“Therefore behold, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation from Migdol to Seveneh (Syene) even to the border of Ethiopia. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither will it be inhabited for forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste will be a desolation forty years, and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them through the countries.”
A parallel fate to that of Judah is prophesied for Egypt. It is to be desolated, although the means is not stated, so that it is desolate from north to south. Migdol (meaning watchtower) would be in the Delta on the Egyptian border (compare Exodus 14:2), while Seveneh (probably Syene) meaning ‘marketplace' (Egyptian swn) was on the border with Ethiopia on the first cataract of the Nile (unless we read as ‘from tower to marketplace'). Syene was a fortress and base for expeditions into Nubia (Cush), a terminus for river traffic and a source of red granite for monumental buildings (syenite).
The desolation would go on for ‘forty years'. ‘Forty years' was a standard period for trial and testing meaning a fixed and fairly long period, and parallels the period for bearing iniquity endured by Judah (Ezekiel 4:6). Thus Egypt would suffer a fairly long period of desolation and weakness, probably at the hand of their enemies.
The description of a land where no one will tread is probably intended as an exaggerated picture to give the impression of the awfulness of the situation rather than as literal (just as descriptions of the devastations of Judah and Israel gave a similar impression; compare also Isaiah 34:10 with Malachi 1:3-4 of Edom). In its devastation it will be like a land totally deserted.
The dispersal among the countries, which may have occurred towards the end of the forty years, also parallels Judah and Israel. As with them the description is not to be taken literally. It is the cream of the country that is in mind, and it is so described to bring out the parallel. The real point is that Egypt will be made to suffer as Israel (2 Kings 17:18; 2 Kings 17:23) and Judah (2 Kings 25:11; 2 Kings 25:26) have done. There will be a period when their chief men will be forcibly absent from the land, and when many will flee for refuge into many countries.
We have no record of such an event, as literally described, happening in Egypt although we must remember that there is much of their detailed history hidden to us, and kings did not tend to record their own bad periods. It was clearly to happen at the same time as the devastation of surrounding countries, beginning with invasion by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 30:23-24), but like much prophecy probably also having a far view.
It may be that Pharaoh and his forces and the cream of the aristocracy did have to retreat from their cities beyond their borders at some stage before the fierce invasion of Nebuchadnezzar and later before the Medo-Persians, possibly affected by internal rebellion, later to return, and that many refugees fled to neighbouring countries, remaining there for years, or it may possibly partly point forward to even later invasions and their effects.