Ezekiel 29:20

I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Yahweh speaks through Ezekiel to the exiled community, announcing that Nebuchadnezzar will receive Egypt as payment for his military campaign. This declaration sits between the judgment pronounced on Egypt and the subsequent promise of Israel's restoration.

The words — The Hebrew פְּעֻלָּתוֹ (pe'ullāṯô, "his labor/recompense") and עָבַד ('āḇaḏ, "he served") frame the conquest as compensated work rather than unearned plunder. נָתַתִּי (nāṯattî, "I have given") establishes Yahweh as the direct author of this territorial transfer.

The thread — The passage operates within the biblical pattern of God commissioning foreign rulers to execute judgment, as outlined in Isaiah 10:6 and Jeremiah 25:9. It aligns with the motif of divine empowerment seen in Isaiah 45:1, where God directs a ruler's actions to accomplish His purposes.

Why it lands — The text requires acknowledgment that political and military outcomes fall under divine sovereignty rather than human autonomy. It directs the reader to trust God's control over history while awaiting the confirmed restoration of Israel.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

פְּעֻלָּתוֹ֙pe.'u.la.T/orecompense/ his אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which עָ֣בַד'A.vadhe servedבָּ֔הּBa/hfor/ itנָתַ֥תִּיna.Ta.tiI have givenל֖וֹl/oto/ himאֶת־'et-<obj.>אֶ֣רֶץ'E.retz[the] land of מִצְרָ֑יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgypt אֲשֶׁר֙'a.Sherthat עָ֣שׂוּ'A.suthey actedלִ֔יL/ifor/ meנְאֻ֖םne.'Um[the] utterance of אֲדֹנָ֥י'a.do.Nai[the] Lord יְהוִֽה׃ סYah.wehYahweh

King James Version

I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.

Cross-references

Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
Isaiah 45:1 This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:
2 Kings 10:30 Nevertheless, the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in My sight and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.”