Ezekiel 18:10

If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) That doeth the like to any one of these things.—The prophet now enters upon the consideration of the second case, that of the son of a righteous father who takes to wicked courses, and it is shown that he shall be dealt with according to his own personal character. It is not necessary that he should be wholly given over to evil or have committed all the sins enumerated, but if he show the alienation of his heart from God by choosing to do any of those things which He has forbidden, he must fall under His righteous condemnation.

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 18:10-13. If he — The righteous man before described, who transmits his human nature, but cannot transmit his graces and virtues to his son; beget a son who is a robber, &c. — Who is guilty of any of the evil practices above mentioned; and that doeth not any of those duties — That lives in the neglect of the just and humane offices which have been mentioned, and which are commanded by the law; he hath committed abomination — This may chiefly refer to the last two clauses of Ezekiel 18:6. He shall not live — Namely, because of his father’s righteousness. He shall not enjoy the divine favour and blessing here or hereafter: he shall not escape punishment; namely, unless he turn to God in true repentance and reformation, Ezekiel 18:21. He hath done, or, because he hath done, all these abominations — Which have rendered him an object of the divine wrath; his blood shall be upon him — He is the cause of his own destruction; the whole blame of it must lie at his own door.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:1-20 The soul that sinneth it shall die. As to eternity, every man was, is, and will be dealt with, as his conduct shows him to have been under the old covenant of works, or the new covenant of grace. Whatever outward sufferings come upon men through the sins of others, they deserve for their own sins all they suffer; and the Lord overrules every event for the eternal good of believers. All souls are in the hand of the great Creator: he will deal with them in justice or mercy; nor will any perish for the sins of another, who is not in some sense worthy of death for his own. We all have sinned, and our souls must be lost, if God deal with us according to his holy law; but we are invited to come to Christ. If a man who had shown his faith by his works, had a wicked son, whose character and conduct were the reverse of his parent's, could it be expected he should escape the Divine vengeance on account of his father's piety? Surely not. And should a wicked man have a son who walked before God as righteous, this man would not perish for his father's sins. If the son was not free from evils in this life, still he should be partaker of salvation. The question here is not about the meritorious ground of justification, but about the Lord's dealings with the righteous and the wicked.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Live ... die - In the writings of Ezekiel there is a development of the meaning of "life" and "death." In the holy land the sanctions of divine government were in great degree temporal; so that the promise of "life" for "obedience," the threatening of "death" for "disobedience," in the Books of Moses, were regarded simply as temporal and national. In their exile this could not continue in its full extent, and the universality of the misfortune necessarily made men look deeper into the words of God. The word "soul" denotes a "person" viewed as an "individual," possessing the "life" which God breathed into man when he became a "living soul" Genesis 2:7; i. e., it distinguishes "personality" from "nationality," and this introduces that fresh and higher idea of "life" and "death," which is not so much "life" and "death" in a future state, as "life" and "death" as equivalent to communion with or separation from God - that idea of life and death which was explained by our Lord in the Gospel of John John 8, and by Paul in Romans 8.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-13. The second case is that of an impious son of a pious father. His pious parentage, so far from excusing, aggravates his guilt.

robber—or literally, "a breaker," namely, through all constraints of right.

doeth the like to any one—The Hebrew and the parallel (Eze 18:18) require us to translate rather, "doeth to his brother any of these things," namely, the things which follow in Eze 18:11, &c. [Maurer].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

If he beget a son; the just man before described, who transmits his nature, but cannot transmit his virtues, to his son.

That is a robber; that by force and violence breaks over the law of God and man, takes away what is another man’s; such a thief as sticks not to destroy that he may rob.

A shedder of blood; that is, a murderer; for shedding of blood here is not less than murder, as by the phrase, Genesis 9:6 Deu 21:7 1 Samuel 25:33 Psalm 79:10.

That doeth the like; the thing that is brother to one of these, as the Hebrew may bear; there are things like these, which destroy either the life or estates of our neighbour; for there are many methods and artifices which such violent ones use.

To any one of these things; it might seem to speak one such single act unpardonable; but I refer this text to that, Genesis 9:6 Numbers 35:31. The law doth condemn such to death; man must not, though God may, pardon such a one.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood,.... But if this just man beget a son that is a thief and a murderer, as he may; for grace is not conveyed by natural generation, though sin is: a good man has often bad children, even such as are guilty of capital crimes, as a "robber", a "highwayman", a "breaker up", or "through", as the word (e) signifies; one that breaks through walls, and into houses, and breaks through all the laws of God and man; and sticks not to shed innocent blood in committing his thefts and robberies, as these sins often go together; such an one was Barabbas, whose name signifies the son of a father, and perhaps his father might be a good man:

and that doeth the like to any one of these things; or that does anyone of these things, whether theft or murder.

(e) "effractorem", Montanus, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Piscator, Grotius.

Geneva Study Bible

If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10–13. 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. reads: shedding blood, and committing sins, 11 who hath not walked in the way of his righteous father, but hath even eaten, &c. This text gives the general meaning of the Heb., of which it looks like a paraphrase. It is difficult to decide whether the last clause of Ezekiel 18:10 refers to the father or the son. The words in the place where they stand should refer to the wicked son, and so A.V., R.V., but if so they, cannot be reconciled with Ezekiel 18:11. The words rendered “these things” (Ezekiel 18:10) and “those duties” (Ezekiel 18:11) are the same, viz. the things Ezekiel 18:6-9, and cannot be regarded as things forbidden (Ezekiel 18:10) and things commanded (Ezekiel 18:11) at once. The unknown word ach occurring here (cf. Ezekiel 18:18, Ezekiel 21:20) is supposed to be the same as “only” (akh), but is probably a fragment of the word “one” due to an error of the copyist and should be neglected.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - A robber. The Hebrew implies robbery with violence, perhaps, as in the Authorized Version margin, the offence of the housebreaker. That doeth the like to any of these things. The margin of the Revised Version, following the Chaldee paraphrase, gives, who doeth to a brother any of these things. Others (Keil and Furst) render, "who doeth only one of these things," as if recognizing the principle of James 2:10. On the whole, there seems sufficient reason for keeping to the text. Ezekiel 18:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The righteousness of the father does not protect the wicked, unrighteous son from death. - Ezekiel 18:10. If, however, he begetteth a violent son, who sheddeth blood, and doeth only one of these things, Ezekiel 18:11. But he himself hath not done all this, - if he even eateth upon the mountains, and defileth his neighbour's wife, Ezekiel 18:12. Oppresseth the suffering and poor, committeth robbery, doth not restore a pledge, lifteth up his eyes to idols, committeth abomination, Ezekiel 18:13. Giveth upon usury, and taketh interest: should he live? He shall not live! He hath done all these abominations; he shall be put to death; his blood shall be upon him. - The subject to והוליד, in Ezekiel 18:10, is the righteous man described in the preceding verses. פּריץ, violent, literally, breaking in or through, is rendered more emphatic by the words "shedding blood" (cf. Hosea 4:2). We regard אח in the next clause as simply a dialectically different form of writing and pronouncing, for אך, "only," and he doeth only one of these, the sins previously mentioned (Ezekiel 18:6.). מאחד, with a partitive מן, as in Leviticus 4:2, where it is used in a similar connection; the form מאחד is also met with in Deuteronomy 15:7. The explanation given by the Targum, "and doeth one of these to his brother," is neither warranted by the language nor commended by the sense. עשׂה is never construed with the accusative of the person to whom anything is done; and the limitation of the words to sins against a brother is unsuitable in this connection. The next clause, לא עשׂה...והוּא, which has also been variously rendered, we regard as an adversative circumstantial clause, and agree with Kliefoth in referring it to the begetter (father): "and he (the father) has not committed any of these sins." For it yields no intelligible sense to refer this clause also to the son, since כּל־אלּה cannot possibly refer to different things from the preceding מאלּה, and a man cannot at the same time both do and not do the same thing. The כּי which follows signifies "if," as is frequently the case in the enumeration of particular precepts or cases; compare, for example, Exodus 21:1, Exodus 21:7,Exodus 21:17, etc., where it is construed with the imperfect, because the allusion is to things that may occur. Here, on the contrary, it is followed by the perfect, because the sins enumerated are regarded as committed. The emphatic גּם (even) forms an antithesis to אח מאחד (אך), or rather an epanorthosis of it, inasmuch as כּי גּם resumes and carries out still further the description of the conduct of the wicked son, which was interrupted by the circumstantial clause; and that not only in a different form, but with a gradation in the thought. The thought, for instance, is as follows: the violent son of a righteous father, even if he has committed only one of the sins which the father has not committed, shall die. And if he has committed even the gross sins named, viz., idolatry, adultery, violent oppression of the poor, robbery, etc., should he then continue to live? The ו in וחי introduces the apodosis, which contains a question, that is simply indicated by the tone, and is immediately denied. The antique form חי for חיּה, 3rd pers. perf., is taken from the Pentateuch (cf. Genesis 3:22 and Numbers 21:8). The formulae מות יוּמת and דּמיו בּו dna are also derived from the language of the law (cf. Leviticus 20:9, Leviticus 20:11, Leviticus 20:13, etc.).