The moral freedom and responsibility of the individual man before God This great idea is expressed in two parts: First, Ezekiel 18:1. The individual man is not involved in the sins and fate of his people or of his forefathers. Secondly, Ezekiel 18:21. Neither does he lie under the ban of his own... [ Continue Reading ]
_concerning the land_ Rather, IN the land, lit, upon: cf. Ezekiel 18:3 "in Israel." _fathers have eaten_ Or, the fathers eat; the proverb being thrown into a general form. The proverb, already noticed by Jeremiah (ch. Jeremiah 31:29-30) means that the children suffer the consequences of the sins of... [ Continue Reading ]
_ye shall not have_occasion] Or, IT SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED YOU.... [ Continue Reading ]
_all souls are mine_ i.e. every individual soul stands in immediate relation to God; Numbers 16:22, "O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?" All souls alike belong to God, and this "alike" guarantees the treatment of each by itsel... [ Continue Reading ]
Developement of the principle in three instances, chosen so as to exhibit it in its most paradoxical form 5 9. The man that is righteous shall live. First, his righteousness is defined generally as doing judgment or right and justice, Ezekiel 18:5. Then it is analysed into: (1) religious duties, Ez... [ Continue Reading ]
_eaten upon the mountains_ that is, sacrificed on the high places and partaken of the sacrificial meal following, token of fellowship as a guest with the idols there worshipped. The phrase occurs again Ezekiel 18:11_; Ezekiel 18:15_, Ezekiel 22:9. In Ezekiel 33:25 the reading is, eaten _with the blo... [ Continue Reading ]
_hath not oppressed_ In Ezekiel 18:12 the opposite course reads: hath oppressed the poor and needy. Occasion of oppression would arise when the poor was in debt (Amos 2:6-7); or being unprotected he might be defrauded of his hire, Malachi 3:5 (James 5:4). Cf. the claim made by Job 31:13. to _the de... [ Continue Reading ]
Duties to one's neighbour.... [ Continue Reading ]
On usury cf. the humane law, Leviticus 25:35-37. The case supposed is that of lending to the poor, Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:20. _executed true judgment_ When acting as judge, or as umpire between man and man.... [ Continue Reading ]
The man who acts thus (Ezekiel 18:5) hath walked in God's statutes and he shall live. For "to deal truly," LXX. reads: _to do them_, by transposition of two letters, which is more natural. With the ideal of a righteous man here given may be compared these others: Job's, ch. 31, perhaps the most inw... [ Continue Reading ]
Second link in the chain: this righteous man is the father of a violent son who sheds blood and does evil; the wicked son shall not live because of the righteousness of his father, he shall die in his own sin 10. _a robber_ A MAN OF VIOLENCE. _and_that _doeth the like_ The text is difficult. LXX. r... [ Continue Reading ]
_and that doeth not_ Fairer: _and he hath not done any of these things, but even hath eaten_, &c. The things which he hath not done are those in Ezekiel 18:6 regarded as positive commandments. The words naturally refer to the wicked son. They are incompatible with those in the end of Ezekiel 18:10,... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall surely die_ The formula common in the law, "shall surely be put to death," Leviticus 20:11; Exodus 21:15; Exodus 22:18. _his blood … upon him_ He shall suffer the death due to his own deeds, ch. Ezekiel 33:4; Lev 20:9; 2 Samuel 1:16. Ezekiel 18:14. Third link in the chain of illustration: t... [ Continue Reading ]
_and considereth_ Lit. _even seeth_, so Ezekiel 18:28. With a different punctuation the word would mean: _and feareth_, as R.V.... [ Continue Reading ]
_withholden the pledge_ TAKEN AUGHT TO PLEDGE, as R.V.... [ Continue Reading ]
_taken off his hand_ withdrawn his hand so as not to injure or oppress the poor. LXX. reads: from iniquity, but cf. ch. Ezekiel 20:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
_spoiled_his _brother_ LXX. omits "brother;" the word is that referred to Ezekiel 18:10. Here "brother" might stand, though "neighbour" is the term elsewhere used (Ezekiel 18:6_; Ezekiel 18:11_). The word "violence" or robbery has a different form Ezekiel 18:7_; Ezekiel 18:12_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet say ye, Why?_ Rather: AND YE SAY, WHEREFORE DOTH NOT THE SON BEAR …? The prophet refers to the current view, and supposes it quoted as an objection to his principle. So long as the idea prevailed that the son was, so to speak, part of the father, it was natural to suppose that he should be incl... [ Continue Reading ]
_mentioned unto him_ Or, REMEMBERED IN REGARD TO HIM.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse meets a feeling of despair both in regard to themselves and in regard to God which was beginning to take possession of the minds of some, perhaps many, among the people. The despair in regard to themselves is seen in ch. Ezekiel 33:10-11, "We pine away in our iniquities, how should we live... [ Continue Reading ]
Although it would have sufficed for the prophet's purpose to assure the repentant sinner of God's forgiveness, he has a certain theoretical interest in the principle which he is insisting on which makes him develop it on the other side also.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet ye say, The way … equal_ AND ye say. The "way" of the Lord is the principle on which he acts, or his action on it, Isaiah 55:8, cf. ch. Ezekiel 33:17; Ezekiel 33:20. The objection of the people may really have been expressed (cf. Ezekiel 18:19). The prophet's principle of the freedom of the ind... [ Continue Reading ]
_iniquity … your ruin_ More naturally: THAT IT (your transgressing) BE NOT A STUMBLING BLOCK OF INIQUITY TO YOU. The transgressions which they are called on to renounce are specially their idolatries, cf. ch. Ezekiel 14:3; Ezekiel 7:19; Ezekiel 44:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Exhortation to repentance founded on the principle that God will deal with every man according to the condition in which he is found.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a new heart_ Cf. ch. Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26; Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 24:7; Psalms 51:7. The words are those of practical exhortation; to charge the prophet with assigning to man a power greater than that which Scripture in general allows to him is to distort his language. Cf. what he says on t... [ Continue Reading ]
The appeal to turn from evil sustained by reference to the prevailing nature of God. He is the God of salvation; his will is that men should live. The A.V. marg. to "turn yourselves (cf. Ezekiel 18:30) _or others_" is altogether false. The active form "turn" is either used intransitively, or yoursel... [ Continue Reading ]