ProlepsisOpen in the graph →

Prophecy

Egypt desolate and uninhabited for forty years, its people scattered (Ezekiel 29:8-16)

Head of a statue of Pharaoh Amasis (Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin). His prosperous 44-year reign contradicts the Egypt “desolate for forty years” of Ezek 29.
Archaeological object Head of a statue of Pharaoh Amasis (Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin). His prosperous 44-year reign contradicts the Egypt “desolate for forty years” of Ezek 29. — Yair Haklai, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

⊘ Not fulfilled as written

Written 587 BC according to tradition; 587–571 BC according to historians. Event: 568–526 BC.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. The prophet Ezekiel, in the book of Ezekiel, around 587 BC, announces that Egypt will become a desert where no one will pass for forty years, and that the Egyptians will be scattered among other peoples.

What happened. The king of Babylon does invade Egypt around 568–567 BC, but Pharaoh Amasis keeps his throne until 526 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus even says that Egypt was never as prosperous as under him. No source speaks of forty years of desolation or of a dispersion of the Egyptians.

What is still debated. believers see in it the Babylonian invasion and deportations, exaggerated or to be read as a symbolic number, but even some Christian commentaries acknowledge that the sources say nothing of such a dispersion.

What is surprising

The announcement is precise and the period well documented by Egyptian, Babylonian and Greek sources: none of them knows of this desolation. The text was preserved as it was, and even believing commentators acknowledge that “the sources are silent”.

Main objection (in French for now)

Quarante ans sans habitants « depuis Migdol jusqu’à Syène », puis le retour des exilés : rien de tel n’est attesté, alors que l’Égypte du VIe siècle est bien documentée.

The text (World English Bible)

“‘Therefore the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you. The land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. “‘“Because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it,’ therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers. I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia. No foot of man will pass through it, nor will any animal foot pass through it. It won’t be inhabited for forty years. I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities among the cities that are l…

Ezek 29:8-13

Sources