Ezekiel 18:13

13 lends at interest, and takes increase; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominable things; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.

Ezekiel 18:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 18:13

Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase
Contrary to the law of God; (See Gill on Ezekiel 18:8); shall he then live?
by virtue of his father's righteousness and goodness, free from calamities, and in the quiet possession of the land of Israel, and the good things of it: he shall not live;
but go into captivity, and be destitute of the good things of life he has enjoyed; and, without repentance, shall never have eternal life: he hath done all these abominations;
before mentioned; theft, murder, idolatry, adultery, oppression of the poor, and usury, sins against both tables of the law: he shall surely die;
the death of affliction, or undergo temporal punishment; and not only die corporeally, but eternally too, if grace prevent not: "in dying he shall die" F6; as in the Hebrew text; he shall die both the first and second death; his father's goodness shall not save him from either: his blood shall be upon him;
or "bloods" F7; the innocent blood he has shed, which he must answer for being guilty of, and shall not escape righteous judgment, and his own blood, the destruction of himself; he shall be the cause of his own ruin, and bring just punishment on his own head.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (tmwy twm) "moriendo morietur", Pagninus, Montanus.
F7 (wymd) "sanguines ejus", Montanus.

Ezekiel 18:13 In-Context

11 who does none of these duties, but eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor's wife,
12 oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination,
13 lends at interest, and takes increase; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominable things; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.
14 "But if this man begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has done, and fears, and does not do likewise,
15 who does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife,
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.