ProlepsisOpen in the graph →

Prophecy

Brought back to Egypt, sold as slaves, “and nobody will buy you” (Deuteronomy 28:68)

Relief on the Arch of Titus in Rome (around 81): the spoils of the Temple carried in triumph after 70. It attests the defeat, not the sale of captives in Egypt.
Archaeological object Relief on the Arch of Titus in Rome (around 81): the spoils of the Temple carried in triumph after 70. It attests the defeat, not the sale of captives in Egypt. — José Luiz, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

● Written before, according to historians

Written c. 1406 BC according to tradition; c. 640–540 BC according to historians. Event: 70 AD.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. In the book of Deuteronomy, attributed to Moses around 1400 BC by tradition and dated to the 7th-6th centuries BC by historians, God threatens Israel with being brought back to Egypt by ship and offered for sale there as slaves, “and nobody will buy you”.

What happened. In AD 70, after the capture of Jerusalem, the historian Josephus reports that the adult captives were sent to the mines of Egypt and that the others were sold at very low prices, because there were many captives and few buyers. Judeans had already been taken to Egypt around 300 BC.

What is still debated. the text says “nobody will buy”, whereas Josephus speaks only of few buyers, and several periods can claim this fulfillment.

Why it is striking

A text written well before brings together a specific place and a glutted slave market, lacking buyers, which a non-Christian witness describes. It remains a reading: Judeans went to Egypt at other periods, and Josephus speaks of “few” buyers.

Main objection (in French for now)

Le texte dit qu’il n’y aura « personne pour acheter » ; Josèphe dit que les acheteurs étaient « peu nombreux » et que les captifs se vendaient à bas prix. Le raccord demande d’assouplir le verset.

The text (World English Bible)

The LORD will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.

Deut 28:68

Sources