John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 16:41

"And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt also give no hire any more." — Ezekiel 16:41 (ASV)

After he had spoken of the slaughter of men, he adds the burning of their dwellings. It was truly sad that the whole land would be deprived of inhabitants. But the appalling nature of this final destruction was compounded when the houses were burned up, for the country was laid waste for the future and for a long time.

For when people are slain, others may take their place, if they find houses ready and fields cultivated. But when all these things are consumed by fire and by other means of ruin, all hope for the future is taken away. The Prophet now means this when he says, that the houses were burned up.

He adds, they shall execute judgment against you in the sight of many women. Since he had used the analogy of a prostitute for the Jewish people, so that the clauses of the sentence correspond, he interprets 'women' to mean the neighboring peoples. He confirms what we previously saw: that the penalty to be exacted from the Jews would be accompanied by the greatest disgrace.

But this is very bitter, when not only must we perish, but the cruelty of enemies must be satiated while many watch us. And undoubtedly, it was much more severe for the Jews to endure the ridicule of their enemies than to perish at once. If they had perished at once, death would not have been such a torture to them as those mockeries by which they were harassed by their enemies.

For we said that they were hated by almost everyone. And in Psalm 137:7 it is shown that the Edomites, and others like them, said, as a form of congratulation, Hail! Hail! when Jerusalem was destroyed: Remember, O Lord, the sons of Edom, who said in the day of Jerusalem, Down with it, down with it, even to the ground.

The Prophet, therefore, announces this: that the punishment which he previously mentioned would be an example to all nations.

He speaks of the Chaldeans, not in the strictest sense, when he says that they would be executors of God’s judgments, for no duty was assigned to them. However, God often assigns to humans, as instruments of His wrath, what uniquely belongs to Him alone. And in this way, He wounds the Jews more severely when He makes the Chaldeans their judges. God, properly speaking, was the sole judge who avenged the people’s wickedness. But meanwhile, He substitutes the Chaldeans for Himself, so that the punishment might be the more disgraceful.

He adds, and I will make you cease from fornication, nor shall you offer gifts any more. God does not mean that the Jews would be better when in exile, but simply reminds them that the opportunity for their sinning would be lacking. This is like an immodest woman who feels shame because she is despised by everyone, not because of any improvement in her disposition, since her licentious feelings remain the same as before. So also, the Jews were always obstinate in their wickedness, though deprived of the opportunity of sinning.