John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 16:43

"Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring thy way upon thy head, saith the Lord Jehovah: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness with all thine abominations." — Ezekiel 16:43 (ASV)

He first blames the Jews for not reflecting on the generosity of their treatment. But that ingratitude was too shameful, since God had not omitted any kind of beneficence for their ornament. But since they thought themselves not adorned with sufficient splendor by God, and that he was less generous than he ought to be, it can be gathered here that they were unworthy of such great and remarkable benefits.

Finally, God here shows that however severely he punished the Jews, they still deserved it for their ingratitude in not thinking him sufficiently generous towards them, for their spirits were utterly broken. If a wife leaves her husband, she is either compelled to do so by his perverse conduct, or else she betrays an ungenerous disposition if she has been treated honorably. But since the Jews were bound to God so strongly in so many ways, their treachery and revolt were all the more detestable.

For God does not allow his blessings to be despised by us, since we must always note the reason he omits nothing that may testify to his paternal love towards us: namely, that we may celebrate his goodness. But when we turn his benefits to the profanation of his name, that is like mingling heaven and earth. Therefore, this passage against ingratitude should be noted.

He now adds, You have been tumultuous against me, or have moved or irritated me. The Hebrew word רגן, regen, sometimes means to frighten, but here it means to quarrel with, contend, or be in a rage with; for the word, in my opinion, can be taken actively, passively, or as a neuter verb.

If we take it in the neuter sense, it will mean that the Jews were tumultuous against God, as if seized by a turbulent spirit, causing them to neglect and despise him and to indulge in wickedness. If you prefer the active sense, it means 'you have irritated me.'

He adds again, I also will recompense your way upon your head. By these words, God again affirms that he was not induced to punish the Jews by any rash or inconsiderate zeal, since if anyone considered their crimes, he would acknowledge that they had received a just recompense.

In short, the mouth of the Jews is stopped here, lest they should think God was acting unfairly when they were only reaping the fruit of their deeds.

He next adds, and you have not made consideration. I have already given two explanations in the note, but neither of them satisfies me, for it seems entirely contrary to the Prophet’s context to understand it as if God were the speaker. Besides, it is not necessary to change the tense of the verb and interpret the past tense as future tense when the sense tends in another direction.

It makes far better sense that the Jews did not recall their own abominations so as to be displeased with them. To make consideration, means to reflect upon. The Hebrew word זמה, zemeh, is mostly taken in a good sense and simply means consideration. Since this is the word’s proper meaning, we see that the Prophet here accuses the Jews of stupidity, because they did not turn their attention to reconsider their abominations. Those who interpret it as lewdness distort the sense.

The whole meaning is that the Jews were worthy of the horrible destruction hanging over them. This was because they were not only obstinate in their ingratitude but also completely stupid. For, as we have formerly seen, their abominations were so foul before the nations that the daughters of the Philistines were ashamed of the nation's wickedness. Yet, the Jews did not apply their minds to consider these things. Since, therefore, their abominations were so flagrant, it was a mark of the greatest negligence not to turn their attention to review them.