Deuteronomy 28:68Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

And the Lord will return you... to Egypt on ships - on the vessels of your adversaries who will capture you, and you will find no way of escape.

He likewise warns them about the bondage of Egypt, a reality they had recently endured and still vividly remembered. For He states, "They that have taken thee captive, they shall sell thee."

The captives were placed aboard ships and taken to Egypt, where they were sold into bondage at remarkably low prices in the bustling markets of Alexandria. In doing so, the Romans brought to fruition the prophecy spoken by Moses. To the Israelites, who had recently endured a challenging forty-year journey through the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land, the lawgiver proclaimed: ‘And the Lord God shall bring you back to Egypt in ships: and in the way of him that I have spoken, thou shalt not put it to this to see him: and thou shalt be sold by thine enemy there as slaves, and as slaves, and there shall be no buying.’