Ezekiel 29:17

"And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord Jehovah."

EGYPT GIVEN TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR AS "WAGES"

The date in Ezekiel 29:17, according to Bruce, is April 26,571 B.C.[11] This was about a year after the end of the 13-year siege of Tyre. This, of course, is the last of Ezekiel's prophecies chronologically; but it is included here because of the subject matter. "The date given here is two years later than the vision of chapter 40."[12]

Despite the fall of Tyre and its subsequent domination under a high commissioner from Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar received no significant spoil from its capture. Many have suggested that perhaps Tyre had had sufficient time to ship all of their treasures elsewhere. Egypt may well have been a cooperating partner with Tyre in such a project, giving credence to Bruce's suggestion that such actions on Egypt's part would have been a sufficient "casus belli" to result in Nebuchadnezzar's immediate declaration of war against Egypt.[13]

Nebuchadnezzar appears here as "the servant of God" in his siege of Tyre, and his eventual spoil of Egypt is seen as a God-given reward for him as compensation for the failure of Tyre to yield any loot to her conquerors. "In all of Nebuchadnezzar's campaigns, he was unconsciously carrying out the purposes of the Divine will (See Jeremiah 25:9).[14]

McFadyen commented that "The appearance in this chapter of prophecies which men have labeled as `untilled' may fairly be regarded as proof that in the mind of Ezekiel they had been or indeed would be essentially fulfilled."[15]

There is no admission here that Nebuchadnezzar's mission against Tyre failed. Jamieson tells us that Jerome, quoting Assyrian historians, expressly states that Nebuchadnezzar succeeded.[16] Afterward from the long siege, "The power of Tyre was broken, and she never regained her former greatness."[17]