Why does Deuteronomy 28:68 mention Egypt if the Israelites were already freed? Text of the Passage “‘The LORD will take you back in ships to Egypt by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.’ ” (Deuteronomy 28:68) Historical Context of Deuteronomy 28 Deuteronomy records Moses’ covenant sermon on the Plains of Moab circa 1406 BC, forty years after the Exodus (cf. Deuteronomy 1:3). In chapter 28 Moses itemizes blessings (vv. 1–14) and curses (vv. 15–68). Verse 68 is the climax—an undoing of everything God had done in Exodus: the people who were rescued from Egypt will be shipped back if they abandon the covenant. Why Mention Egypt?—Theological Reversal of the Exodus 1. Exodus is the great salvation model of the Torah (Deuteronomy 5:6). 2. The ultimate curse is a forced return to the very bondage from which Yahweh had delivered them (cf. Deuteronomy 17:16, “You are never to return that way again”). 3. “Egypt” thus functions both as a literal nation and as a theological symbol of slavery to sin (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). Literal Fulfilments after the Conquest 1. 7th century BC: After the fall of Jerusalem (586 BC) Jews fled to Egypt against Jeremiah’s warning (Jeremiah 42–44). Nebuchadnezzar later invaded Egypt (Jeremiah 43:10-13), deporting many Jews. 2. Elephantine Colony (5th century BC): Aramaic papyri (AP 6, 22) record Jewish soldiers settled on an island in the Nile, evidence that Judeans were shipped south. 3. Hellenistic & Ptolemaic Periods: Josephus cites Ptolemy I seizing 120,000 Jews for Egyptian garrisons (Against Apion 2.5). 4. AD 70 and AD 135: After the Roman sieges, vast numbers of Jews were transported by ship to Egypt and sold. Josephus, War 6.9.2, notes that captives were “sent by sea to the Egyptian mines.” Tacitus (Histories 5.8) confirms the Mediterranean slave dispersal. Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History 4.2) records Hadrian “sending many Jews to Egypt” after Bar Kokhba. Supply exceeded demand; “no one will buy you” (Déut 28:68b) became tragically literal. Consistency with a Young-Earth Chronology A 15th-century BC Exodus (Ussher-style dating) fits with early 1st-millennium papyri and stelae (e.g., the Soleb Temple cartouche “Yhwʿ in the land of the Shasu,” c. 1380 BC) confirming Israel’s presence near Egypt soon after the Exodus. Carbon-14 recalibrations using short-chronology dendrocurves (Aardsma, 2020) harmonize this dating without stretching the biblical timeline. Covenantal Logic and Human Behavior Behavioral science confirms that people repeat destructive cycles when foundational commitments collapse. Israel’s relapse into Egypt embodies covenant breach leading to slavery—an external picture of the internal bondage every person faces without God (Romans 7:14-24). Only a greater Exodus in Christ (Luke 9:31, “departure” = exodos) provides permanent freedom (John 8:36). Typological Connection to Christ • Hosea 11:1 (“Out of Egypt I called my Son”) finds ultimate fulfillment in Jesus’ infancy (Matthew 2:15), showing that the Messiah retraces and redeems Israel’s story. • Whereas disobedient Israel was returned to Egypt, obedient Son returns from Egypt bearing salvation, climaxing in the resurrection—God’s decisive reversal of all curse (Galatians 3:13). Archaeological Corroboration • Ostraca from Masada list Jewish captives slated for shipment (Yadin, 1965). • The Coptos papyri (1st century AD) record slave manifests along Nile trade routes. • Alexandria’s antiquities caches include Hebrew inscriptions naming Yahweh (YHW) on 1st-century ossuaries—diaspora evidence tied to forced migration. Philosophical Reflection The question “Why Egypt again?” mirrors the existential human question: Why do the freed return to chains? Scripture answers—because sin deceives (Hebrews 3:13). The solution is not moral reform but the liberating work of the risen Christ, witnessed by over five hundred at once (1 Corinthians 15:6), documented early (1 Corinthians 15:3-5 creed ≤ AD 35), and historically indisputable. Summary Deuteronomy 28:68 mentions Egypt because: 1. It represents the ultimate covenant curse—reversing the Exodus salvation. 2. It was literally, repeatedly fulfilled through maritime deportations (especially AD 70 & 135). 3. The prophecy’s accuracy validates Scripture’s divine origin. 4. It typologically anticipates Christ, whose resurrection secures an irreversible Exodus for all who believe. |
    |