Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 28:68
The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel through Moses, pronouncing a covenant curse following the dread and terror described in the preceding verse. The declaration occurs within a formal warning of consequences for covenant disobedience.
The words — הֱשִׁיבֶךָ (he.shi.ve.ka) means “he will return you,” paired with מִצְרַיִם (mitz.ra.yim) for Egypt and אֳנִיּוֹת (o.ni.yot) for ships. The phrase בַּדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמַ֣רְתִִּֽי (ba.de.rekh a.sher a.ma.rat.ti) literally renders “by the way which I said.”
The thread — The forced return to Egypt and subsequent enslavement echoes Jeremiah 43:7, where disobedience drives Judah back to the land God forbade, and Jeremiah 44:12, which records God’s rejection of those who resolve to settle there. The motif of unbuyable slaves also resonates with Hosea 8:13’s theme of rejected offerings and divine refusal.
Why it lands — The text states Yahweh will reverse the Exodus journey, sending Israel back to Egypt by ship on a forbidden route, where they will be sold as slaves with no buyer. It demands recognition that covenant rebellion inverts divine deliverance into irreversible captivity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 44:12 And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach.
- Jeremiah 43:7 So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.
- Hosea 8:13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.
- Hosea 9:3 They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.
- Deuteronomy 17:16 But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’
- Exodus 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Nehemiah 5:8 and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.
- Esther 7:4 For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.”
- Joel 3:3 They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.
- Luke 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.