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Translation
King James Version
¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
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KJV (with Strong's)
Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD H3069; Behold, I will bring H935 a sword H2719 upon thee, and cut off H3772 man H120 and beast H929 out of thee.
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Complete Jewish Bible
"Therefore Adonai ELOHIM says, 'I will bring the sword against you and eliminate both your people and your animals.
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Berean Standard Bible
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will bring a sword against you and cut off from you man and beast.
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American Standard Version
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and will cut off from thee man and beast.
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World English Bible Messianic
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you.
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Geneva Bible (1599)
Therefore thus sayeth the Lord God, Beholde, I will bring a sworde vpon thee, and destroy man and beast out of thee,
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Young's Literal Translation
Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am bringing in against thee a sword, And have cut off from thee man and beast.
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Study This Verse

SUMMARY

Ezekiel 29:8 presents a stark divine judgment against Egypt, delivered as an authoritative declaration from the Lord GOD. This prophecy foretells a devastating "sword" that will be brought upon the nation, resulting in the complete and comprehensive eradication of both its human inhabitants and its livestock. This pronouncement serves as a powerful testament to God's absolute sovereignty over all earthly powers, His righteous indignation against national pride and self-sufficiency, and the certainty of His justice against those who oppose His will or mislead His people.

CONTEXT

  • Literary Context: Ezekiel 29:8 is embedded within a significant block of prophecies (chapters 29-32) dedicated entirely to the judgment of Egypt, a dominant regional power. This particular oracle commences in Ezekiel 29:1 and establishes the primary target of divine wrath: Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, depicted metaphorically as a great "dragon" or "monster" (tannin) in the Nile. Pharaoh's audacious claim, "My Nile is my own; I made it for myself" (Ezekiel 29:3), reveals his profound hubris and self-deification. The verses immediately preceding verse 8 detail God's intention to put hooks in Pharaoh's jaws and drag him out of the Nile, along with all his fish, signifying a complete dismantling of his power and domain. Therefore, verse 8's declaration of a "sword" and the "cutting off man and beast" is a direct, forceful, and comprehensive divine response to this arrogant boast, signifying the total reversal of Egypt's perceived invincibility and prosperity.
  • Historical & Cultural Context: The prophecies in Ezekiel against Egypt were delivered during the early 6th century BCE, a tumultuous period when the kingdom of Judah was in Babylonian exile. Judah, having previously relied on Egypt as a potential military ally against the burgeoning Babylonian empire, repeatedly found this reliance to be misplaced and ultimately futile, a reality echoed in passages like Isaiah 30:1-7 and Isaiah 36:6. Culturally, the Nile River was the absolute lifeblood of Egypt, sustaining its agriculture, economy, and national identity. Pharaoh's boast about the Nile was not merely a statement of ownership but a claim of divine creative power, reflecting the Egyptian pharaoh's traditional role as a god-king. God's judgment, therefore, targets not only the military and populace but also the very symbols of Egypt's power, self-reliance, and perceived divinity, demonstrating unequivocally that YHWH, the God of Israel, is supreme over all pagan deities and earthly rulers.
  • Key Themes: Ezekiel 29:8 powerfully contributes to several overarching themes within the book of Ezekiel and broader prophetic literature. Firstly, it emphatically underscores the theme of Divine Sovereignty and Universal Judgment, asserting God's absolute authority not only over Israel but over all nations and their rulers, even those as mighty and seemingly self-sufficient as Egypt. Secondly, it highlights the severe Consequences of Pride and Arrogance, particularly the hubris of human rulers who claim self-sufficiency or divine status, directly challenging Pharaoh's blasphemous boast. This judgment serves as a stark reminder that all earthly power is temporary and subject to God's ultimate decree, a truth consistently echoed in prophecies against other proud nations like Tyre (Ezekiel 26) and Babylon (Isaiah 13). Lastly, the vivid imagery of "cutting off man and beast" emphasizes the theme of Total Desolation, signifying a comprehensive and irreversible divine punishment that leaves nothing untouched, a common motif in biblical judgment passages, such as the flood narrative in Genesis 6:7 and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:24-25.

EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS

Key Word Analysis

  • saith (Hebrew, ʼâmar', H559): From a primitive root meaning "to say," its usage within the formula "Thus saith the Lord GOD" carries profound theological weight. It signifies a divine decree, a direct, authoritative, and infallible pronouncement from God Himself. This establishes the absolute authority of the speaker and the certainty and inevitability of the declared action, indicating that the words are not human conjecture but divine truth and certain judgment.
  • sword (Hebrew, chereb', H2719): Derived from a root meaning "to be dry" or "to lay waste," this term refers to a cutting instrument such as a knife, dagger, or, most prominently here, a sword. In biblical prophecy, "sword" is a pervasive and powerful symbol for war, violent conflict, and divine judgment. When God declares He will bring a "sword," it signifies a divinely orchestrated instrument of punishment, often through invading armies, leading to widespread destruction, death, and desolation.
  • cut off (Hebrew, kârath', H3772): This primitive root means "to cut (off, down, or asunder)." Its broad implications include destroying, consuming, or even making a covenant (originally by cutting flesh and passing between pieces). In the context of judgment, "cut off" signifies a decisive, definitive end, often implying extermination, complete removal, or utter ruin. Here, it emphasizes the thoroughness and finality of the desolation, leaving no remnant of life.
  • man (Hebrew, ʼâdâm'), and beast (Hebrew, bᵉhêmâh', H120): ʼâdâm refers to a human being, encompassing an individual or mankind as a species. bᵉhêmâh denotes a dumb beast, specifically any large quadruped or animal (often collectively, as in cattle). The pairing "man and beast" is a biblical merism, a figure of speech where two contrasting parts of a whole are used to represent the entire whole. Its inclusion here emphasizes the comprehensive nature of the judgment, affecting every living creature within the land, signifying total desolation and rendering the land utterly uninhabitable.

Verse Breakdown

  • "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD;": This opening phrase functions as a solemn, authoritative declaration, signaling that what follows is an unalterable divine pronouncement. The title "Lord GOD" (Hebrew, ʼĂdônây Yᵉhôvih) combines the respectful address "Lord" with the sacred, covenantal name of God (YHWH), emphasizing His supreme authority, His covenant faithfulness (even in judgment), and His personal involvement in the unfolding judgment. It unequivocally establishes the divine origin and certainty of the prophecy.
  • "Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee,": The interjection "Behold" (Hebrew, hinneh) serves to draw immediate and urgent attention to the impending action, underscoring its certainty and gravity. God explicitly states His active role ("I will bring") in orchestrating the judgment, indicating that this is not a random event but a direct act of divine retribution. The "sword" here is a potent symbol of war and violent destruction, indicating that Egypt will face military invasion or internal conflict that will decimate its population and infrastructure.
  • "and cut off man and beast out of thee.": This concluding clause specifies the comprehensive and devastating nature of the "sword's" effect. To "cut off" signifies a complete eradication or extermination. The phrase "man and beast" is a merism, encompassing all living inhabitants—both human and animal—within Egypt. This indicates a judgment of total desolation, rendering the land uninhabitable and barren, a stark reversal of Egypt's former prosperity, power, and self-proclaimed invincibility.

Literary Devices

Ezekiel 29:8 masterfully employs several powerful literary devices to convey the severity, certainty, and divine origin of God's judgment. The phrase "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD" is a classic divine speech formula, a prophetic convention that lends absolute authority, infallibility, and unalterable certainty to the prophetic word. The "sword" is a potent metaphor for war, violent destruction, and divine judgment, a common biblical image that powerfully evokes scenes of devastation and death without needing to explicitly name the invading armies. The declaration to "cut off man and beast" utilizes both merism and hyperbole. The merism ("man and beast") emphasizes the totality of the destruction, encompassing all life forms within the land, while the hyperbolic nature of "cutting off" suggests a level of desolation that implies utter ruin and uninhabited barrenness, underscoring the completeness and severity of God's wrath against Egypt's pride and unfaithfulness.

THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS

Ezekiel 29:8 profoundly illustrates God's unwavering justice, His absolute sovereignty over all earthly powers, and the futility of human pride. It serves as a powerful theological statement that no nation, regardless of its perceived might, ancient heritage, or economic influence, is beyond divine accountability. The judgment against Egypt, a symbol of worldly strength and a persistent source of false hope for Israel, underscores the biblical truth that reliance on human alliances, material power, or self-sufficiency is ultimately futile and invites divine wrath. God's declaration of bringing a "sword" and "cutting off man and beast" reveals His righteous indignation against pride, idolatry, and the oppression of His people, demonstrating that He is the ultimate arbiter of history and the destiny of nations. This prophecy reinforces the consistent biblical narrative that God judges sin, particularly arrogance and the misleading of His covenant people, and that His word, once spoken, is irrevocably fulfilled.

REFLECTION AND APPLICATION

Ezekiel 29:8 is far more than a historical record of judgment against an ancient empire; it is a timeless testament to God's immutable character and His consistent dealings with humanity. For believers today, this verse serves as a profound reminder that God remains sovereign over all earthly affairs, including the rise and fall of nations, economic systems, and political powers. It challenges any tendency to place ultimate trust in human strength, accumulated wealth, or strategic alliances, urging us instead to anchor our hope and security solely in the Lord. The severe consequences for Egypt's pride and self-reliance should humble us, prompting deep introspection about areas in our own lives where we might be tempted to boast in our achievements, resources, or wisdom rather than acknowledging God as the ultimate source of all good and the sustainer of all life. Ultimately, this passage calls us to a deeper reverence for God's justice, a profound awareness of His absolute authority, and a renewed commitment to living in humble dependence on His unfailing strength and wisdom, knowing that His judgments are always righteous and His purposes will ultimately prevail.

Questions for Reflection

  • In what specific areas of my life or in the life of my community am I tempted to place ultimate trust in human strength, worldly systems, or self-reliance rather than in God's absolute sovereignty?
  • How does the swift and comprehensive judgment against Egypt, a once-mighty empire, challenge or deepen my understanding of God's patience, justice, and ultimate control over history?
  • What practical actions can I take this week to cultivate a deeper sense of humility and dependence on God, actively seeking His wisdom and strength over my own abilities or resources?
  • How does the concept of God's judgment on nations, as seen in this passage, inform my prayers and engagement with current global events and the challenges facing our world?

FAQ

Who is "thee" that God is speaking to in this verse?

Answer: In Ezekiel 29:8, "thee" refers to Egypt, specifically personified through its king, Pharaoh. The preceding verses in Ezekiel 29:1-7 explicitly address Pharaoh as the "great dragon" or "monster" in the midst of the Nile, making it abundantly clear that the judgment is directed at the entire nation of Egypt and its proud, self-exalting ruler.

Why is God's judgment described as "cutting off man and beast"?

Answer: The phrase "cutting off man and beast" is a powerful and comprehensive expression of total desolation and complete judgment. It signifies that the impending destruction will be so severe and pervasive that it will affect every living thing within the land—both human inhabitants and all forms of livestock and wild animals. This imagery emphasizes the completeness and devastating nature of God's wrath, leaving the land utterly uninhabited and barren, a stark reversal of its former prosperity, much like the judgment of the flood in Genesis 7:21-23 or the plagues upon Egypt itself in Exodus 9:6.

Did this prophecy against Egypt come true?

Answer: Yes, historical records and other biblical prophecies confirm that this prophecy against Egypt was fulfilled, though not in a way that erased Egypt from existence. While Egypt was not utterly annihilated, it did suffer significant military defeats and periods of decline, particularly at the hands of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, as specifically foretold in Ezekiel 29:19-20 and Ezekiel 30:10-12. These events significantly diminished Egypt's power and influence as a dominant world empire, effectively "cutting off" its preeminence, pride, and ability to be a reliable source of strength for other nations, as described in the prophecy.

CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT

While Ezekiel 29:8 speaks of a temporal judgment on a specific ancient nation, its underlying principles of divine sovereignty, the consequences of pride, and the certainty of God's judgment find profound Christ-centered fulfillment. The "sword" of divine judgment, brought by the Lord GOD, ultimately points to the ultimate and final judgment that will be executed by Christ Himself. Just as the pride of Pharaoh was met with divine wrath, so too will all human arrogance, rebellion against God, and reliance on worldly power be decisively judged by the returning King, Jesus Christ, who comes with a "sharp sword" from His mouth to strike down the nations (Revelation 19:15). Furthermore, the "cutting off of man and beast" foreshadows a greater spiritual reality: the eternal separation of those who reject God from His glorious presence, a judgment that Christ Himself will enact at the end of the age, separating the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). Yet, in a profound and paradoxical twist of divine grace, Christ also embodies the "cutting off" for our sake; He was "cut off from the land of the living" (Isaiah 53:8) through His crucifixion, enduring the full weight of divine judgment for humanity's sin. Through His atoning sacrifice, He offers a pathway for humanity to escape the ultimate "sword" of God's wrath, inviting all to find refuge and eternal life in Him, the true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Thus, the judgment on Egypt, while a real historical event, serves as a powerful shadow and prophetic type pointing to the ultimate justice and redemption found uniquely in Christ.

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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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