John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 16:52

"Thou also, bear thou thine own shame, in that thou hast given judgment for thy sisters; through thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that thou: yea, be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters." — Ezekiel 16:52 (ASV)

Here at last, God announces that He would punish the Jews according to their deserts. Until now, He has recounted their crimes, as judges are accustomed to do when they condemn criminals, stating the reasons that lead them to pass sentence. Thus, God briefly shows how wicked the Jews were. He now adds that He would avenge them according to the magnitude of their crimes.

For they would easily have swallowed all reproaches if the fear of punishment had not been instilled in them. This second point, then, was necessary, lest they should get off with impunity, since they had surpassed both Sodom and Samaria. You also bear your disgrace, you who have judged your sisters. Here Ezekiel seems to contradict himself, for he said just now and will repeat again shortly, that Jerusalem had justified her sisters; and this is contrary to judging.

But he says that Samaria was condemned by the Jews; and the solution to this discrepancy is easy: for the Jews justified both the Israelites and the Sodomites, not by absolving them in any sentence passed on them, but because they themselves were worthy of double condemnation. As Christ says, In the last day it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for the Jews (Matthew 11:24).

But what is said here about condemnation has another meaning—that the Jews gloated over their brethren when they saw their kingdom destroyed and the Israelites driven away from their land. Since they spoke so proudly of the slaughter of the ten tribes, as if they themselves were innocent, the Prophet here reproves them as if they were judging them.

And this is all too common with hypocrites: to inveigh harshly against all others and to become heated against them, as if in this way they covered their own crimes. And Paul reproves this vice in them, since they were supercilious censors of others and at the same time committed every sin.

He says, Do you think, O man, when you judge others, that God will not condemn you? For who are you, O mortal man? Do you claim the office of a judge? (Romans 2:1–3). Meanwhile, will God be deprived of His rights, so as not to call you to account for your sins?

Now, therefore, we understand the Prophet’s intention, for he magnifies the crimes of the Jews when he pronounces sentence from on high against the ten tribes. Truly, God deservedly blotted out this kingdom, for they were apostates; they had revolted from the family of David and had violated that sacred unity by which God had bound to Himself the whole family of Abraham.

They had indeed just cause for speaking thus in condemning the Israelites. But when they were worse than them, what arrogance it was to harass their brethren, and to be blind to their own vices, indeed, to grow utterly callous to them!

You, therefore, have judged your sister; that is, you have taken God’s office upon yourself, and yet you were worse than your sister. Some explain it otherwise, saying that the Jews judged the ten tribes as long as those tribes remained, to a moderate degree, worshipers of God; but they do not pay attention to the context.

There is no doubt that the Prophet here rebukes the pride with which the Jews were puffed up, while they judged others severely and themselves leniently. They were justified in comparison with you—he says—you, therefore—he repeats—blush and bear your disgrace. This repetition is not superfluous, although in the former words there was nothing obscure, for it was difficult to persuade the Jews that they should suffer punishment, since God had been patient with them for so long.

God’s goodness, then, which invited them to repentance, had instead hardened them and had caused so much torpor that they thought themselves free from all danger. Hence, this is the reason why the Prophet confirms his former teaching concerning the nearness of God’s vengeance against them.

He says, When you have justified them. He here repeats the cause, and does so to counter all pretexts by which the Jews could in any way protect themselves. For by one word, he shows that they must perish, since they had justified those who had been treated so severely. For it is by no means likely that God would cease from His office of judge in one case, since He had been so severe against the Sodomites, who were in some way excusable for their errors. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet affirms again that Sodom and Samaria were justified by the Jews.