John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 7:21

"And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it." — Ezekiel 7:21 (ASV)

I have said that I do not approve of twisting these words to refer to the sanctuary, as some interpreters do. Therefore, I do not doubt that the Prophet still speaks of the people. He indeed changed the number in the previous verse, for at the beginning he had used the singular number; now he returns again to the singular number and designates the people.

I will deliver it, he says, into the hand of strangers. This was more severe than if they had been oppressed by any domestic tyranny. Nor do I doubt that by "strangers" the Prophet means remote and barbarous nations, as we know that those with whom we have no communication are more savage toward us.

Therefore, he first says, they shall be the slaves of strangers; he adds, the impious of the earth. He means that their enemies would be so cruel and wicked that no pity or equity was to be expected from them. In summary, God’s wrath would be terrible, since He had endured the people's iniquities for so long.

From this we gather that wicked and abandoned men are God’s scourges and are governed by His will and hand.

Since this is so, we understand that God works through them in such a way that He remains pure from all association with their faults. He exercises His judgments by means of them, yet He appears blameless in regard to them. They, however, are deservedly condemned, because their own avarice, ambition, or other lusts destroy them.

I shall give them therefore into the hands of strangers to destroy them; then, to the wicked of the earth for a prey, and they shall profane them. It is by this latter word that interpreters have been led to understand this verse with reference to the sanctuary. But we know that חלל (chelel,) also has another meaning—to slay.

Therefore, this word may be explained to mean that there will be a general slaughter of the people, because the enemies, not content with booty and spoil, will also slay the captives after they have obtained victory.

But I willingly retain the meaning "profane," which is equivalent to “render vile,” because the Prophet seems to me to allude to all kinds of abuse, as when we do not consider the intended purpose of things, but rashly, thoughtlessly, contemptuously, and even insultingly squander them.

Therefore, it means that the insolence of their enemies would be such that they would waste and ruin not only the people’s possessions but also the people themselves. Although this could also refer here to their material possessions: for a robber is said to prey upon a man when he takes away all that he has and leaves him naked. In this sense, we can appropriately explain what the Prophet now says.

But the simple explanation that satisfies me is this: the enemy will disperse the people so completely and indiscriminately that no distinction will be made.