Ezekiel 18:4

4 Look, all lives belong to me - both the parent's life and the child's life are equally mine - so it is the person who sins, himself, who must die.

Ezekiel 18:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 18:4

Behold, all souls are mine
By creation; they being the immediate produce of his power; hence he is called "the Father of spirits", ( Hebrews 12:9 ) , or the souls of men; these he has an apparent right unto; a property in; a dominion over; they are accountable to him, and will be judged impartially by him: as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine;
and therefore must be thought to have as great a respect and affection for the one as for the other; for the soul of a son as for the soul of a father; and not deal partially in favour of the one, and cruelly and unrighteously with the other: the soul that sinneth, it shall die;
the soul that continues in sin, without repentance towards God, and faith in Christ, shall die the second death; shall be separated from the presence of God, and endure his wrath to all eternity: or the meaning is, that a person that is guilty of gross sins, and continues in them, shall personally suffer; he shall endure one calamity or another, as the famine, sword, pestilence, or be carried into captivity, which is the death all along spoken of in this chapter; the Lord will exercise no patience towards him, or defer punishment to a future generation, his offspring; but shall immediately execute it upon himself.

Ezekiel 18:4 In-Context

2 "What does it mean, that you keep quoting this proverb in the land of Isra'el 'When parents eat sour grapes, their children's teeth are set on edge'?

3 "As I live," says Adonai ELOHIM, "I swear that you will never again quote this proverb in Isra'el.

4 Look, all lives belong to me - both the parent's life and the child's life are equally mine - so it is the person who sins, himself, who must die.

5 "Consider someone who is righteous, who does what is lawful and right.

6 He doesn't eat on the mountains or raise his eyes toward the idols of the house of Isra'el; he doesn't defile his neighbor's wife or touch a woman during her time of menstrual impurity;