Bible Strands
Ezekiel 29:11
No foot of man or beast will pass through, and it will be uninhabited for forty years.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Ezekiel to pronounce a specific judgment against Egypt, detailing the total desolation of the territory from Migdol to Syene. The oracle is delivered at a moment of prophetic declaration concerning the coming ruin of the nation and its waterways.
The words — The Hebrew combines לֹא (lo', "not") and תַעֲבָר (ta'avor, "it will pass") with רֶגֶל אָדָם (regel adam, "foot of man") and רֶגֶל בְּהֵמָה (regel behemah, "foot of beast") to state an absolute prohibition of movement across the land.
The thread — The theme of enforced desolation and restricted movement appears in Ezekiel 32:13, which records that no human foot will muddy waters and no cattle hooves will trample them, and in 2 Chronicles 36:21, which notes the land resting for seventy years to complete its Sabbaths. Jeremiah 43:11 also aligns with this judgment sequence by describing the coming strike that brings death, captivity, and the sword to Egypt.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment operates as a concrete physical reality, removing habitation and passage to fulfill a set period of desolation. It establishes that the stated duration of uninhabitation is a fixed boundary, not a temporary setback.
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
No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 32:13 I will slaughter all her cattle beside the abundant waters. No human foot will muddy them again, and no cattle hooves will disturb them.
- Jeremiah 43:11 He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah.
- Isaiah 23:15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the span of a king’s life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:
- Isaiah 23:17 And at the end of seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre. Then she will return to hire as a prostitute and sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
- Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
- Jeremiah 29:10 For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.
- Ezekiel 30:10 This is what the Lord GOD says: I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
- Ezekiel 31:12 Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it.
- Ezekiel 33:28 I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through.