Ezekiel 18:1

And the word of the Lord came unto me again, saying. The word of prophecy from the Lord, as the Targum; and its being mentioned is coming from the Lord is to give it weight and authority.

The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, Vindication of God's moral government as to His retributive righteousness, from the Jewish imputation of injustice, as if they were suffering, not for

EZEKIEL CHAPTER 18 God disalloweth the parable of sour grapes, . He showeth his dealing with a just man, , with the wicked son of a just father, , and with the just son of a wicked father, . He declareth that the treatment of both son and father shall be according to their respective deserts, ,20; and that the wicked, if he repent, shall live, ; but he that revolteth from his righteousness shall die, . He defendeth the equity of his dealings, , and exhorteth to repentance, ,32. He did not entertain them with a dream of his own head, but the Holy Spirit of prophecy suggests this to him, which now he speaketh on God’ s behalf, and against the Jews. He had often before spoke God’ s word in his name, as Ezekiel 6 Ezekiel 7 Ezekiel 13, , and now once more he is commanded so to do.

Ezekiel 18:1 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,Ver. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me.] This is oft prefaced by the prophets to make their sermons more authoritative and authentic. Pausanias telleth us that some heathen sages, to add weight to their works, were wont to prefix Yεος, Yεος, i.e., God, God.

CHAPTER XVIII The Jews, in Ezekiel's time, complained of God's dealing hardly with them in punishing them for the sins of their forefathers, 1, 2; their temporal calamities having been long threatened as the consequence of the national guilt, (Jeremiah 15:4, c.) and, from the general complexion of this chapter, it appears that the Jews so interpreted the second commandment of the Decalogue and other passages of like import, as if the sins of the forefathers were visited upon the children, independently of the moral conduct of the latter, not only in this world, but in that which is to come. To remove every foundation for such an unworthy idea of the Divine gorcrnment, God assures them, with an oath, that he had no respect of persons, 3, 4; strongly intimating that the great mysteries in Providence, (mysterious only on account of the limited capacity of man,) are results of the most impartial administration of justice; and that this would be particularly manifested in the rewards and punishments of another life; when every ligament that at present connects societies and nations together shall be dissolved, and each person receive according to his work, and bear his own burden. This is illustrated by a variety of examples: such as that of a just or righteous man, 5-9; his wicked son, 10-13; and again the just son of this wicked person, 14-20. Then a wicked man repenting, and finding mercy, whose former wickedness shall be no impediment to his salvation, 21-23; and a righteous man revolting, and dying in his sins, whose former righteousness shall be of no avail, 24. The conduct of the Divine Providence is then vindicated, 25-29; and all persons, without any exception, most earnestly exhorted to repentance, 30, 31; because the Lord hath no pleasure in the death of the sinner, 32. As the whole of this chapter is taken up with the illustration of a doctrine nearly connected with the comfort of man, and the honour of the Divine government, the prophet, with great propriety, lays aside his usual mode of figure and allegory, and treats his subject with the utmost plainness and perspicuity. NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII

The last verse of Ezek. 17 gives occasion for a declaration of the principle upon which God’s providential dispensations proceed, namely, that every individual shall be equitably dealt with - a

2. Concerning — Rather, in. The fathers have eaten [do eat] sour grapes — This was a proverb which contained a half truth, but which the people were twisting to their own destruction.