Ezekiel 29:18

Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it: NEBUCHADNEZZAR ... CAUSED HIS ARMY TO SERVE ... AGAINST TYRUS ... YET HAD HE NO WAGES ... FOR TYRUS, FOR THE SERVICE - i:e., in proportion to it, and the time and labour which he expended on the siege of Tyre. Not that he actually failed in the siege (Jerome expressly states, from Assyrian histories, that Nebuchadnezzar succeeded); but so much of the Tyrian resources had been exhausted, or transported to her colonies in ships, that little was left to compensate Nebuchadnezzar for his thirteen years' siege. EVERY HEAD WAS MADE BALD, AND EVERY SHOULDER WAS PEELED - with carrying baskets of earth and stones for the siege-works....

17-21 The besiegers of Tyre obtained little plunder. But when God employs ambitious or covetous men, he will recompense them according to the desires of their hearts; for every man shall have his reward. God had mercy in store for the house of Israel soon after. The history of nations best explains ancient prophecies. All events fulfil the Scriptures. Thus, in the deepest scenes of adversity, the Lord sows the seed of our future prosperity. Happy are those who desire his favour, grace, and image; they will delight in his service, and not covet any earthly recompence; and the blessings they have chosen shall be sure to them for ever....

Verse Ezekiel 29:18. _CAUSED HIS ARMY TO SERVE A GREAT SERVICE AGAINST_ _TYRUS_] He was _thirteen_ years employed in the siege. See _Joseph_. Antiq. lib. x. c. 11. In this siege his soldiers endured great hardships. Being continually on duty, their _heads became bald_ by wearing their helmets; and their _shoulders bruised and peeled_ by carrying baskets of earth to the fortifications, and wood, c., to build towers, c. _YET HAD HE NO WAGES, NOR HIS ARMY_] The Tyrians, finding it at last impossible to defend their city, put all their wealth aboard their vessels, sailed out of the port, and escaped for Carthage and thus Nebuchadnezzar lost all the spoil of one of the richest cities in the world....

The prophet places this prediction out of chronological order, that he may point out what had not been stated in the foregoing prophecy, namely, that the agent who should strike the first blow on Egypt should be the Chaldaean king, Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel 29:18 YET HAD HE NO WAGES - It is not improbable that the Tyrians before they surrendered their island-citadel managed to remove much of their treasure; but others exlplain the verse; that the siege and capture of Tyre is to be regarded as the “work” appointed, and the possession of Egypt as the “reward or wages” for the work. Ezekiel 29:21 Egypt being the antagonist of the people of God, her overthrow inaugurated the triumph of good ov

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 29:1 IN THE TENTH YEAR, etc. The precision with which the dates of the several portions of the prophecy against Egypt are given, here and in Ezekiel 29:17; Ezekiel 30:20; Ezekiel 31:1; Ezekiel 32:1, Ezekiel 32:7, shows that each was called forth by the political events of the time, and has to be studied in connection with them. It will be well, therefore, to begin with a Brief survey of the relat

SON OF MAN, NEBUCHADREZZAR KING OF BABYLON,.... The same with Nebuchadnezzar; he goes by both names in Scripture, nor is the difference very great: CAUSED HIS ARMY TO SERVE A GREAT SERVICE AGAINST TYRUS; in besieging it thirteen years c before he was able to take it; during which time his army suffered much hardship, was greatly fatigued and wearied, by the various military works they were engaged in, to carry on the siege so long a time: EVERY HEAD WAS MADE BALD, AND EVERY SHOULDER WAS PEELED: the heads of the soldiers became bald with wearing their helmets so long, or carrying baskets of earth and timber upon them, to make mounts with; and the skin of their shoulders was peeled off, either with their armour, or by carrying burdens on them for the above purpose; or, as Jerom says, from the Assyrian annals, to make a causeway to join the island to the continent, that so they might come...

Ezekiel 29-30. First Egypt's desolation is announced (Ezekiel 29:1). The king of Egypt addressed in this prophecy was Pharaoh-Hophra, called in Greek, Apries. He was the grandson of Pharaoh-Necho, who defeated King Josiah at Meggido 2 Chronicles 35:20. King Zedekiah of Judah expected help and relief from Pharaoh-Hophra, when Jerusalem was besieged. The Egyptian army under Hophra advanced through Phoenicia and forced the Chaldeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem Jeremiah 37:5. But the relief was only temporary, for the Egyptian army had to retire. The prophet Jeremiah announced also the doom of Hophra, associating it with Zedekiah's doom: “Thus saith the LORD, Behold I will give Pharaoh-Hophra, King of Egypt,

EGYPT AND TYRE. This little oracle, the latest in the book (570 B.C.), is one of the most remarkable. It is a practical admission that Ezekiel's elaborate prophecy of the ruin of Tyre (Ezekiel 26 ff.) had not been fulfilled; and it announces that the Babylonian soldiers, whose shoulders had been galled by the navvy work involved in the erection of a mole between the mainland and the island, and, in general, by the hardship of the siege, which is said by Josephus to have lasted thirteen years, would not go unrewarded. They had failed to win the spoil of Tyre either because the siege was unsuccessful or because Tyre capitulated on very favourable terms but in its stead, Ezekiel here promises them the conquest of Egypt, with the spoil which conquest assured. This promise further shows that Ezekiel's forecast of the ruin of Egypt, uttered sixteen years before (Ezekiel 29 ff.), had not yet be...

NEBUEBADREZZAR. CAUSED HIS ARMY, &c. That this was fulfilled is shown by Prof. Sayre, _The Egypt of the Hebrews_ (1896), p. 130, who quotes an inscription which describes this campaign, which took place (it says) in the thirty. seventh year of his reign. He defeated Pharaoh Amasis. For this spelling ("Nebuchadrezzar ") see note on Ezekiel 26:4. HEAD WAS MADE BALD. Probably from the helmet worn in so long. war. SHOULDER WAS PEELED. From bearing arms so long....

SON OF MAN, &C.— Menander the Greek historian, Philostratus, and Josephus, all assert, that Nebuchadrezzar besieged Tyre thirteen years, when Ithobal was king there. The siege continuing so long, the soldiers must needs endure many hardships. Their heads were made _bald_ by continually wearing helmets, and their skin was _worn off_ their shoulders with carrying earth in baskets to raise fortifications; whence we understand better the force of Ezekiel's expression, that _Nebuchadrezzar caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled._ It farther appears from the Phoenician annals, that the Tyrians received their kings afterwards from Babylon; which plainly evinces, that some of the blood royal must have been carried captives thither. The Phoenician annals too agree with Ezekiel's account of the year wherein the city was taken...