14<\/strong>. and considereth<\/em> ] Lit. even seeth<\/em>, so Eze 18:28<\/em><\/span>. With a different punctuation the word would mean: and feareth<\/em>, as R.V.<\/p>\n Verse 14<\/span>. Now, lo<\/B><\/I>, if <\/B>he beget a son that seeth all his father’s<\/B><\/I> <\/B>sins-and considereth<\/B><\/I>] Lays to heart the evil of his father’s life, and the dreadful consequences of a life of rebellion against God.<\/P> <\/P> And doeth not such like<\/B><\/I>] Is quite a different man in moral feeling<\/I> and character<\/I>; and acts up to the thirteen points<\/I> already laid down.<\/P> <\/p>\n A third instance in a supposed sons son to clear the case fully. The just father lives, his unjust son dieth; but the grandson of the just, seeing his fathers sins, and fleeing them, lives. It is rare that the children of debauched parents do think or discern evil in their parents courses, but blindly follow them, without putting difference between what is good and what is bad in that the latter doth; such suffer for their own sins more than for their fathers: but if it be so that the son of a wicked father act like a man, bring his fathers doings to the rule, and thereby discover the wickedness and danger of them, and do not the like, he shall not suffer for his fathers sins. <\/P> Seeth all his fathers sins; <\/B>the kinds, or many of the several sorts, of his sins, for it is not possible the son should see all the particular acts of sin done by his father. <\/P> Considereth<\/B> looks thoroughly into these things, and weighs the importance of them; considers God is our Sovereign, ought to be obeyed, will bless the obedient, will punish the disobedient; that his blessing is the life and welfare, his curse is the death and misery, of souls; that every man should look particularly to his own duty and happiness; that it is better to be happy with God, obeying him, than to perish with a father by imitating his vices; that God will be gracious to the obedient, according to his rich grace, though they be the children of irreligious idolaters and adulterers, &c.; on which or such-like considerations, if the son choose holiness, and walk in it, he shall live, his end shall not be, because his doings were not, like his fathers. <\/P> <\/p>\n 14-18.<\/B> The third case: a son whowalks not in the steps of an unrighteous father, but in the ways ofGod; for example, Josiah, the pious son of guilty Amon; Hezekiah, ofAhaz (2Ki 16:1-20<\/span>; 2Ki 18:1-37<\/span>;2Ki 21:1-22<\/span>). <\/P> seeth . . . andconsidereth<\/B>The same Hebrew<\/I> stands for both verbs,”seeth . . . yea, seeth.” The repetition implies theattentive observation needed, in order that the son may not be ledastray by his father’s bad example; as sons generally are blind toparents sins, and even imitate them as if they were virtues.<\/P><\/p>\n Now, lo, [if] he beget a son<\/strong>,…. That is, the wicked man before mentioned; if he begets a son who proves a good man, which sometimes is the case, as Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, and Josiah the son of Amon:<\/p>\n that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done<\/strong>; not every particular action, but the principal of them; however, the several sorts and kinds of sin he was addicted to, and which were done publicly enough, and obvious to view; and yet does not imitate them, as children are apt to do:<\/p>\n and considereth<\/strong>: the evil nature and tendency of them; how abominable to God; how contrary to his law; how scandalous and reproachful in themselves, and how pernicious and destructive in their effects and consequences. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, read, “and feareth”:<\/p>\n and doeth not such like<\/strong>; he fears God; and because the fear of God is before his eyes, and on his heart, which was wanting in his father, therefore he cannot do the things he did; the fear of offending him, the fear of his goodness, and of his judgments, both have an influence to restrain from sin.<\/p>\n The son who avoids his father’s sin will live; but the father will die for his own sins. – Eze 18:14<\/span>. And behold, he begetteth a son, who seeth all his father’s sins which he doeth; he seeth them, and doeth not such things. <\/em> Eze 18:15<\/span>. He eateth not upon the mountains, and lifteth not up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; he defileth not his neighbour’s wife, <\/em> Eze 18:16<\/span>. And oppresseth no one; he doth not withhold a pledge, and committeth not robbery; giveth his bread to the hungry, and covereth the naked with clothes. <\/em> Eze 18:17<\/span>. He holdeth back his hand from the distressed one, taketh not usury and interest, doeth my rights, walketh in my statutes; he will not die for the sin of his father; he shall live. <\/em> Eze 18:18<\/span>. His father, because he hath practised oppression, committed robbery upon his brother, and hath done that which is not good in the midst of his people; behold, he shall die for his sin. <\/em> Eze 18:19<\/span>. And do ye say, Why doth the son not help to bear the father’s sin? But the son hath done right and righteousness, hath kept all my statutes, and done them; he shall live. <\/em> Eze 18:20<\/span>. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. A son shall not help to bear the father’s sin, and a father shall not help to bear the sin of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.<\/em> – The case supposed in these verses forms the antithesis to the preceding one; the father is the transgressor in this instance, and the son a keeper of the law. The subject to in Eze 18:14<\/span> is not the righteous man described in Eze 18:15<\/span>, but a man who is described immediately afterwards as a transgressor of the commandments of God. The Chetib<\/em> bite in the last clause of Eze 18:14<\/span> is not to be read , , et timuerit <\/em>, as it has been by the translators of the Septuagint and Vulgate; nor is it to be altered into , as it has been by the Masoretes, to make it accord with Eze 18:28<\/span>; but it is the apocopated form , as in the preceding clause, and the object is to be repeated from what precedes, as in the similar case which we find in Exo 20:15<\/span>, (18). Ewald and Hitzig propose to alter in Eze 18:17<\/span> into after Eze 18:8<\/span>, but without the slightest necessity. The lxx are not to be taken as an authority for this, since the Chaldee and Syriac have both read and rendered ; and Ezekiel, when repeating the same sentences, is accustomed to make variations in particular words. Holding back the hand from the distressed, is equivalent to abstaining from seizing upon him for the purpose of crushing him (compare Eze 18:12<\/span>); , in the midst of his countrymen = , is adopted from the language of the Pentateuch. after is a participle. The question, “Why does the son not help to bear?” is not a direct objection on the part of the people, but is to be taken as a pretext, which the people might offer on the ground of the law, that God would visit the sin of the fathers upon the sons in justification of their proverb. Ezekiel cites this pretext for the purpose of meeting it by stating the reason why this does not occur. , to carry, near or with, to join in carrying, or help to carry (cf. Num 11:17<\/span>). This proved the proverb to be false, and confirmed the assertion made in Eze 18:4<\/span><\/em>, to which the address therefore returns (Eze 18:20<\/span>). The righteousness of the righteous man will come upon him, i.e., upon the righteous man, namely, in its consequences. The righteous man will receive the blessing of righteousness, but the unrighteous man the curse of his wickedness. There is no necessity for the article, which the Keri<\/em> proposes to insert before .<\/p>\n In this third example Ezekiel announces, that if a man be born of a wicked father, he may nevertheless be pleasing to God, if he be unlike his father and thus he refutes the proverb that was so common in Israel — that the father ate the sour grapes, and the children’s teeth were set on edge. For if the sons were sufferers through the father’s eating the sour grapes, then the pious who drew their origin from wicked despisers of God would be freed from all their sins. Thus Ezekiel would have been punished instead of his father, Ahaz, and Josiah instead of Manasseh. But here the Prophet bears witness that the good, however they may have been born from wicked parents, should receive the reward of righteousness no less certainly and faithfully than if they had come down from heaven, and if their family had always been without the commission of any crime. Since, therefore, God does not punish them for their fathers’ crimes, it follows that the Israelites uttered this taunt not only foolishly, but impiously, saying that their own teeth were set on edge, because their fathers had eaten the sour grapes. Besides, as there is a difference in the phrase, I shall notice briefly what is worthy of remark: if he begat a son who saw all that his father had done, and was afraid. Here the Prophet teaches that it needed the greatest attention for the son to forsake the example of a bad father. For sons are blind to their fathers’ vices; and although, when duty is set before them, they carelessly despise it, yet they fancy themselves held so far by pious reverence, that they dare not condemn their fathers. Hence it happens that sons do not acknowledge their fathers’ crimes, and thus a wicked father corrupts his son willingly. Bad discipline, therefore, is added to this, so that it is not surprising if the offspring is worse than his ancestors. For this reason the Prophet says, if he has seen, that is, if a righteous child has observed his father’s sins, since sons shut their eyes as much as possible to all their fathers’ crimes; nay, they embrace their vices for the greatest virtues. <\/p>\n He then adds, if he has feared. It would not be sufficient to take notice of this without adding the fear of God. It is true, indeed, that many were unlike their parents, through being restrained by shame; for when they heard the reproaches of their parents, they were touched with ingenuous modesty, so as to be on their guard against such enormities. But all these followed the empty shadow of justice; and here the serious observance of the law is treated, which cannot flow from anything else but, the fear of God, and this, as Scripture says, is the beginning of wisdom. (Psa 111:10<\/span>; Pro 1:7<\/span>.) A person thus may be blameless through his whole life, and yet not touch on any part of justice, since righteousness flows from only one principle — the fear of God. He afterwards adds, and has not done according to them. We see, therefore, that those who implicate themselves in others’ crimes are not otherwise deceived, unless they purposely stifle all difference between good and evil; for if they had attended to this, they would doubtless have been touched with some fear, and thus have governed their life according to God’s precepts: but scarcely one in a hundred thinks of this, and hence every one mingles freely with his neighbors, and so all perish together. He afterwards adds, he has not eaten upon the mountains, has not raised his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel: we have explained all these: and has not oppressed any one, and has not received a pledge. We said that this ought not to be explained of every pledge; for it was lawful for any one, on giving money, to receive a pledge for its return, but not from one who is destitute of either garments or the necessary implements of trade: so I pass this by. He has not received a prey, has distributed his bread to the hungry He adds, what he had not touched on previously, he has withdrawn his hand from the poor. This seems to differ from the opinion which we had in the sixteenth chapter, (Eze 16:49<\/span>.) Among the sins of Sodom, the Prophet there puts this also, that they withdrew their hand from the poor and needy; and surely, when we stretch forth the hand for the sake of help, it is a true proof of charity; but if we withdraw the hand, it is a proof of cruelty, since we do not deign to aid a brother who ought to obtain some favor from us. But we must bear in mind that there are two senses in which the hand is either extended or withdrawn. If I extend my hand to the poor to supply what is wanting, and to the weak to render him aid, this is the duty of charity. If, on the contrary, I withdraw my hand, I unjustly turn away from him who implores my confidence, and whose misery ought to win for him some favor. But we extend the hand when we seize on a neighbor’s goods, and violently deprive him of them, and despoil the innocent of their rights. On the contrary, he who withdraws his hand is humane in sparing his brethren, and not enriching himself at their expense, and profiting by their oppression. In this sense the Prophet now enumerates withdrawing the hand from the poor in the list of virtues, because the poor are subject to all kinds of injury. If, therefore, when we see booty already prepared for us, and yet we refrain from it, this is a proof of true charity. But again, we must remark upon what I treated but briefly yesterday, namely, that we must withdraw our hands from the poor, because nothing is more easy than to be enticed to make a gain of the poor; and wherever occasion and impunity offer themselves, avarice so seizes us, that we neither discern nor consider what is right and fair. Every one who wishes to preserve his self-restraint, and to subdue his affections, ought to attend to this with all his strength and with constant struggling: thus the Prophet says, we must withdraw the hand <\/p>\n (14) Doeth not such like.<\/strong>This is the third casethat of the righteous son of a wicked father. The general principle is the same, that each man is to be judged according to his own individual character. The son of the righteous man has advantages, and the son of the wicked has hindrances in the way of righteousness which are not specified here, although elsewhere we are abundantly taught that responsibility is directly proportioned to privilege; but here the object is only to set forth in the clearest way, and apart from any other issues, the single fact of individual responsibility. In each case the particular examples of sin are somewhat varied, to show that they are mentioned only as examples, in order to set forth more clearly the general principle.<\/p>\n THE WICKED SON JUST DESCRIBED BECOMES THE FATHER OF A BOY WHO LIVES JUSTLY; SHALL HE BE PUNISHED FOR HIS FATHER’S SINS? NO; HE SHALL LIVE, BUT THE FATHER SHALL DIE, Eze 18:14-18<\/span>.<\/p>\n 14<\/strong>. <\/strong> And considereth <\/strong> Literally, yea, seeth <\/em> (see also Eze 18:28<\/span>); or, with a very slight change, as R.V., “and feareth.”<\/p>\n The Righteous Grandson.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n “Now, lo, if he beget a son who sees all his father’s sins which he has done, and fears (an alternative reading is ‘considers’), and does not such things, who has not eaten on the mountains, nor has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbour’s wife, nor has wronged any, has not taken anything in pledge, nor has spoiled others by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered those lacking in clothes with clothing, who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received usury nor increase, has executed my judgments, has walked in my statutes. He will not die for the iniquity of his father. He will surely live.”<\/p>\n A further generation, the third generation, is now depicted. Here the grandson is in opposition to his father’s evil way of life. He fears Yahweh and does not do things which are against His will, but practises the good that Yahweh demands. He avoids idolatry, sexual transgression, wronging others, taking pledges, using violence to obtain his ends. Rather he feeds the hungry, provides necessities to those in need, does not ill-use the poor, does not seek interest or a percentage of produce when lending to those in need.<\/p>\n ‘Has executed my judgments, has walked in my statutes.’ Compare Lev 18:4<\/span>. See also Deu 26:16-19<\/span>; Deu 30:15-20<\/span>. This man seeks to please God. He obeys His word and His laws, and follows His ways continually. In the words of Mic 6:8<\/span>, he ‘does justly, loves mercy and walks humbly with God’. Thus his way of life and his end are different.<\/p>\n ‘He will not die for the iniquity of his father. He will surely live.’ The sentence that hangs over his father will not hang over him. Rather he will live (compare Lev 18:5<\/span>). We cannot ascribe to Ezekiel simply the idea that all good men live long lives and all men die abruptly for it is, and was, patently not so. And while he probably had in mind the destruction of Jerusalem and the deaths that would result, even that does not satisfy his words, for he was referring to a number of generations. The idea was clearly that in some way the righteous ‘live’ in a way that the unrighteous do not, enjoying the blessing of God within in the inner spirit, finding the way more smooth with Someone to call on, enjoying a resulting improved prosperity. And yet having said that it certainly also looks forward to man’s end. The righteous die in blessing, the unrighteous under judgment (compare Psalms 73<\/span> where the ideas are expanded).<\/p>\n Eze 18:14 Now, lo, [if] he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,<\/p>\n Ver. 14. Now, lo, if he beget a son that seeth.<\/strong> ] And withal sigheth, his eye affecting his heart with grief and dislike. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And considereth,<\/strong> ] viz., Of the ill consequence of those courses, et cavet et pavet.<\/em> And consider and be frightened.<\/p>\n NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 18:14-18<\/p>\n 14Now behold, he has a son who has observed all his father’s sins which he committed, and observing does not do likewise. 15He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife, 16or oppress anyone, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery, but he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, 17he keeps his hand from the poor, does not take interest or increase, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; he will not die for his father’s iniquity, he will surely live. 18As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.<\/p>\n Eze 18:14 Eze 18:14 is addressing the next generation of Eze 18:5; Eze 18:10 (i.e., righteous, wicked, righteous, cf. Eze 18:20).<\/p>\n Eze 18:14-18<\/p>\n Eze 18:14-18<\/p>\n “Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins, which he hath done, and feareth, and doeth not such like; that hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbor’s wife, neither hath wronged any, hath not taken aught to pledge, neither hath taken by robbery, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; that hath withdrawn his hand from the poor, that hath not received interest nor increase, hath executed mine ordinances, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.”<\/p>\n THE CASE OF THE GODLY GRANDSON<\/p>\n “That hath withdrawn his hand from the poor …” (Eze 18:17). “This is to be understood in a good sense, to withhold his hand from oppressing the poor. He withdraws the hand that was tempted to exact the full legal claim against the poor.<\/p>\n the Reversal of the Divine Judgment <\/p>\n Eze 18:14-32<\/p>\n The Jews of Ezekiels day asserted that Gods dealings with their nation were not just, because they were suffering, not for their own sins, but for their fathers. God here makes it clear that He deals with individuals according to their deserts. The guilty son of a good father does not escape punishment because of his fathers virtues; and the good son of evil parents reaps the reward of his own goodness. What a well of comfort is supplied by Eze 18:21-22! God pledges Himself that forgiven sin shall not even be mentioned. This solemn covenant should be appropriated and its fulfillment claimed, by those who through all their lifetime have been subject to bondage because of their past. We must not be content with an outward amendment; there must be, and there can be, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, an inward and radical change. This impossible command drives us to the Holy Spirit, Psa 51:10; Psa 51:12. As Augustine puts it: Give what thou requirest, and require what thou wilt.<\/p>\n if he: Eze 18:10, Pro 17:21, Pro 23:24 <\/p>\n that seeth: Eze 20:18, 2Ch 29:3-11, 2Ch 34:21, Jer 9:14, Jer 44:17, Mat 23:32, 1Pe 1:18 <\/p>\n considereth: Eze 18:28, Psa 119:59, Psa 119:60, Isa 44:19, Jer 8:6, Hos 7:2, Hag 1:5, Hag 1:7, Hag 2:18, Luk 15:17-19 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 1Ki 14:13 – there is found 1Ki 22:53 – according to all 2Ki 22:2 – turned Job 21:19 – for his Zec 1:4 – as Mat 27:25 – and Mar 7:13 – such<\/p>\n Eze 18:14. A father was not made to answer for the sins of his son. By the same token, if a father was a doer of wrong deeds, it did not furnish the son any excuse for doing the like. The son should consider the bad example set by t.be father and profit by it instead of following in the same line of conduct.<\/p>\n The case of the righteous grandson 18:14-18<\/span><\/p>\n This sinful son might have a son who observed his father’s behavior and chose to follow the example of his righteous grandfather rather than that of his unrighteous father. He refrained from the same evil practices and engaged in the same forms of goodness. That man would surely live for his righteousness whereas his father would die for his wickedness. Wicked parents do not necessarily produce wicked children because the children can choose to do right. The Israelites had illustrations of this alternation of good and evil individuals in succeeding generations even in the royal family. King Hezekiah, for example, was good, his son Manasseh was bad, and Manasseh’s grandson Josiah was good.<\/p>\n ". . . in this world God does indeed punish entire groups<\/span> for the sins that they as groups<\/span> commit, even when some members of the group may be innocent. Such groups are often nations, cities, or other political entities, but they may also be societal groups such as priests or prophets, or economic groups such as businesses or trade guilds, or such voluntary associations as churches." [Note: Stuart, p. 155.] <\/span><\/p>\n Now, lo, [if] he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, 14. and considereth ] Lit. even seeth, so Eze 18:28. With a different punctuation the word would mean: and feareth, as R.V. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Verse … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 18:14”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20874\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"