No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
Parallel translations
- WEB No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of animal shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
- BSB No foot of man or beast will pass through, and it will be uninhabited for forty years.
- NKJV Neither foot of man shall pass through it nor foot of beast pass through it, and it shall be uninhabited forty years.
- NASB A human foot will not pass through it, nor will the foot of an animal pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years.
- NLT For forty years not a soul will pass that way, neither people nor animals. It will be completely uninhabited.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
For forty years no man or beast will pass through Egypt, and it will lie uninhabited. The land suffers a measured period of desolation.
Overview
The forty-year span signals a complete but bounded period of judgment, echoing other biblical uses of forty as a time of testing or chastening. Egypt's emptiness demonstrates the seriousness of God's sentence. The limited term also hints that judgment, though severe, is not God's final word, as the following verses of restoration show.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ezek 32:13I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
- Jer 43:11–12And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
- Ezek 31:12And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
- Isa 23:17And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
- Isa 23:15And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
- Jer 29:10For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
- 2 Chr 36:21To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
- Ezek 30:10–13Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.
- Ezek 36:28And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
- Jer 25:11–12And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
- Dan 9:2In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
- Ezek 33:28For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 29:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.