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.
`Fathers are not put to death for sons, and sons are not put to death for fathers -- each for his own sin, they are put to death.
and the sons of those smiting `him' he hath not put to death, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses that Jehovah commanded, saying, `Fathers are not put to death for sons, and sons are not put to death for fathers, but each for his own sin is put to death.'
who shall render to each according to his works; to those, indeed, who in continuance of a good work, do seek glory, and honour, and incorruptibility -- life age-during; and to those contentious, and disobedient, indeed, to the truth, and obeying the unrighteousness -- indignation and wrath, tribulation and distress, upon every soul of man that is working the evil, both of Jew first, and of Greek;
Say ye to the righteous, that `it is' good, Because the fruit of their doings they eat. Wo to the wicked -- evil, Because the deed of his hand is done to him.
And lo, I come quickly, and my reward `is' with me, to render to each as his work shall be; I am the Alpha and the Omega -- the Beginning and End -- the First and the Last. `Happy are those doing His commands that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of the life, and by the gates they may enter into the city; and without `are' the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the whoremongers, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one who is loving and is doing a lie.
`For, the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father, with his messengers, and then he will reward each, according to his work.
and their sons he hath not put to death, but `did' as is written in the law, in the book of Moses, whom Jehovah commanded, saying, `Fathers do not die for sons, and sons die not for fathers, but each for his own sin they die.'
`And unto the king of Judah, who is sending you to seek Jehovah, thus do ye say unto him, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, The words that thou hast heard -- because thy heart `is' tender, and thou art humbled because of Jehovah, in thy hearing that which I have spoken against this place, and against its inhabitants, to be for a desolation, and for a reviling, and dost rend thy garments, and weep before Me -- I also have heard -- the affirmation of Jehovah -- therefore, lo, I am gathering thee unto thy fathers, and thou hast been gathered unto thy grave in peace, and thine eyes do not look on any of the evil that I am bringing in on this place;' and they bring the king back word.
who our sins himself did bear in his body, upon the tree, that to the sins having died, to the righteousness we may live; by whose stripes ye were healed,
and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and scrolls were opened, and another scroll was opened, which is that of the life, and the dead were judged out of the things written in the scrolls -- according to their works;
so also the Christ, once having been offered to bear the sins of many, a second time, apart from a sin-offering, shall appear, to those waiting for him -- to salvation!
And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel: Rightly ye have spoken, saying: Surely our transgressions and our sins `are' on us, And in them we are wasting away, How, then, do we live?
then Thou dost hear from the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast given to each according to all his ways (because Thou knowest his heart, for Thou -- Thou only -- hast known the heart of the sons of men),
then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast done, and hast judged Thy servants, to give back to the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness.
`And when a person doth sin, and hath heard the voice of an oath, and he `is' witness, or hath seen, or hath known -- if he declare not, then he hath borne his iniquity:
Therefore, each according to his ways I judge you, O house of Israel? An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Turn ye back, yea, turn yourselves back, From all your transgressions, And iniquity is not to you for a stumbling-block,
and all Israel have mourned for him, and buried him, for this one -- by himself -- cometh of Jeroboam unto a grave, because there hath been found in him a good thing towards Jehovah, God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.
and he who is eating it his iniquity doth bear, for the holy thing of Jehovah he hath polluted, and that person hath been cut off from his people.
`And thou, lie on thy left side, and thou hast placed the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; the number of the days that thou liest on it, thou bearest their iniquity.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 18
Commentary on Ezekiel 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
Perhaps, in reading some of the foregoing chapters, we may have been tempted to think ourselves not much concerned in them (though they also were written for our learning); but this chapter, at first view, appears highly and nearly to concern us all, very highly, very nearly; for, without particular reference to Judah and Jerusalem, it lays down the rule of judgment according to which God will deal with the children of men in determining them to their everlasting state, and it agrees with that very ancient rule laid down, Gen. 4:7, "If though doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?' But, "if not, sin,' the punishment of sin,"lies at the door.' Here is,
And these are things which belong to our everlasting peace. O that we may understand and regard them before they be hidden from our eyes!
Eze 18:1-9
Evil manners, we say, beget good laws; and in like manner sometimes unjust reflections occasion just vindications; evil proverbs beget good prophecies. Here is,
Eze 18:10-20
God, by the prophet, having laid down the general rule of judgment, that he will render eternal life to those that patiently continue in well-doing, but indignation and wrath to those that do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness (Rom. 2:7, 8), comes, in these verses, to show that men's parentage and relation shall not alter the case either one way or other.
Eze 18:21-29
We have here another rule of judgment which God will go by in dealing with us, by which is further demonstrated the equity of his government. The former showed that God will reward or punish according to the change made in the family or succession, for the better or for the worse; here he shows that he will reward or punish according to the change made in the person himself, whether for the better or the worse. While we are in this world we are in a state of probation; the time of trial lasts as long as the time of life, and according as we are found at last it will be with us to eternity. Now see here,
Eze 18:30-32
We have here the conclusion and application of this whole matter. After a fair trial at the bar of right reason the verdict is brought in on God's side; it appears that his ways are equal. Judgment therefore is next to be given; and one would think it should be a judgment of condemnation, nothing short of Go, you cursed, into everlasting fire. But, behold, a miracle of mercy; the day of grace and divine patience is yet lengthened out; and therefore, though God will at last judge every one according to his ways, yet he waits to be gracious, and closes all with a call to repentance and a promise of pardon upon repentance.