(Verse 17 onwards) And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare; yet he had no wages, nor his army, for Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will give Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon the land of Egypt; and he shall take its multitude, and take its spoil, and take its prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor that he has performed for me, says the Lord God. On that day the horn of the house of Israel will sprout, and I will give you an open mouth in the midst of them, and they will know that I am the Lord. It is asked how after the tenth year of the previous discourse, immediately the twenty-seventh year is placed, and in the following years the twelfth and the thirteenth, and in the final description of the temple, the twenty-fifth. But the solution is easy. Because both the prophecy about Egypt and the previous one, and the one that is now being spoken, are covered, although they have been made at different times: yet they are joined together because they prophesy about one province. And we often read in Jeremiah, that times are described in a preposterous order. For the deeds of Zedekiah are reported first, and then those of Joachim who came before him. But in the Psalms, because it is a lyric poem, the order of the events is not sought. So let us speak first according to the letter. When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre, and because it was surrounded by the sea, he could not join the rams, machines, and vineyards to the walls, he ordered an infinite multitude of the army to carry rocks and mounds, and when the middle sea, or rather the narrow strait, was filled, he made the neighboring shore an uninterrupted island. When the Tyrians saw that the city was now completely finished and that the foundations of the walls were being shaken by the battering of the rams, they loaded onto ships whatever precious things they had in gold, silver, clothing, and various furnishings that the nobility possessed, and carried them to the islands, so that after capturing the city, Nebuchadnezzar found nothing worthy of his hard work. And because he had obeyed God's will in this matter, after a few years of captivity in Tyre, Egypt was given to him; and Tyrus was much more cruel to Egypt. For she was attacking Jerusalem; this one was promising empty assistance. Indeed, it is one thing to deceive weakness with hope: it is another thing to fight against the people of God. Therefore, this is what Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, says: in the siege of Tyre, he made his army serve me, so that I may fulfill my will. Every head is shaved, and every shoulder is made hairless, carrying baskets of earth and stones with which shoulders are shaved, and the head is shaved; and yet neither he nor his army found anything worthy in Tyre. And when he served me in this way, and fulfilled my will against Tyre, therefore I will give him the land of Egypt. Some say that this was accomplished under Nebuchadnezzar; others say under Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, who devastated Egypt as far as Ethiopia, to the extent of killing the sacred bull Apis and destroying all their statues. For this reason, they believe that he was turned mad by the chance of a horse and killed himself with his own dagger. Herodotus recounts this history in great detail, describing all of Egypt through its villages, castles, and towns, and revealing the origin of the Nile and the people of that land, as well as the measurement of the land around to the desert of Ethiopia and the shores of the Great Sea, bordering Libya and Arabia. But the cause of the Lord's anger against Egypt is that it deceived His people by not allowing them to hope in God and by provoking Him to anger. On that day when Egypt is captured, the horn of the house of Israel will sprout: undoubtedly indicating a royal lineage. Some refer this to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, who was descended from the line of David through Jeconiah, while others refer it to the ultimate time, when they believe that Elijah will come. But we, by understanding the Lord's horn to be Christ, interpret the present history. And when, he says, this has been accomplished first, then your mouth will be opened, and your prophecy will not hang on uncertain promises, but it will be seen accomplished in action: so that all who hear may know that I am the Lord, of whom it has been said and done. These things, according to the letter, indeed according to the truth, have been spoken as prophecies. Furthermore, from the fact that Nebuchadnezzar received a reward for his good work, we also understand that even the Gentiles, if they do something good, are not overlooked by God's judgment without a reward. Therefore, through Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar is called the dove of God because he served the will of God against the sinful people. 'And I will bring my servant Nebuchadnezzar' (Jeremiah 25).' From this, it is clear that we are condemned in comparison to the Gentiles if they follow the natural law, which we also neglect even though it is written. Paul the Apostle discusses this matter at length in his letter to the Romans. And lest we seem to overlook anything according to spiritual understanding, we inquire where we find this number, that is, the twenty-seventh. In the book of Genesis, Scripture testifies (Gen. VII) that in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the waters of the flood came upon the earth, and after seven months of the same year, which is near the Sabbath, and on the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month, the waters of the flood ceased, and Noah's ark settled on the mountains of Ararat, which are interpreted as Armenia. From this we understand that the number is average and can be applied to both, when in this and the anger of God begins from the flood, and his mercy is shown in the seventh month on the same day. And because among the Hebrews the month, which with us is measured by the Kalends, Nones, and Ides, is calculated according to the course of the moon: whence also in the Greek language it has received the name μήνη, that is, moon, it is said that on the twenty-seventh day of the moon there remained little light, so that his anger may not be without mercy. But when the whole orb of the moon is filled up, then both Easter is celebrated and all the greatest solemnities. Which we have set down strictly, so that we may know that in this number, both good and evil are contained equally. Good for Nebuchadnezzar, to whom his labor is rewarded; evil for the Egyptians, whose destruction is announced.
Source: Commentary on Ezekiel