John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 16:7

"I caused thee to multiply as that which groweth in the field, and thou didst increase and wax great, and thou attainedst to excellent ornament; thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare." — Ezekiel 16:7 (ASV)

Here, what I recently touched upon is now clearly expressed: that the people, in their extreme distress, were not only safe but also increased by God’s special favor. For if an infant, after being exposed, retains its life, it will still be a weak and undeveloped being. Therefore, God, by this circumstance, magnifies His favor, since the people increased as if they had been properly and attentively cared for, and as if no act of kindness had been omitted.

This is the meaning of the words they were increased. For though He looks to the propagation of Abraham’s family, yet the simile is to be observed, for the people are compared to a girl exposed in a field from her birth, and their growth took place when God increased them so incredibly, as we know.

And surely God’s blessing was great when they entered Egypt, 75 in number, and were many thousands when they left it (Acts 7:14; Exodus 12:37). For within 250 years, the family of Abraham was so multiplied that they amounted to 800,000 when God freed them. But since the Prophet speaks metaphorically when he says the people were increased, and, under the image of a tender girl, until they grew up to a proper age, he meanwhile shows that this was done only by the wonderful counsel and power of God.

I placed thee, he says. God claims for Himself the praise for this great multiplication and then strengthens what I have said, namely, that the people’s safety was included in that phrase live in bloods. Then he says, she came into ornament of ornaments. Here עדי, gnedi, cannot mean any occasional ornament, since it is added directly, thou wast naked and bare.

It follows then that it refers to personal comeliness. It means not only that the girl grew in tall stature but also in beauty of person. Therefore, elegance and loveliness are indicated here, as the context shows us. Thou camest then to excellent or exquisite beauty, for we know this to be the meaning of the genitive, signifying excellence.

He adds at the same time, thy breasts were made ready, for כון, kon, means to prepare, to strengthen; but as he is speaking of breasts, I have no doubt that he means them to have swelled as they ought to do. Thy breasts then were fashioned, that is, of the right size, as in marriageable girls.

Thy hair also grew long. Finally, the Prophet expresses so plainly what he could have said more concisely, because of the people’s dullness. Thy hair grew long, whilst thou wast naked and bare; that is, as yet you had no external adornment. You were like a marriageable girl—you had great beauty of person, a noble stature, and all parts of your body well-proportioned, but you had cause to be ashamed of your nakedness.

And such was the condition of the people, since the Egyptians devised everything against them and conspired by all means for their destruction. We see then how God stretched out His hand not only for the people’s defense but also to deliver them from the tyranny of Pharaoh and of all Egypt. He indicates that the time of their redemption was near, because the people had increased and multiplied, just like a girl who had reached her twentieth year.