יחזקאל, פרק ז׳, פסוק י״ב

A moment of total ruin is approaching, a time when the normal routines of life lose their meaning. Natural human emotions surrounding property and trade simply vanish in the face of impending destruction. The time has finally come when the measure of the people's sins is entirely full, and the moment for retribution has arrived [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

In the normal course of the world, a person who buys property is happy with his new asset and growing wealth, while the person who sells is sad. Often, a seller parts with his land only out of deep financial distress [רש"י, רד"ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. However, the primary approach among commentators is that in the shadow of the approaching exile, these standard reactions no longer apply, as physical property loses all its value.

On the day of judgment, commerce becomes entirely meaningless. The buyer has no reason to rejoice, because he will not hold onto his new property for long before being forced into exile. Similarly, the seller has no reason to mourn the loss of his land. Even if he had never sold it, the land would not have remained in his hands due to the severity of the coming exile [מלבי"ם, מצודת דוד, רד"ק].

This tragic equality between the buyer and the seller stems from a great wrath from God that will descend upon the entire multitude of the people because of their sins. His anger will bring about a reality where everyone will either be killed or driven into exile, leaving absolutely no one behind in their land [מלבי"ם, מצודת דוד, רד"ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ].