Ezekiel 14:20

20 though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter. They shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

Ezekiel 14:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 14:20

Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, [were] in it
Who are again mentioned by name, as in ( Ezekiel 14:14 ) ; and are the three men referred to in ( Ezekiel 14:16 Ezekiel 14:18 ) ; [as] I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor
daughter;
not so much as an only son, or an only daughter, no, not even a single child: the plural number is used before, as in ( Ezekiel 14:16 Ezekiel 14:18 ) ; here the singular, to show how resolutely determined the Lord was upon the destruction of the land; that even the prayers of the best of men among them should not prevail with him to save a single person, no, not a single infant: they shall [but] deliver their own souls by their righteousness;
(See Gill on Ezekiel 14:14).

Ezekiel 14:20 In-Context

18 though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.

19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury upon it in blood to cut off from it man and beast,

20 though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter. They shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

21 "For thus saith the Lord GOD: How much more when I send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem -- the sword and the famine and the noisome beast and the pestilence -- to cut off from it man and beast?

22 Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings; and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.