Ezekiel 18:5

5 And if a man is righteous and does justice 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}, {declares} the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be {appropriate for you} to quote this proverb in Israel!

4 Look! {All lives are mine}. {The lives of father and son alike are mine}. The person sinning will die.

5 And if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness,

6 and on the mountains he [does] not eat and he [does] not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he [does] not defile and he [does] not approach a woman of menstruation,

7 and he oppresses {no one} [and] he returns [a] pledge for his loan {and he commits no robbery} [and] he gives his bread to [the] hungry and he covers a naked person [with] a garment,