Ezekiel 18:1-24

The Soul Who Sins Shall Die

1 The word of the LORD came to me:

2 "What do you^[a] mean ¹by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ²'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'?

3 ³As I live, declares the Lord GOD, ⁴this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.

4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: ⁵the soul who sins shall die.

5 "If a man is righteous and does ⁶what is just and right--

6 if he ⁷does not eat upon the mountains or ⁸lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, ⁹does not defile his neighbor's wife ¹⁰or approach ¹¹a woman in her time of menstrual impurity,

7 ¹²does not oppress anyone, but ¹³restores to the debtor his pledge, ¹⁴commits no robbery, ¹⁵gives his bread to the hungry ¹⁶and covers the naked with a garment,

8 ¹⁷does not lend at interest ¹⁸or take any profit,^[b] withholds his hand from injustice, ¹⁹executes true justice between man and man,

9 ²⁰walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully--he is righteous; ²¹he shall surely live, declares the Lord GOD.

10 "If he fathers a son who is violent, ²²a shedder of blood, who does any of these things

11 (though he himself did none of these things), ²³who even eats upon the mountains, ²⁴defiles his neighbor's wife,

12 oppresses the poor and needy, ²⁵commits robbery, ²⁶does not restore the pledge, ²⁷lifts up his eyes to the idols, ²⁸commits abomination,

13 ²⁹lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; ³⁰his blood shall be upon himself.

14 "Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done; he sees, and does not do likewise:

15 he 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,

16 does not oppress anyone, ³¹exacts no pledge, ³²commits no robbery, ³³but gives his bread to the hungry ³⁴and covers the naked with a garment,

17 withholds his hand from iniquity,^[c] takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, ³⁵and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father's iniquity; ³⁶he shall surely live.

18 As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, ³⁷behold, he shall die for his iniquity.

19 "Yet you say, ³⁸'Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done ³⁹what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, ⁴⁰he shall surely live.

20 ⁴¹The soul who sins shall die. ⁴²The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. ⁴³The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, ⁴⁴and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

21 ⁴⁵"But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does ⁴⁶what is just and right, ⁴⁷he shall surely live; he shall not die.

22 ⁴⁸None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live.

23 ⁴⁹Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?

24 ⁵⁰But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? ⁵¹None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for ⁵²the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.

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Ezekiel 18:1-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 18

This chapter contains an answer to an objection of the Jews to the dealings of God with them in a providential way. The objection is expressed in a proverb of common use among them, and complained of as being without cause, Eze 18:1,2; however, for the future, no occasion should be given them to use it; for, though God could justify his proceedings upon the foot of his sovereignty, all souls being his; yet he was determined none but the sinner himself should suffer, Eze 18:3,4; and puts various cases for the illustration and vindication of his proceedings; as that a just man, who is described by his proper characters, as abstaining from several sins specified, and doing what is right and good, should surely live, Eze 18:5-9; but that the son of such a just man, being the reverse of his father's character, should surely die, Eze 18:10-13; and again, the son of such a wicked man, observing the heinousness of his father's sins, and abstaining from them, though his father should die in his iniquities, he should not die for them, but live, Eze 18:14-18; by which it appears that the dealings of God with the Jews were not according to the proverb used by them, but quite agreeable to his resolution; that the sinner, be he a father or a son, shall die for his own sins; and that the righteous man's righteousness shall be upon him, and the wicked man's sin upon him, and accordingly both shall be dealt with, Eze 18:19,20; which is further illustrated by a wicked man's turning from his sinful course, and doing righteousness, and living in that righteousness he has done; which is more agreeable to God that he should live, and not die in sin, Eze 18:21-23; and by a righteous man turning from his righteousness, and living a vicious life, and dying in it, Eze 18:24; from both which instances this conclusion follows, that God is to be justified; and that his ways are equal, and the Jews' ways were unequal, and their complaint unjust, Eze 18:25; and the same instances are repeated in a different order, and the same conclusion formed, Eze 18:26-29; upon which the Lord determines to judge them according to their own ways, their personal actions, good or bad; and exhorts them to repentance and reformation; and closes with a pathetic expostulation, with them, Eze 18:30-32.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 52

1. [Ezekiel 12:22; Ezekiel 16:44]
2. Jeremiah 31:29
3. See Ezekiel 16:48
4. Jeremiah 31:29, 30
5. ver. 20
6. ver. 19, 21, 27
7. ver. 11, 15; Ezekiel 22:9
8. Ezekiel 33:25
9. ver. 11, 15; [Ezekiel 22:11]
10. Leviticus 18:19
11. Ezekiel 22:10
12. ver. 12, 16; Exodus 22:21
13. ver. 12; Ezekiel 33:15; Exodus 22:26
14. ver. 12, 16, 18
15. ver. 16; Isaiah 58:7; [Matthew 25:35, 36]
16. ver. 16; Isaiah 58:7; [Matthew 25:35, 36]
17. ver. 13, 17; Ezekiel 22:12; Exodus 22:25; Psalms 15:5
18. ver. 13, 17; Ezekiel 22:12; Exodus 22:25; Psalms 15:5
19. Deuteronomy 1:16; Zechariah 8:16
20. ver. 17
21. ver. 17, 19, 21; Ezekiel 20:11; Amos 5:4
22. See Ezekiel 16:38
23. See ver. 6
24. ver. 6; [Leviticus 18:20]
25. ver. 7
26. ver. 7
27. ver. 6
28. Ezekiel 8:6, 17
29. See ver. 8
30. Ezekiel 33:4; Leviticus 20:9, 11; See Ezekiel 3:18
31. [ver. 7, 12]
32. ver. 7
33. See ver. 7
34. See ver. 7
35. ver. 9
36. See ver. 9
37. See Ezekiel 3:18
38. Exodus 20:5; [ver. 2]
39. ver. 5, 21, 27
40. See ver. 9
41. ver. 4
42. See 2 Kings 14:6
43. Isaiah 3:10, 11
44. [Romans 2:9]
45. See ver. 27
46. ver. 5, 19
47. ver. 9
48. Ezekiel 33:16
49. ver. 32; Ezekiel 33:11; 1 Timothy 2:4, 6; 2 Peter 3:9; [Titus 2:11]
50. Ezekiel 3:20; Ezekiel 33:12, 13, 18
51. [2 Peter 2:20, 21]
52. See Ezekiel 14:13

Footnotes 3

[a]. The Hebrew for you is plural
[b]. That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor; also verses 13, 17 (compare Leviticus 25:36)
[c]. Septuagint; Hebrew from the poor

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.