In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it. Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD.
For this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company of troops. He will slaughter the villages of your mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp to your walls, and raise his shields against you. He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his axes. His multitude of horses will cover you in their dust. When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots. The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets. He will slaughter your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. They will plunder your wealth and pillage your merchandise. They will demolish your walls, tear down your beautiful homes, and throw your stones and timber and soil into the water. So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard. I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread the fishing nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the LORD, have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.'
Significance
Ezekiel 29:17-20, the latest dated oracle in the book (571 BC), explicitly revisits the prophecy of Ezekiel 26:7-14 against Tyre. God acknowledges that Nebuchadnezzar's army labored against Tyre — "Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw" — but received no פְּעֻלָּה (pe'ullah, "wages/reward"). God therefore gives Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar as שָׂכָר (sakhar, "payment") for service rendered. This inner-biblical cross-reference demonstrates how the prophet himself understood prophetic fulfillment as a dynamic process—God's sovereign purposes may unfold through unexpected channels, but His commitments to His instruments of judgment remain intact.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Allusion
Connection Method(s)
Promise-Fulfillment — the book's latest-dated oracle (29:17, 571 BC) explicitly revisits the Tyre prophecy of 26:7-14: Nebuchadnezzar's army labored strenuously against Tyre yet "received no wages" (29:18), so the LORD assigns Egypt as payment for the service His own word had commissioned (29:19-20). An earlier prophetic word is tracked to its outworking and its recompense settled — inner-biblical promise-fulfillment administered by the prophet himself.
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