John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 7:5

"Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An evil, an only evil; behold, it cometh." — Ezekiel 7:5 (ASV)

If we read אחת (acheth) or אחר (acher), the sense seems to me the same—an evil, another evil has come: that is, one evil has come from another, or one evil has come followed by another. In other words, when one evil has come, another will soon follow.

Some explain it in a way that seems harsh and unsatisfactory to me: one evil has come, and this evil is so severe that at its first impulse it is sufficient for complete slaughter—so subtly do they explain it.

But it seems to me that the Prophet's sense flows best as follows: one evil shall come upon another. This means there will be no end to God heaping evils upon evils until the very name of the whole people becomes extinct. And this appears to me to be said so that the Israelites should not, in their usual way, suppose themselves safe if God gives them a short respite.

For when a slight intermission happens, the impious erect their crests and keep up their spirits, thinking that God is at peace with them. Since, therefore, hypocrites take any intermission as if they had made their peace with God, the Prophet therefore says, one evil shall come upon another. It follows—