now become a contemptible people. Such a fall does a haughty spirit go before.

II. Of the restoration of Egypt after awhile, Eze 29:13. Egypt shall lie desolate forty years (Eze 29:12) and then I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, Eze 29:14. Some date the forty years from Nebuchadnezzar's destroying Egypt, others from the desolation of Egypt some time before; however, they end about the first year of Cyrus, when the seventy years' captivity of Judah ended, or soon after. Then this prediction was accomplished, 1. That God will gather the Egyptians out of all the countries into which they were dispersed, and make them to return to the land of their habitation, and give them a settlement there again, Eze 29:14. Note, Though God will find out a way to humble the proud, yet he will not contend for ever, no, not with them in this world. 2. That yet they shall not make a figure again as they have done. Egypt shall be a kingdom again, but it shall be the basest of the kingdoms (Eze 29:15); it shall have but little wealth and power, and shall not extend its conquests as formerly; it shall be the tail of the nations, and not the head. It is a mercy that it shall become a kingdom again, but, to humble it, it shall be a despicable kingdom; it shall be a long time before it recover any thing like its ancient lustre. For two reasons it shall be thus mortified: - (1.) That it may not domineer over its neighbours, that it may not exalt itself above the nations, nor rule over the nations, as it has done, but that it may know what it is to be low and despised. Note, Those who abuse their power will justly be stripped of it; and God, as King of nations, will find out a way to maintain the injured rights and liberties, not only of his own, but of other nations. (2.) That it may not deceive the people of God (Eze 29:16): It shall no more be the confidence of the house of Israel; they shall no more be in temptation to trust in it as they have done, which is a sin that brings their iniquity to remembrance, that is, provokes God to punish them not for that only, but for all their other sins. Or it puts them in mind of their idolatries to return to them, when they look to the idolaters, to repose a confidence in them. Note, The creatures we confide in are often therefore ruined, because there is no other way effectually to cure us of our confidence in them. Rather than Israel shall be ensnared again, the whole land of Egypt shall be laid waste. He that once gave Egypt for their ransom (Isa 43:3) will now give Egypt for their cure; and it shall be destroyed rather than Israel shall not in this particular be reformed. God, not only in justice, but in wisdom and goodness to us, breaks those creature-stays which we lean too much upon, and makes them to be no more, that they may be no more our confidence.

Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 8–16. Public domain.
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JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ezekiel
(Verse 35, 36, and following) And I will bring you into a desert of peoples, and there I will judge you face to face. Just as I contended with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, says the Lord. And I will subject you to my scepter, and I will bring you into the bonds of the covenant, and I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked: from their place of residence I will bring them out, and they will not enter the land of Israel, and you will know that I am the Lord. Thus says the Lord: I will do for you who are in Babylon, and now serve idols, what I did for your ancestors in Egypt. I will lead you into the desert of the peoples, and there I will judge you face to face, just as I contended with them in judgment when they came out of Egypt. And after I have judged you, I will subject you to my scepter and rule, and I will make a covenant with you and bring you into your land with the bonds of love, so that bound by my love, you will never be able to depart from me. But I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked, who persist in the hardness of their hearts in evil deeds, not for possession, but for rejection. And I will indeed bring them out of the land of their dwelling, so that when they are brought out, they will not enter the land of Israel; but they will perish in various regions. And by the distinction between good and evil, you shall know that I am the Lord, who judges all things. The rest of the discourse hastens, and we briefly go through each point, in order to provide only the meaning to the readers.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ezekiel
(Verse 27, 29 onwards) Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them: Thus says the Lord God: Moreover, your fathers have blasphemed against me and have treated me with contempt, even as they spurned me. And I brought them into the land that I had lifted my hand to give them ((Vulgate adds: that land)): they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and there they offered their sacrifices and presented there the irritation of their offerings, and they placed there the fragrance of their sweetness, and they poured out their ((Vulgate is silent on this)) libations there. And I said to them, 'What is the high place to which you are going?' And its name was called the High Place until this day. Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: As for your fathers, they have provoked Me to anger by their iniquities, by the fact that they have fallen away from Me. So I brought them into the land that I had lifted My hand in an oath to give them.' They saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and there they offered their sacrifices. They also presented there the provocation of their gifts, and they set there their pleasing aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings. And I said to them: What is abbana, because you enter there? And they called its name abbana until this day. I wanted, he said, to scatter them in the wilderness, and to give them not good precepts, so that they would sacrifice to idols what they should have offered to me, and consecrate all their first-fruits to them by fire, so that I might kill them and destroy them. But when he says, I wanted, he shows that he did not do what he wanted. And that which follows: 'And they shall know that I am the Lord,' is not found in the Septuagint. For it did not seem fitting to them to know after their destruction that he himself is the Lord. But you, son of man, speak again to them, that is, to the elders of the house of Israel, who have come to inquire of you: Your fathers, from whom you have descended, have also blasphemed against me and held me in contempt; after I brought them into the land which I had given them to possess, they turned against me to provoke me. For when they saw every high hill and leafy tree, they would sacrifice on the mountains and in the groves and thickets, and offer victims to the idols, and pour out libations. And when I saw this, I said to them: What is this, Bama? for it is called high: or why do you enter into such a place which you have chosen for yourselves in all the hills, so that even today these places are called Bamoth, and the ancient error retains its original name? Regarding Bama, which we translate as excelsum, there is an error in the Septuagint edition, where it is written as ἀββανὰ, which does not resonate in the Hebrew language. Bama can mean 'in which' if the two syllables are divided into two words, but in the present context, that sense does not fit. However, wherever it is written in the Books of Kings and Chronicles: 'The people still sacrificed and offered incense on the high places,' Bama in the singular and Bamoth in the plural mean 'high places.'
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ezekiel
(Verse 8 and following) Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast. And the land of Egypt shall become a desolation (or destruction) and a wilderness: and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he (or you) said, My river is mine, and I have made it (or My rivers are mine, and I have made them). Therefore behold, I am against you and against your rivers: and I will make the land of Egypt desolate, cut off by the sword from Migdol to Syene (or from Migdol to Syene and beyond) to the border of Ethiopia. The foot of man shall not pass through it, nor shall the foot of beast tread upon it; it shall not be inhabited for forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be desolate for forty years. And I will scatter (or disperse) the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries. For thus says the Lord God: After the end of forty years, I will gather Egypt (or the Egyptians) from the peoples (or nations) among whom they were scattered. And I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and I will place them in the land of Phatures, in the land of their birth (or in the land from which they were taken). And there they shall be in a humble kingdom (or principality), among the other kingdoms it shall be the most humble (or lowest). And they shall no longer be elevated above the nations, and I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations (or so that there are not many among the nations). And they shall no longer be a confidence (or hope) to the house of Israel, teaching iniquity in order to flee and follow them (or in order to remember the iniquity and follow them). And they shall know that I am the Lord God. You were a reed staff to the house of Israel, and not only were you broken in his hand, but according to Isaiah (Isa. XXXVI), you pierced his hand, and now you have torn his shoulder, and you yourself are broken, and you have loosened the loins of those who leaned on you. Therefore, I will bring the sword of the enemies upon you, and I will devastate both men and animals, and the land of Egypt will be reduced to desolation, and the Egyptians will know for the second time that I am the Lord. But I will not be content with this; but because he burst forth into such great blasphemy, that he said his own rivers were gods, and all the abundance of Egypt: therefore I will take away him who said he was the Creator, and the rivers which he had boasted were created by him, and I will reduce the land of Egypt to a long wilderness, and it will be destroyed by the sword, from the tower of Syene to the borders of Ethiopia. They called the tower, which in Hebrew is called Magdal (), 'the tower of the LXX,' so that they would write Μαγδαλὸν. However, the tower of Syene still stands today, a fortress subject to Roman rule, where the cataracts of the Nile are located, and up to which place our sea is navigable. Therefore, he says that the whole of Egypt must be depopulated until the borders of Ethiopia, where the outermost region of Egypt is joined, so that the chief priests may not cross into Egypt, nor may any animals be found there, and it may not be inhabited for forty years. For Egypt is spared, and because the Israelites were once guests there, the punishment is of shorter duration. Tyre celebrated its sabbaths for seventy years, and thus it was restored to its former state. The captivity of Judah and the destruction of the temple lasted for seventy years, until the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia. For the mighty will endure mighty torments (Wisdom 6:7). And when it says, 'I will make the land of Egypt a desolation, in the midst of desolated countries,' it refers to the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, and all the other regions against which the prophecy of the prophets was given. Then he will scatter or disperse the Egyptians into nations, and will scatter them into lands. Because the Lord is merciful and compassionate, patient and full of mercy, after forty years the restoration of Egypt will occur, and all the captivity will be brought back to the ancient land, and will be placed in the metropolis city, which is called Phaturos, where it originated and from where it set forth: but only in such a way that it loses its ancient pride for its own benefit, and becomes a humble kingdom, or rather the humblest of all nations: so that it does not elevate itself above other peoples, nor have dominion over them; but reduced to a small number, it will by no means deceive the house of Israel with its confidence, nor teach them wickedness; whether it brings them to remembrance of their wickedness, that they sought the aid of Egypt by abandoning the help of God. And all these things will happen so that the Egyptians may know on the third day that He Himself is the Lord. We have briefly explained these matters, laying the foundations of history. Now the cloud of allegory must be discussed, and we will try to avoid both brevity and the lengthiness of this explanation. This is a discourse about the dragon, who said: 'The rivers are mine, and I made them.' (Above, same.) May the Lord Himself bring a sword upon him, as it is written in Isaiah: 'My sword is intoxicated in the sky; now it will descend to the earth to destroy humans and animals from it.' (Isaiah 34:5) Whatever the dragon seems to possess, whether of reason or simplicity, should be destroyed, not absolutely, but by the dragon itself, so that the dragons may perish and God may live, and the land of Egypt may become a wasteland, according to the higher understanding, whatever the dragon may perish by, and after its destruction, be reduced to solitude, ceasing to have the worst guest. And then shall men and beasts know, and the earth, being ruined, that He is the Lord, in that sense in which it is written in the seventy-seventh Psalm: When He slew them, then they sought Him (Ps. LXXVII, 34). For everyone who seeks, finds. It is indeed an act of God's mercy that the abundance of this world perishes, and the rivers of Egypt are dried up, and even their land becomes a desert, and the purpose of the Lord is scattered from the Tower of Syene, which means a circle, so that it may not have any righteousness in itself, even to the land of the Ethiopians, who are called the humble ones, so that every pride that had exalted itself against the knowledge of God may be destroyed and humbled for its own salvation. Neither the foot of man, that is, anything rational, passes through Egypt, nor does the foot of an animal walk in it: so that it does not hold even the simple ones, whom Pharaoh desired to keep in Egypt after dismissing the people, Moses objecting, and desiring that even the animals be liberated from the captivity of Egypt. And it shall not be inhabited for forty years, which number is always one of affliction and punishment. Hence Moses, and Elijah, and the Savior himself, fasted for forty days and nights, and the people were in the wilderness for forty years, so that afterwards they would be freed in Gilgal, having been circumcised, from the reproach and shame of Egypt (Exod. XXXIV; III Reg. IX; Matth. IV; Num. XIV). In the sacrament of this number, the prophet of the tribe of Judah also slept on the right side for forty days, and it was announced that the people would serve in Egypt for four hundred years (Gen. 7). They make forty decades, or four hundreds. The rains of the flood last for forty days and bring shipwreck to the world. For it was just that the one who offends God by loving and cherishing the four elements of the world, which are said to constitute everything, should be punished in that very number. And Israel, who sinned on the Sabbath, would endure the punishment of seventy years, which is the punishment of seven decades. And the barren land of Egypt is given, and its cities in the midst of the lands and of the subverted cities, which are not built of stones, but of mud and straw, so that Egypt, which was joined together poorly, may be dispersed and scattered into the lands, and so that the wheat may be separated from the straw, and when the completion of forty years is reached, there may be restitution of Egypt, and its captivity may be brought back, and it may be placed in the land of Phatures, which is interpreted as trampled bread; where that bread which said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven' (John 6:5), was trampled upon by heretical wickedness: so that when they come to the Church, they may dwell in trampled bread, and may not be lifted up in pride, but may be in a humble kingdom. And also, when they are restored to their previous state, they should humble themselves, because they lived in Egypt and built brick cities, and among many kingdoms they should be humble in the Church, and they should know whom they have sinned against, and Egypt should no longer be exalted above the Churches throughout the divided world, but should be reduced to a few, and only a few should remain among the nations, according to what is written: Give them, O Lord. What will you give them? Give them a barren womb and dried-up breasts (Hosea 9:4), so that they may not rejoice and exalt themselves in the multitude of deceivers, but be reduced to a few: For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 20). And let them no longer deceive the house of Israel, that is, the Church; nor promise them vain hope and confidence, teaching iniquity, so that they may avoid the discipline of the Church and pursue Egyptian pleasures. But these things will happen so that the Egyptians may know for the third time that He Himself is the Lord. This, it seems to me, is said for this reason: that the first knowledge of the Egyptians is in the flesh, the second in the soul, the third in the spirit. First, upon the earth; second, after the completion of the conversation of this world; third, after the resurrection.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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