Ezekiel 18:19

19 And ye say, Why beareth not the son the wickedness of the father? That is to say, for the son wrought doom and rightfulness, he kept all my commandments, and did those, he shall live in life. (And ye say, Why beareth not the son his father's wickedness? Because the son did what was just and right, he kept all my commandments, and did them, and so he shall live.)

Ezekiel 18:19 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 18:19

Yet say ye, why?
&c.] Why do you say so? why do you go on to assert that which is not fact, or which is contrary to fact, contrary to what we feel and experience every day, to say that children are not punished for their parents' sins? these are the words of the murmuring, complaining, and blaspheming Jews, quarrelling with the prophet, and with the Lord himself: doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?
have not we proof of it every day we live? are not our present case and circumstances a full evidence of it? or the words may be rendered, "why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father?" so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; or, as the Targum,

``why is not the son punished for the sins of the father?''

and so they are an objection, which is foreseen might be made, and is here anticipated, to which an answer is returned; and so the Syriac version introduces it, "but if they said" then adds, "tell them", as follows: when,
or "because" the son hath done that which is lawful [and] right, and hath kept all
my statutes, and hath done them:
this is the reason why he shall not bear his father's sins, or be punished for them; intimating that they had not done these things that made the complaint, or put the, question; but had committed the same sins their fathers had, and so were punished, not for their fathers' sins, but their own: for otherwise the man that does what is just and right with God, and between man and man, he shall surely live; (See Gill on Ezekiel 18:17).

Ezekiel 18:19 In-Context

17 turneth away his hand from the wrong of a poor man, taketh not usury and overabundance, that is, nothing more than he lent, and doeth my dooms, and goeth in my commandments; this son shall not die in the wickedness of his father, but he shall live in life. (turneth away his hand from doing wrong to the poor, taketh not usury and overabundance, that is, nothing more than he lent, and keepeth, or obeyeth, my laws, and goeth in my commandments; this son shall not die in the wickedness of his father, but he shall live.)

18 For his father made false challenge, and did violence to his brother, and wrought evil in the midst of his people, lo! he is dead in his wickedness. (Because his father oppressed, and did violence to his kinsman, and wrought evil in the midst of his people, lo! he shall die because of his wickedness.)

19 And ye say, Why beareth not the son the wickedness of the father? That is to say, for the son wrought doom and rightfulness, he kept all my commandments, and did those, he shall live in life. (And ye say, Why beareth not the son his father's wickedness? Because the son did what was just and right, he kept all my commandments, and did them, and so he shall live.)

20 That soul that doeth sin, shall die; the son shall not bear the wickedness of the father, and the father shall not bear the wickedness of the son; the rightfulness of a just man shall be on him, and the wickedness of a wicked man shall be on him (the righteousness of a just person shall be upon him, and the wickedness of a wicked person shall be upon him).

21 Forsooth if a wicked man doeth penance of all his sins which he wrought, and keepeth all my behests, and doeth doom and rightfulness, he shall live by life, and shall not die. (And if a wicked person doeth penance for all his sins which he did, and keepeth, or obeyeth, all my commands, and doeth what is just and right, then he shall live, and shall not die.)