Ezekiel 18:5

5 And if a man is just, and doeth doom and rightfulness, (But if a man is righteous, and doeth what is just and right, or honest,)

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 I live, saith the Lord God, this parable shall no more be into a proverb to you in Israel. (As I live, saith the Lord God, this parable, or this saying, shall no longer be a proverb for you in Israel.)

4 Lo! all souls be mine; as the soul of the father, so and the soul of the son is mine (like the father's soul, so also the son's soul is mine). That soul that doeth sin, shall die.

5 And if a man is just, and doeth doom and rightfulness, (But if a man is righteous, and doeth what is just and right, or honest,)

6 (and) eateth not in [the] hills, and raiseth not his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; and defouleth not the wife of his neighbour, and nigheth not to a woman defouled with unclean blood;

7 and maketh not a man sorry, yieldeth the wed to the debtor, ravisheth nothing by violence, giveth his bread to the hungry, and covereth a naked man with a cloth; (and maketh not a man sorrowful, but giveth back the pledge to the debtor, taketh nothing by force, giveth his bread to the hungry, and covereth a naked person with a cloak;)