Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 33:17
Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
17. Cf. Eze 18:25; Eze 18:29.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
These impious, obstinate quarrellers will accuse and do condemn the just and holy God, that they may acquit themselves. See this verse explained, See Poole “Eze 18:25“, See Poole “Eze 18:29“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. The way of the LordTheLord’s way of dealing in His moral government.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Yet the children of thy people say,…. “Not my people”; for surely the children of God could never say what follows; and one would think that even no man could say it, after so much had been said by the Lord concerning the righteous and the wicked, and his dealings with them, which must appear to be just and right, good and gracious; and yet such were the atheism, the perverseness and peevishness of these people, they went on to say as they had done before:
the way of the Lord is not equal: is not according to the rules of justice and equity. The Targum is,
“the ways of the goodness of the Lord are not made plain (or exposed) unto us.”
The answer to which is,
but, as for them, their way is not equal; according to the rule of the divine word; as for God, his way and methods, both of providence and grace, were right and good; [See comments on Eze 18:25].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
‘Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal (fairly weighed).’
This sums up man’s attitude. They cannot bear that a sinner can suddenly become acceptable to God. They cannot bear that one who has struggled to be righteous, building up merit, can ‘lose’ the benefit of it. They think that it is not fair. For they believe that God should give a man what he deserves. And they are confident that somehow they can earn merit with God to put in the scales to balance out any wrong they do. Thus to suggest that a sinful man can suddenly be put on a par with ‘the righteous’ is something that they cannot stomach.
They think that such a man ought to go through a long probation, build up merit to put in the scales against his former wickedness, and even then not catch up with the righteous. He must always be second best. Their view is that there is a medium level, and those who go above it are righteous, and those who go below it are sinful, and the only way that a sinful man can become righteous is by catching up by great effort and getting above the line.
But God tells us that there is only one level, and all go below it. For the truth is, of course, that we deserve nothing from God. ‘All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags’ (Isa 64:6). When we are righteous in our living we are only doing what we ought to do (Luk 17:10). We earn no merit. And when we sin we cancel out the fact that we have not sinned before (Jas 2:10-11; Gal 3:10). And we have all sinned. It would have been no use Adam in the Garden pleading that he had only sinned once, for without the mercy of God his one sin condemned him forever. It was only because God came to him in mercy that he could begin again and not die. And so it is with us all.
Thus it was in this case. Repentance towards God and looking to Him for mercy was alone the way by which any, whether rated as righteous or unrighteous, could find favour with Him. The righteous found favour because he was looking towards God and making the necessary offering for sin, not because he was ‘righteous’. The unrighteous could find immediate favour when he turned from his sins, looked towards God, made the necessary offering for sin, and began to walk as God would have him walk. Thus both were in the same position, acceptable to God because they walked in the mercy of God. But let them turn from that in attitude of heart and mind and they were no longer acceptable.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
“But as for them their way is not equal (fairly weighed). When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will even die in it. And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he will by that live. Yet you say ‘the way of the Lord is not equal’. O house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.”
God points out that it is their way that is not just, not His. He treats all the same. If their heart are responsive towards Him and they seek His mercy, He gives them life. If their hearts are turned away from Him and they do not seek His mercy, He gives them death. And if they turn again He again gives life. He is the same towards all. All will be judged according to their present ways and not according to some supposed merit which does not exist. They want to insist that there are some who deserve more than others, and therefore deserve different treatment on those grounds. But God treats all men equally.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 33:17 Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
Ver. 17. Yet the children of the people say. ] This was a second cavil of theirs. See Eze 33:10 ; Eze 18:25 . Archesilas was surnamed Cavillator: so might these well have been.
Their way is not equal.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 33:17-20
17Yet your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. 18When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. 19But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. 20Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.
Eze 33:17-20 This supposed dialogue between God’s spokesperson and the wicked is similar to the diatribe format found in Malachi, Paul’s writings, and 1 John.
A statement of truth is made, then a supposed contemporary objector restates or challenges the first statement. In a concluding statement from the first speaker, God gives His answer to contemporary false views.
Eze 33:17 The way of the Lord This speaks of lifestyle faith (i.e., Deut. 3:33; Deu 8:6; Deu 10:12; Deu 11:22; Deu 19:9; Deu 26:17; Deu 28:9; Deu 30:16). The early church’s title was The Way (cf. Act 9:2; Act 18:25-26; Act 19:9; Act 19:23; Act 22:4; Act 24:14; Act 24:22).
right This refers to a measuring standard (BDB 1067). It is used often in Ezekiel (cf. Eze 18:25 [twice], Eze 18:29 [twice]; Eze 33:17 [twice], Eze 33:20). They were claiming that God’s justice was unfair (weighted falsely, cf. 1Sa 2:3; Pro 16:2; Pro 24:12), but the problem was human, willful rebellion (cf. Eze 18:25; Eze 18:29).
Eze 33:20 I will judge each of you according to his ways Notice the individual emphasis continues. This is a recurrent biblical truth. We reap what we sow!
Note Job 34:11; Psa 28:4; Psa 62:12; Pro 24:12; Ecc 12:14; Jer 17:10; Jer 32:19; Mat 16:27; Mat 25:31-46; Rom 2:6; Rom 14:12; 1Co 3:8; 2Co 5:10; Gal 6:7; 2Ti 4:14; 1Pe 1:17; Rev 2:23; Rev 20:12; Rev 22:12!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the LORD. One of the emendations of the Sopherim, by which they say they changed Jehovah of the primitive text to Adonai. See App-32.
equal. See note on “pondereth”, Pro 21:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 33:17-20
Eze 33:17-20
“Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die therein. And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Yet ye say the way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.”
As some have noted, even in the times of Christ, the Pharisees had a procedure for keeping tabs on their wicked deeds and their righteous deeds; and as long as their good deeds outnumbered their wicked deeds, they claimed a balance in their favor. It was upon this kind of reckoning that they considered that a righteous man could indeed do certain wicked things and not suffer the consequences. The Lord put an end to that delusion right here. One’s wickedness would destroy him, no matter what his past record had been!
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Eze 33:20, Eze 18:25, Eze 18:29, Job 35:2, Job 40:8, Mat 25:24-26, Luk 19:21, Luk 19:22
Reciprocal: Job 8:3 – God Job 34:11 – the work Psa 17:2 – things Eze 3:11 – the children Hos 14:9 – for Rom 11:22 – otherwise
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 33:17. The word equal is from an original that is defined to balance or be consistent and impartial. See the comments at Eze 18:25 for further explanation on this subject of Gods manner of dealing with the children of men.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The Jews were saying that the Lord was not dealing with them justly, but it was really their conduct and their thinking that were not right.