Egypt

The great ancient civilization along the lower Nile, called Mits·raʹyim (Mizraim) in Hebrew; Abraham went down to Egypt to escape famine, the Israelites sojourned here for 430 years before being led out by Moses, and the young child Jesus was brought here as a refugee.

In the Hebrew Scriptures Egypt is generally called Mits·raʹyim (Mizraim), after Mizraim the son of Ham (Ge 10:6), and the psalms also call it “the land of Ham.” The Nile runs through the country, and the fertile Delta (Lower Egypt) was a granary in times of famine, while the Sinai isthmus to the northeast was the bridge to Asia. During a severe famine Abram went down to sojourn in Egypt (Ge 12:10). Later Joseph was sold to Ishmaelite merchants and taken into Egypt, where he found favor before Pharaoh and rose to power; in the great famine Jacob’s household of 70 went down to Egypt and settled in Goshen (Ge 37:28; 46:6-7), and the Israelites grew numerous. A new king who did not know Joseph enslaved them (Ex 1:7-8); Moses, sent by Jehovah God, brought the Ten Plagues, and after 430 years of dwelling the Israelites went out of Egypt (Ex 12:40-41) and crossed the Red Sea. Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter and traded with Egypt for horses and chariots; Egypt was also a refuge for his enemies, as when Jeroboam fled to Pharaoh Shishak (1Ki 11:40). In the New Testament, Joseph took Mary and the child Jesus into Egypt to escape Herod and returned after Herod’s death, fulfilling Hosea’s prophecy “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Ho 11:1; Mt 2:13-15, 19-21). Revelation uses “Egypt” in a spiritual sense for the great city that oppresses Jehovah’s people (Re 11:8).