‘And so it was in the twenty seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to do a great service against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled. Yet he had no wages, nor did his army, from Tyre, because of the service that he had served against it.” '
In this oracle attention is turned on Tyre, but only so as to stress what is to happen to Egypt. By now the thirteen year siege of Tyre was over, and although Nebuchadnezzar had technically won, the island city had never been taken by storm and what remained in it was insufficient to compensate for the costs of the long siege, although tribute would be exacted. We may reasonably assume that the Tyrians had ensured that all their treasures had long before been removed by ship, possibly with Egypt's connivance.
‘Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare.' The continual wearing of helmets, and the continual demands of the heavy siege had had their effect. The soldiers felt totally ill-used and exhausted.
‘Yet he had no wages, nor did his army, from Tyre, because of the service that he had served against it.' Nebuchadnezzar's activity at Tyre was to be seen as service to Yahweh. He had unknowingly been carrying out Yahweh's judgment on Tyre. But he had received no proper reward for it. Neither had his army, who depended on spoils to supplement their poor wages. By such spoils many became prosperous.