John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 16:30

"How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord Jehovah, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an impudent harlot;" — Ezekiel 16:30 (ASV)

The Prophet seems to contradict himself when he compares the Jews to a robust or very strong woman, and yet says that their heart was dissolute. For those who translate it as "an obstinate heart" do so without justification, because this translation seems to imply some kind of resistance, given that they were strong and bold, and yet had a soft, weak, or infirm heart.

But in those who despise God, both these faults are evident: they flow away like water and yet are hard as rocks. They flow away, then, because they have no strength or constancy; for they are drawn aside in various directions—as some explain it, by a distracted heart—but we must always return to the idea of softness.

All who revolt from God are carried along by their own instability, so that the minds of the ungodly are changeable and easily moved; for "heart" here is taken to mean the seat of the intellect, as in many other places. Therefore, the Prophet accuses the Jews of sloth, but under the term "a dissolute heart": as in French one says un coeur lasche, and the Prophet’s meaning is best explained by that French word—faint-hearted.

But it is sufficient to understand the Prophet’s meaning: that the Jews were unstable, agitated, and distracted this way and that, since there was nothing in them either firm or solid. Meanwhile, he compares them to a strong and abandoned woman, since we know the boldness of those who despise God in sinning against Him.

So then, they are dissolute because they have no power of attention and nothing is stable in their minds; yet they are like rocks, carry themselves audaciously, and do not hesitate to contend with God. Therefore, although these two states of mind appear inherently contradictory, we can always see them in the reprobate, though in different ways.

Thus he properly calls the Jews not only a robust or abandoned woman, but “a high and mighty dame,” as it may best be rendered in French, une maitresse putain ou painarde. It is a strained interpretation to explain the word “lofty” as her taking license for her desires. I do not hesitate to interpret it as the people being like dissolute women, who throw aside all modesty, seek lovers from all quarters, and entertain them all. This is the Prophet’s meaning.