Ver. 68. The Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships;—and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies—and no man shall buy you— They were to be carried into Egypt, and sold for slaves at a very low price. They had come out of Egypt triumphant; but now they should return thither as slaves. They had walked through the sea, as on dry land, at their coming out; but now they should be carried thither in ships. They might be carried thither in the ships of the Tyrian or Sidonian merchants, or by the Romans, who had a fleet in the Mediterranean; and this was a much safer way of conveying so many prisoners, than sending them by land. It appears from Josephus, that in the reigns of the two first Ptolemies, many of the Jews were slaves in Egypt: and when Jerusalem was taken by Titus, of the captives who were above seventeen years of age, he sent many bound to the works in Egypt: those under seventeen years were sold; but so little care was taken of them, that twelve thousand perished for want. See Antiq. l. xii. c. 1, 2. Bell. Jud. l. vi. c. 9. sect. 2. We learn from St. Jerome, in Zach. vol. iii. c. 11. p. 1774. that "after their last overthrow by Adrian, many thousands of them were sold; and that those who could not be sold were transported for AEgypt, and perished by shipwreck or famine, or were massacred by the inhabitants." See Bishop Newton on the Prophecies. Hegesippus, giving an account of what happened after the destruction of Jerusalem, says, "there were many captives offered for sale, but few buyers, because the Romans disdained to take the Jews for slaves; and there were not Jews remaining to redeem their countrymen." By the way whereof I spake unto thee, &c. may be rendered, perhaps more properly, to the way, or place, whereof I said, ye shall see it no more again; referring to what is said, ch. Deuteronomy 17:16. The phrase, Ye shall be sold unto your enemies, and no man shall buy you, evidently and plainly means, ye shall be offered for sale, &c.; and none but the most captious reader could understand it in any other sense. Dr. Waterland, from Blackwall, p. 100 reads, ye shall be set to sale. Houbigant renders it, ibi prostabitis inimicis vestris ad emptionem; and so the Syriac and Arabic. Bishop Newton well observes, in the conclusion of his view of this chapter, "Here are instances of prophecies delivered above three thousand years ago, and yet, as we see, fulfilling in the world at this very time. What stronger proofs can we desire of the divine legation of Moses? How these instances may affect others, I know not; but, for myself, I must acknowledge, they not only convince, but amaze and astonish me beyond expression. They are truly, as Moses foretold they would be, a sign and a wonder for ever."
It is impossible, in the brief compass of notes like our's, to do justice to this striking and important subject; and, perhaps, there is no method by which the reader may obtain a proper view of it, like that of a careful perusal of the History of the Jews, by Josephus and Basnage; comparing which with these and the subsequent prophecies in Scripture, he will have a full conviction of the immediate interposition of God, and of that strong demonstration of the truth of revelation which arises from the circumstances of this wonderful people.