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Ezekiel 18:14

in Ezekiel 18

Now suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, considers them, and does not do likewise:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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;

KJV

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,

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This verse in Ezekiel 18

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Hezekiah, of Ahaz (2Ki 16:1-20; 21:1-22:20). seeth . . . and considereth--The same Hebrew stands for both verbs, "seeth . . . yea, seeth." The repetition implies the attentive observation needed, in order that the son may not be led astray by his father's bad example; as sons generally are blind to parents sins, and even imitate them as if they were virtues.

This site's exposition

Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done

on Ezekiel 18:14-18

A third generation appears, a son who watches his violent father's sins and chooses differently. The father dies in his own iniquity, the case built symmetrically to close off inheritance in either direction. Keil reads the three-generation sequence as the chapter's argument by example before it is stated as principle.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 14 and following) But if he has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, fears them, and does not commit them himself (as Vulgate says, 'similar to them'): he does not eat on the mountains, he does not lift his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, he does not violate his neighbor's wife, he does not oppress anyone, he does not keep a pledge, he does not commit robbery, he gives his bread to the hungry, he covers the naked with clothing, he turns his hand away from the poor man's injury, he does not take interest or usury, he follows my ordinances, and he walks in my statutes: this son will not die because of the iniquity of his father, but he will surely live.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Wicked Ahaz begets a good Hezekiah, who sees all his father's sins which he has done, and though he will not, like Ham, proclaim his father's shame, or make the worst of it, yet he loathes it, and blushes at it, and thinks the worse of sin because it was the reproach and ruin of his own father.
Now, lo, if he beget a son,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Now, lo, if he beget a son that seeth all his father’s sins - and considereth - Lays to heart the evil of his father’s life, and the dreadful consequences of a life of rebellion against God. And doeth not such like - Is quite a different man in moral feeling and character; and acts up to the thirteen points already laid down.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

and sees and does not do likewise He sees with his heart that it is not good to do so, et il apercut in French, he realized.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 18:14:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְהִנֵּה֙and there!

    vehinehH2009 →843 times

  • הוֹלִ֣ידhe has fathered

    holidH3205 →496 times

  • בֵּ֔ןa child

    benH1121 →4930 times

  • וַיַּ֕רְאand he has seen

    vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • חַטֹּ֥את[the] sins of

    chatotH2403 →295 times

  • אָבִ֖יוfather his

    ʾavivH1 →1212 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • עָשָׂ֑הhe did

    ʾasahH6213 →2628 times

  • וַיִּרְאֶ֕הand he saw

    vaiyirehH7200 →1300 times

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יַעֲשֶׂ֖הhe did

    yaasehH6213 →2628 times

  • כָּהֵֽן׃like them

    kahen

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Chronicles 34:21“Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah concerning the words in the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that has been poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD by doing all that is written in this book.”4 worksMark 7:13Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”4 worksProverbs 23:24The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.3 worksHaggai 1:7This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.2 worksMatthew 23:32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.2 worksEzekiel 18:28Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.2 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Chronicles 29:3–11In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened and repaired the doors of the house of the LORD.2 worksJeremiah 44:17Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.2 works1 Peter 1:18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,2 worksIsaiah 44:19And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”2 worksHosea 7:2But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face.2 worksJeremiah 9:14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”2 worksHaggai 2:18Consider carefully from this day forward—from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the day the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid—consider carefully:2 worksLuke 15:17–19Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death!2 worksProverbs 17:21A man fathers a fool to his own grief; the father of a fool has no joy.2 worksJeremiah 8:6I have listened and heard; they do not speak what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has pursued his own course like a horse charging into battle.2 worksEzekiel 20:18In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.2 worksEzekiel 18:10Now suppose that man has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these things,2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Haggai 1:7

    This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 119:59–60

      I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies.

    • Haggai 1:5

      Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

  • Through

    Proverbs 23:24

    The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 10:1

      The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

    • Proverbs 15:20

      A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

    • Proverbs 23:15–16

      My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.

    • Proverbs 29:3

      A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.

    • Philemon 1:20

      Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

  • Through

    Matthew 23:32

    Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 15:16

      In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Where this verse is studied

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 18 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Ezekiel 18 →