John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 16:35-37

"Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness uncovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers; and because of all the idols of thy abominations, and for the blood of thy children, that thou didst give unto them; therefore behold, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them against thee on every side, and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness." — Ezekiel 16:35-37 (ASV)

After God has denounced the people’s sins and treated the whole nation as guilty, He now pronounces judgment on their wickedness. He briefly repeats what He had said, as a judge explains the reason for his sentence. Since, He says, the lower parts of your body and your disgrace have been discovered before your lovers. This is the reason for the judgment, from which it is concluded that God is led to treat His people harshly for just and necessary reasons.

It now follows: therefore, He says, I will assemble all your lovers, with those also whom you hate, I will assemble them, and uncover your shame before them. We can now see what the Jews are threatened with: namely, a disgraceful destruction, so that they become a common laughingstock without anyone to help them. For the language is metaphorical when He speaks of lovers and of parts of the body, for by lovers He here means the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans.

This refutes the opinion of those who think that the Prophet treats only of superstitions. Nor can this language refer to idols, since we know that false gods were not spectators of the punishment which the Prophet denounces against the Jews. From this it follows that this language will only apply to those persons to whose protection the Jews trusted, so as to treat God’s help as useless.

Since, then, this is the metaphorical sense of the passage, we understand that shame means plundering and slaughter; indeed, the destruction of both the kingdom and city, and even of the temple. Thus the nation was a common laughingstock, and in this way like a foul and aged harlot. Now we understand the Prophet’s intention.

As for Jerome translating it as “wealth,” this is entirely contrary to the Prophet’s meaning. There is no doubt that the Prophet means the lower part of the body, and it follows in the same sense, your shame was uncovered. But at the same time, God expresses why it was done, namely, for fornication, as if an abandoned woman were to act so disgracefully.

He now says it was done towards your lovers, towards the idols of your abominations: על (gnel) is here taken to mean “towards” or “against.” He distinguishes between lovers and idols. Those who think that the Prophet treats only of superstitions consider the copula superfluous; but there is no doubt that the Prophet means, on one side, the Assyrians, Egyptians, and Chaldeans, and on the other, false gods.

And in bloods, He says. He here adds another crime: namely, that of barbarous cruelty, because they did not spare their own sons, as we saw before. Many offered up their children, and some were found so frenzied as to cast them into the fire. It was indeed a monstrous crime when they did not hesitate to rage against their own offspring, but they were so carried away by insane zeal that they burned up their children when others only drew them through the fire.

Therefore, the Prophet again accuses them of cruelty for offering their children to idols and so pouring forth innocent blood. Now follows the punishment. Behold, He says, I collect all your lovers. We said that this ought to be understood of the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, all of whom looked upon the slaughter of that perverse and perfidious nation, but none of them helped her.

God therefore pronounces the destruction of the people to be just like that of a harlot abandoned by her lovers and perishing through hunger, deprivation, and other miseries. For it very often happens that a person under the impulse of love prefers a harlot to his own life; he will throw off all regard for his wife, he will be disrespectful to both his father and mother, and will break through every restraint to enjoy her company.

But when such women grow old, and their hair becomes white (which represents the winter of life), and when wrinkles deform their faces, then they are despised, especially if they suffer through disease. So also the Prophet now says that the Jews would be despised by all, so that their lovers would be compelled to behold that example. Meanwhile, these former lovers would scarcely deign to look at the foul appearance which had once so sweetly delighted them.

Then He proceeds further, namely, that their enemies should behold their disgrace. We know that the Jews were surrounded on all sides by enemies and that all their neighbors were hostile to them. The Prophet now says that the nation’s disgrace should be exposed before their lovers, that is, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Philistines, Edomites, and other nations.

This passage teaches us that although the reason for God’s judgments may not always clearly appear, they are never too severe. When He condescends to give us a reason, He grants us an unmerited favor.

But when He silently executes His judgments, let us learn to acquiesce in His justice and not to cry out if His actions seem to exceed due measure. For when He has once explained that His severity is, in fact, justice, from this we must gather the general rule: whenever He seems to treat His people too severely and harshly, He nonetheless has just reasons for it.

Let us also learn that the Jews only suffered a just penalty when God so cursed all their plans. They thought themselves very provident and circumspect when they engaged in alliances with Egyptians and Assyrians. But all their plans turned out unhappily for them, since they consulted their own will contrary to that of God.

Let us learn, then, if we wish to promote our own salvation and obtain a prosperous result, to do nothing without God’s permission and not to undertake any deliberations except those which God has dictated and suggested by His Word and Spirit. For here, every future event is shown to us as in a mirror when we wish to be wiser than we ought to be, and than God permits.