16<\/strong>. Responsibility for Crime is Individual. The opposition of this principle to that which prevailed in many ancient nations (Herod. iii. 119, Est 9:13<\/span> f., Dan 6:24<\/span> (25)), and which seems to have prevailed in Israel (JE, Jos 7:24<\/span>, 2Ki 9:26<\/span>, cp. Deu 14:6<\/span>), when the family was regarded as a moral unit, and the children were put to death with their father in expiation of his crime, is very striking, and the more so that the ethical solidarity of the nation is so constantly assumed by D. It has therefore been doubted whether the law belonged originally to D. Some take it as dependent on Jer 31:29<\/span>, or Ezekiel 18<\/span> on the ground that the principle of individual responsibility is there proclaimed as if for the first time, in opposition to the older ideas. But 2Ki 14:6<\/span> records that Amaziah when putting to death the assassins of his father did not also slay their children apparently an innovation on the usual practice. The deuteronomic editor of Kings quotes D’s law as the King’s authority for his clemency. But general laws so often rose from individual cases that it is possible that this law (which is not found in any other code) was the result of Amaziah’s innovating example, and is, therefore, one of the several incorporated by D from earlier sources. Note that it is not in the direct form of address nor otherwise deuteronomic in its phrasing. See further Jerus.<\/em> ii. 113 ff.<\/p>\n A caution addressed to earthly judges. Among other Oriental nations the family of a criminal was commonly involved in his punishment (compare Est 9:13-14<\/span>). In Israel it was not to be so; compare marginal references.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 16<\/span>. The fathers shall not be put to death for the<\/B><\/I> <\/B>children, &c.<\/B><\/I>] This law is explained and illustrated in sufficient detail, Eze 18:1-9<\/span> &c.<\/P><\/p>\n Understand it thus, if the one be free from the guilt of the others sin, and except in those cases where the sovereign Lord of life and death, before whom none is innocent, hath commanded it, as Deu 13<\/span>; Jos 7:24<\/span>. For this law is given to men, not to God; and though God do visit the fathers sins upon the children, Exo 20<\/span>, yet he will not suffer men to do so. <\/P> For his own sin,<\/B> understand only<\/I>, and not for any other mans sin. <\/P> <\/p>\n 16-18. The fathers shall not be putto death for the children<\/B>The rule was addressed for theguidance of magistrates, and it established the equitable principlethat none should be responsible for the crimes of others.<\/P><\/p>\n The fathers shall not be put to death for the children<\/strong>,…. By the civil magistrates, for sins committed by them of a capital nature, and which are worthy of death:<\/p>\n neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers<\/strong>; for sins committed by them that deserve it:<\/p>\n every man shall be put to death for his own sin<\/strong>: which is but just and reasonable; see Eze 18:4<\/span>; which is no contradiction to Ex 20:5<\/span>; that respects what God himself would do, this what Israel, or the civil magistrates in it, should do; this is a command on Israel, as Aben Ezra observes; that the declaration of the sovereign Being, who is not bound by any law. Jarchi interprets these words differently, as that the one should not be put to death by the testimony of the other; and it is a rule with the Jews,<\/p>\n “that an oath of witness is taken of men, and not of women; of those that are not akin, and not of those that are nearly related p:”<\/p>\n on which one of the commentators observes q that such that are near akin are not fit to bear testimony, because it is written, “the father shall not be put to death for the children”; that is, for the testimony of the children. Jarchi indeed mentions the other sense, for the sins of the children, which has been given, and is undoubtedly the true sense of the text. The Targum of Jonathan gives both;<\/p>\n “fathers should not be put to death, neither by the testimony, nor for the sins of the children; and children shall not be put to death, neither by the testimony, nor for the sins of fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin by proper witnesses.”<\/p>\n p Misn. Shebuot, c. 4. sect. 1. q Bartenora in ib.<\/p>\n Warning against Injustice<\/em>. – Deu 24:16<\/span>. Fathers were not to be put to death upon (along with) their sons, nor sons upon (along with) their fathers, i.e., they were not to suffer the punishment of death with them for crimes in which they had no share; but every one was to be punished simply for his own sin. This command was important, to prevent an unwarrantable and abusive application of the law which is manifest in the movements of divine justice to the criminal jurisprudence of the lane (Exo 20:5<\/span>), since it was a common thing among the heathen nations – e.g., the Persians, Macedonians, and others – for the children and families of criminals to be also put to death (cf. Est 9:13-14<\/span>; Herod<\/em>. iii. 19; Ammian Marcell<\/em>. xxiii. 6; Curtius<\/em>, vi. 11, 20, etc.). An example of the carrying out of this law is to be found in 2Ki 14:6<\/span>; 2Ch 25:4<\/span>. In Deu 24:17<\/span>, Deu 24:18<\/span>, the law against perverting the right of strangers, orphans, and widows, is repeated from Exo 22:20-21<\/span>, and Exo 23:9<\/span>; and an addition is made, namely, that they were not to take a widow’s raiment in pledge (cf. Lev 19:33-34<\/span>).<\/p>\n Verse 16:<\/strong><\/p>\n It was a common practice among heathen nations that entire families be put to death for the crimes of the family head, cf. Ezr 9:7-14<\/span>. God’s law forbade this practice. Compare 2Ki 14:1-6<\/span>; Jer 31:29-30<\/span>; Eze 18:1-23<\/span>.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Here also God manifests how great is His regard for human life, so that blood should not be shed indiscriminately, when he forbids that children should be involved in the punishment of their parents. Nor was this Law by any means supererogatory, because on account of one man’s crime his whole race was often severely dealt with. It is not without cause, therefore, that God interposes for the protection of the innocent, and does not allow the punishment to travel further than where the crime exists. And surely our natural common sense dictates that it is an act of barbarous madness to put children to death out of hatred to their father. If any should object, what we have already seen, that God avenges “unto the third and fourth generation,” the reply is easy, that He is a law unto Himself, and that He does not rush by a blind impulse to the exercise of vengeance, so as to confound the innocent with the reprobate, but that He so visits the iniquity of the fathers upon their children, as to temper extreme severity with the greatest equity. Moreover, He has not so bound Himself by an inflexible rule as not to be free, if it so pleases Him, to depart from the Law; as, for example, He commanded the whole race of Canaan to be rooted out, because the land would not be purged except by the extermination of their defilements; and, since they were all reprobate, the children, no less than their fathers, were doomed to just destruction. Nay, we read that, after Saul’s death, his guilt was expiated by the death of his children, (2Sa 21:0<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 still, by this special exception, the Supreme Lawgiver did not abrogate what He had commanded; but would have His own admirable wisdom acquiesced in, which is the fountain from whence all laws proceed. <\/p>\n (13) TRANSGRESSORS TO BEAR OWN GUILT (Deu. 24:16<\/span>)<\/p>\n 16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.<\/p>\n THOUGHT QUESTIONS 24:16<\/p>\n 414.<\/p>\n Is the case of Achan a violation of this law?<\/p>\n 425.<\/p>\n What about Korah and his company or the wholesale slaughter of the Canaanite tribes?<\/p>\n 426.<\/p>\n Read 2Ki. 14:1-6<\/span>; Jer. 31:27-30<\/span> for a fulfillment of this law.<\/p>\n 427.<\/p>\n How does Deu. 5:8-10<\/span> relate?<\/p>\n AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 24:16<\/p>\n 16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; only for his own sin shall anyone be put to death.<\/p>\n COMMENT 24:16<\/p>\n Gods law laid the punishment of death only upon the person or persons who had committed crimes worthy of death. The fathers, judges, or congregation had no right to punish any member of the family but the guilty party.<\/p>\n The case of Achan and his family (see especially Jos. 7:20-25<\/span>)[42] is sometimes cited as a violation of this law by God himselfas is also the punishment of Korah, his comany, and their families (Num. 16:31-35<\/span>) and the wholesale slaughter of the Canaanite tribes (Deu. 7:1-5<\/span>; Deu. 20:16<\/span>).<\/p>\n [42] But were the other members of his family accomplices in the crimes? His loot was hidden in the family tentit was not concealed from the eyes of wife and children!<\/p>\n But our present passage is not primarily a law regulating the dealings of God, Further, the cases cited above do not deal with Gods final or eternal judgment (as administered by the Son, Joh. 5:22<\/span>). Here, we have the judgments Israel was to make as a congregationparticularly through the priests and judges (Deu. 13:6-11<\/span>, Deu. 17:2-7<\/span>, etc.) God did sometimes punish groups with death, whether directly or through human instrumentality. His reasons (as in the case of the Canaanites, above) are discussed elsewhere in this volume.<\/p>\n When Israel was a happy, prosperous, and obedient nation, this law was observed. Note 2Ki. 14:1-6<\/span>, Jer. 31:27-30<\/span>. Jer. 31:31-34<\/span> have special reference to the situation under the New Covenant of Christ, Heb. 8:6-13<\/span>.<\/p>\n But the principle of the passage before us also shall characterize Gods final dealings with man, and the dealings of the righteous with their fellow-man. Note Ezekiel 18<\/span> carefully. As in Jer. 31:29-30<\/span>, the proverb then in vogue about children suffering because of the parents sin is not upheld by the prophet of God. Rather, the soul that sinneth, it shall die, and the righteous shall surely live . . . the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. A careful study of Ezekiel 18<\/span> and Jeremiah 31<\/span> will cause one to see the present passage in a larger context.<\/p>\n Israel knew the justice of this verse. That is why, under the yoke of Babylonian captivity, the cry is heard.<\/p>\n Our fathers sinned, and we are not; Lam. 5:7<\/span><\/p>\n Note also Deu. 5:8-10<\/span>. The children would suffer punishment as a result of their parents sin. But their personal guilt and destination is reckoned only from their own lives.<\/p>\n In the final day of reckoning, we have been assured of impartial and individual judgment, Mat. 16:27<\/span>, Rom. 15:10-12<\/span>, 2Co. 5:10<\/span>, Eph. 5:7-8<\/span>, Col. 3:22<\/span> to Col. 4:1<\/span>, 1Pe. 1:17<\/span>.<\/p>\n (16) The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers.<\/strong>A special note of the observance of this precept by Amaziah son of Joash is noticed both in Kings and Chronicles. See marginal references. It was not observed by the Persians in the case of Daniels accusers (Dan. 6:24<\/span>).<\/p>\n The case of Achan, who perished not alone in his iniquity, falls under a different head. See Notes on Joshua 7<\/span>.<\/p>\n 16<\/strong>. <\/strong> The fathers shall not be put to death for the children <\/strong> Among the Eastern nations the family of the guilty criminal was frequently made to suffer, the innocent with the guilty. Comp. Est 9:13-14<\/span>.<\/p>\n Wages Shall Be Paid To The Poor And Needy On The Same Day ( Deu 24:14-15<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ). <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Just as the newly married man must not be taken advantage of and must be allowed immediately to enjoy the fruits of his contract, so must it be with a hired servant. He too must receive his wages without delay. <\/p>\n Deu 24:14-15<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> You shall not take advantage of a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of your brethren, or of your resident aliens who are in your land within your gates, in the same day you shall give him his hire, nor shall the sun go down on it, for he is poor, and sets his heart on it, lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you.’ <\/p>\n The point here is that wages were not to be held back but paid according to the normal terms, in this case daily (compare Lev 19:13<\/span>). Once the work was done satisfactorily payment should be made, and this applied whether the hired person was a native Israelite or a resident alien. No one must use their superior position to withhold such payment. The workers would probably be poor and would need the money immediately. It would be needed in order to feed their families. Their hearts were set on it for that very reason. The Israelites were reminded that otherwise the man might cry out to God, and it would then be counted against them as covenant breaking. In Lev 19:13<\/span> it was a simple commandment, here there is a reasoned explanation along with it as we might expect in a speech. We can compare here Jas 5:4<\/span> which has these verses in mind. He pointed out that when the Lord came in judgment such failures would be taken into account. <\/p>\n Regulations Relating To Fairplay ( Deu 24:16<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> to Deu 25:3<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/strong> <\/p>\n Analysis. <\/p>\n a <\/strong> The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin (Deu 24:16<\/span>). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> They must not distort the justice due to the resident alien, or to the fatherless, nor take the widow’s raiment to pledge ‘but you shall remember that you were a bondsman in Egypt, and that Yahweh your God had redeemed you from there. Therefore I command you to do this thing’ (Deu 24:17-18<\/span>). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> They must not gather the gleanings but must leave them for the resident alien, fatherless or widow ‘but you shall remember that you were a bondsman in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you from there. Therefore I command you to do this thing’ (Deu 24:19-22<\/span>). <\/p>\n a <\/strong> If there be a controversy between men, and they come for judgment, and the judges judge them, then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. The punishment for the wicked must be fair and just (Deu 25:1-3<\/span>). <\/p>\n Note in ‘a’ that each must be punished fairly, the guilty being punished and the innocent going free, and in the parallel the same is required. In ‘b’ justice must be given to the weak and in the parallel gleanings must be left for the weak. As regularly happens elsewhere a threefold pattern is introduced, in this case with regard to the gleanings. <\/p>\n No One Shall Die For Another’s Sin ( Deu 24:16<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/strong> <\/p>\n Fair play and consideration for others was even to reach to those responsible for justice. This idea of personal responsibility was not late. It appears in early law codes outside Israel, although as we would expect, in varying degrees. The unrighteous must be condemned and the innocent justified. <\/p>\n Deu 24:16<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.’ <\/p>\n The root principle of justice was to be that every man died for his own sin, and not for the sins of others (compare Num 27:3<\/span>). The Law Code of Hammurabi sometimes applied the principle of ‘a life for a life’ in terms of the fact that if a man killed someone else’s son, his own son must be killed in recompense. This was never to be so in Israel. Each man was accountable for himself and himself alone as far as justice was concerned. <\/p>\n This is not contradictory to the principle that the sins of the fathers will be visited on the third and the fourth generation (Deu 5:9<\/span>). There God was warning of how sin could, and regularly did, work out. He was warning of the consequences that could result. That is a very different thing from the administering of individual justice. The consequences brought about by evil in our lives are inevitable results, not God’s deliberate judgments. <\/p>\n Ver. <\/em><\/strong>16. <\/strong>The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> See what we have said respecting this subject on Exodus 20<\/span>. It is supposed by some, that there was a law in Moses’s time, among the AEgyptians, or other neighbour nations, that relations should suffer for the crimes of relations. Thus Ammianus Marcellinus tells us, that by the law of the Persians, in the case of desertion, and some other crimes, the whole kindred perished for the guilt of one, ob noxam unius, omnis propinquitas perit. <\/em>So we read in Quint. Curt. lib. vi. c. 11. that among the Macedonians, the relations of those who plotted against the king’s life were put to death as well as themselves; on the contrary, king Amaziah is praised for not putting to death the sons of his father’s murderers; agreeably to this law of Moses, as well as to that maxim of common equity, that, as faults are personal, so ought the punishment to be. See Grotius de Jure B. & P. lib. ii. c. 21<\/p>\n The LORD hath reserved to himself This privilege, of punishing the sin of the fathers upon the children, but he hath no where given this authority to others. Exo 20:5<\/span> .<\/p>\n NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 24:16<\/p>\n 16Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.<\/p>\n Deu 24:16 This verse is very similar to Eze 18:1-32; Eze 17:12-20; Jer 31:29-30; and 2Ki 14:6. It focuses on the rare OT concept of individual responsibility. This is a balance to Exo 20:5; Exo 34:7; Num 14:18. The OT usually focuses on corporality (cf. Deu 5:9).<\/p>\n Notice the three-fold use of the VERB put to death (BDB 559, KB 562, all Hophal IMPERFECTS). Rebellion is a serious matter! Disobedience has consequences!<\/p>\n This law does not refer to rebellion against God (e.g., idolatry), but to actions designated civil (e.g., acts against established civil authority or acts against a covenant partner).<\/p>\n Humans are held responsible for personal sins, but often these sins are related to family or cultural practices. All of us are historically, culturally conditioned. We make choices, but these choices are limited by precedent. Society, family, and individuals are inseparably bound together! All are affected by parents, culture, and personal choices! God judges society, families, and individuals. Human freedom is a wonderful\/terrible gift!<\/p>\n for the children. This is Jehovah’s law for man. His own right of judgment remains. Compare 2Ki 14:6. 2Ch 25:4. <\/p>\n 2Ki 14:5, 2Ki 14:6, 2Ch 25:4, Jer 31:29, Jer 31:30, Eze 18:20 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 38:24 – let her 1Sa 22:16 – and 2Ki 9:26 – of his sons Dan 6:24 – their children<\/p>\n Deu 24:16. Not be put to death If the one be free from the guilt of the others sin, except in those cases where the sovereign Lord of life and death, before whom none is innocent, hath commanded it, as Deu 13:15; Jos 7:24. For though God do visit the fathers sins upon the children, (Exodus 20.,) yet he will not suffer men to do so.<\/p>\n Individual responsibility 24:16<\/span><\/p>\n The Israelites were not to punish children for the crimes their parents committed. To do so charged them with guilt unjustly.<\/p>\n ". . . it was a common thing among heathen nations-e.g., the Persians, Macedonians, and others-for the children and families of criminals to be also put to death (cf. Esther ix. 13, 14 . . .)." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 3:420.] <\/span><\/p>\n In the cases where God executed the families of criminals, He may have done so because the family members were also responsible for the crime (Deu 24:16; cf. Jos 7:24-26). In any case God has the right to do things that He does not allow His people to do. It is one thing for children to suffer physically and socially because of their parents’ sins (Exo 20:5; Deu 5:9). It is something else for human authorities to punish them for criminal acts that they have not committed.<\/p>\n The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 16. Responsibility for Crime is Individual. The opposition of this principle to that which prevailed in many ancient nations (Herod. iii. 119, … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 24:16”<\/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-5550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550","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=5550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/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: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
And we have borne their iniquities<\/p>\nFuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/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: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s 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: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"