“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her.
The date of this prophecy is observable; it was in the twenty-seventh year of Ezekiel's captivity, sixteen years after the prophecy in the former part of the chapter, and almost as long after those which follow in the next chapters; but it comes in here for the explication of all that was said against Egypt.
Commenting on Ezekiel 29:17-21
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...
every head . . . bald, . . . shoulder . . . peeled--with carrying baskets of earth and stones for the siege works. no wages . . . for the service--that is, in proportion to it and the time and labor which he expended on the siege of Tyre.