Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Ezekiel 29:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The dated report or historical recital states or reports “I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they…” at Ezekiel 29:20 as a specific part of “Egypt Becomes Babylon's Pay after Unrewarded Labor at Tyre.”
The twenty-seventh year admits Tyre did not pay
This verse is one part of that explanation in Ezekiel 29:17–20. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Ezekiel 29:17–20
Read Ezekiel 29:20 with 29:17–20. By itself, “I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they…” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, exilic horizon, visionary movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: A later dated word acknowledges that Nebuchadnezzar's army received no wages from its long work against Tyre and assigns Egypt as compensation.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within the same chapter, this unit advances from “Egypt Returns as a Low Kingdom” into “Egypt Becomes Babylon's Pay after Unrewarded Labor at Tyre.” Its non-interchangeable contribution is: A later dated word acknowledges that Nebuchadnezzar's army received no wages from its long work against Tyre and assigns Egypt as compensation. This verse's placement is specific: The dated report or historical recital states or reports “I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they…” at Ezekiel 29:20 as a specific part of “Egypt Becomes Babylon's Pay after Unrewarded Labor at Tyre.”
Follow the Context
- The unit begins at 29:17 with the address, action, vision, lament, or measurement named in its title.
- A later dated word acknowledges that Nebuchadnezzar's army received no wages from its long work against Tyre and assigns Egypt as compensation.
- By 29:20 the movement reaches its stated warning, promise, response, or transition before the next unit begins.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Giving Egypt to Babylon does not authorize conquest as employment compensation.
What Remains True
The verse belongs to a theological interpretation of imperial labor, not an ethical rule for war. In Ezekiel 29:20, that bounded truth is carried through this verse's role: The dated report or historical recital states or reports “I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they…” at Ezekiel 29:20 as a specific part of “Egypt Becomes Babylon's Pay after Unrewarded Labor at Tyre.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Preserve the text's difficulty and center those subjected to empire. This verse directs that response through its exact role: The dated report or historical recital states or reports “I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they…” at Ezekiel 29:20 as a specific part of “Egypt Becomes Babylon's Pay after Unrewarded Labor at Tyre.”
Teach It Back
Explain Ezekiel 29:20's precise role in Ezekiel 29:17–20: The dated report or historical recital states or reports “I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they…” at Ezekiel 29:20 as a specific part of “Egypt Becomes Babylon's Pay after Unrewarded Labor at Tyre.” State how “Egypt Becomes Babylon's Pay after Unrewarded Labor at Tyre” controls the line, keep this uncertainty visible—The reinterpretation does not make imperial conquest just wages, excuse civilian harm, or require pretending the earlier Tyre expectation was fulfilled exactly.—trace role to contextual meaning to enduring truth to application, and reject one use the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Ezekiel 29:17–20 — Egypt Becomes Babylon's Pay after Unrewarded Labor at TyreSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Responsible readings differ over composition, rhetoric, historical reconstruction, symbol, and later reception. The preferred reading follows the complete unit and received-book placement while preserving this limit: The reinterpretation does not make imperial conquest just wages, excuse civilian harm, or require pretending the earlier Tyre expectation was fulfilled exactly.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Ezekiel 29:17–20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 29:17–20
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Ezekiel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 29:17–20
Open the official NET Ezekiel PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Ezekiel course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and passage studies
Alan G. Padgett; revised by Tyler Mayfield
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised June 2023
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and passage studies: nations, Tyre, Egypt, and laments; applied to Ezekiel 29:17–20
Open the Enter the Bible Ezekiel course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Ezekiel Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Parts 2-3 study guides: nations, watchman, shepherd, and restoration; applied to Ezekiel 29:17–20
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗