Ezekiel 18:5

5 But if a man is just and does judgment and righteousness,

Ezekiel 18:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 18:5

But if a man be just
Not legally, as to be wholly free from sin, for there is no such just man, ( Ecclesiastes 7:20 ) ; but evangelically, through the imputation of the righteousness of Christ unto him; and who has a principle of grace and holiness wrought in him; a man of a just principle and good conscience; who is disposed by the grace of God to that which is just and right; for this seems to refer to the inward frame of the mind, as distinct from actions, and as the source of them, as follows: and do that which is lawful and right;
or "judgment" ^F3 and "justice"; true judgment and justice, as the Targum; that which is just and right by the law of God, and is so between man and man; the particulars of which follow:

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (hqduw jpvm) "judiciam et justitiam", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus

Ezekiel 18:5 In-Context

3 As I live, said the Lord GOD, ye shall never again have reason to use this saying in Israel.

4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sins, it shall die.

5 But if a man is just and does judgment and righteousness,

6 that he does not eat upon the mountains, neither lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither defile his neighbour’s wife, neither come near to the menstruous woman,

7 neither oppress any, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his bread to the hungry, and covers the naked with a garment,