Ezekiel 14:20

20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver but their own lives 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, says the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered.
19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast;
20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.
21 "For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four sore acts of judgment, sword, famine, evil beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!
22 Yet, if there should be left in it any survivors to lead out sons and daughters, when they come forth to you, and you see their ways and their doings, you will be consoled for the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.