Ezekiel 18:18

18 His father -- because he used oppression, Did violently Plunder a brother, And that which [is] not good did in the midst of his people, And lo, he is dying in his iniquity.

Ezekiel 18:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 18:18

[As for] his father
It shall be otherwise with him: because he cruelly oppressed;
or, "oppressed an oppression"; or, "with an oppression" ^F9; oppressed the poor, and had no mercy on them, but used them in the most rigorous manner: spoiled his brother by violence;
took away the spoil of his brother; spoiled him of his substance; did injury to his person and property, and all the mischief that lay in his power: and did [that] which [is] not good among his people;
neighbours, citizens, and countrymen; did nothing which was good, as he ought to have done; but everything that was bad, which he should not have done: lo, even he shall die in his iniquity:
and for it; it shall not be forgiven him; he shall be punished for it with death, with the death of affliction; and with corporeal death, as a punishment for sin; and with eternal death, dying in his sins, and in a state of impenitence. These instances, put every way, most clearly show the equity of God; the justness of his proceedings in providence; and how inapplicable the proverb in ( Ezekiel 18:2 ) was to them; and that such that sin, and continue therein, shall die for their own iniquities, and not for the sins of others.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 (qve qve) "oppressit oppressionem", Pagninus, Montanus; "oppressit oppressione", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius.

Ezekiel 18:18 In-Context

16 A man -- he hath not oppressed, A pledge he hath not bound, And plunder he hath not taken away, His bread to the hungry he hath given, And the naked he covered with a garment,

17 From the afflicted he hath turned back his hand, Usury and increase he hath not taken, My judgments he hath done, In My statutes he hath walked, He doth not die for the iniquity of his father, He doth surely live.

18 His father -- because he used oppression, Did violently Plunder a brother, And that which [is] not good did in the midst of his people, And lo, he is dying in his iniquity.

19 And ye have said, Wherefore hath not the son, Borne of the iniquity of the father? And -- the son judgment and righteousness hath done, All My statutes he hath kept, And he doeth them, he surely liveth.

20 The soul that doth sin -- it doth die. A son doth not bear of the iniquity of the father, And a father doth not bear of the iniquity of the son, The righteousness of the righteous is on him, And the wickedness of the wicked is on him.