Ezekiel 18:22
in Ezekiel 18None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
None of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
KJV
All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 18
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAll his transgressions - Shall be so completely forgiven by God’s mercy, that they shall not be even mentioned to him; and if he live and die in this recovered state, he shall live with God to all eternity. And why? Hear the reason: -
This site's exposition
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed
on Ezekiel 18:21-23
A wicked man who turns and keeps God's statutes shall surely live, his past transgressions not mentioned against him. The chapter's own question follows, have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? Henry reads verse 23 as the emotional center, judgment never presented as something God wants.
This site's exposition
will be held against him
Clarke reads the forgiveness as complete, so that the transgressions the man committed are never mentioned to him again. Isaiah 43:25 has the LORD blotting out transgressions and remembering sins no more. Mercy clears the record.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 21, 22.) But if the wicked shall do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice: living he shall live, and shall not die. I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done. In a way only, saith he, the sins of the fathers are not transmitted to the children, neither doth the wicked son any longer burden the righteous father; nor are others punished for the sins of others, so that he, who before was wicked and a sinner, if he afterwards do penance, and turn to better things, and blot out his former sins, be not judged by the old sins: but let him be received into my flock, by the renewal of virtue. At the same time, let us consider what sort of repentant person an impious and sinful person receives. If, he says, he turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all the commandments of the Lord, so that he truly abandons all wrongdoing and follows all virtues; if he does all good things and forsakes all evil; then I will forget all the injustices he has committed.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
(3.) What encouragement a repenting returning sinner has to hope for pardon and life according to this promise. He is conscious to himself that his obedience for the future can never be a valuable compensation for his former disobedience; but he has this to support himself with, that God's nature, property, and delight, is to have mercy and to forgive, for he has said (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Observe, (1.) What is required to denominate a man a true convert, how he must be qualified that he may be entitled to this act of indemnity. [1.] The first step towards conversion is consideration (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
All his transgressions that he hath committed,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Two last cases, showing the equity of God: (1) The penitent sinner is dealt with according to his new obedience, not according to his former sins. (2) The righteous man who turns from righteousness to sin shall be punished for the latter, and his former righteousness will be of no avail to him. he shall surely live--Despair drives men into hardened recklessness;
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
in his righteousness . . . he shah live--in it, not for it, as if that atoned for his former sins; but "in his righteousness" he shall live, as the evidence of his being already in favor with God through the merit of Messiah, who was to come.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| פְּשָׁעָיו֙ | peshaav | transgressions his | H6588 → | 93 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשָׂ֔ה | ʾasah | he has done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִזָּכְר֖וּ | yizakheru | they will be remembered | H2142 → | 230 times |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| בְּצִדְקָת֥וֹ | betzidkato | for righteousness his | H6666 → | 157 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשָׂ֖ה | ʾasah | he has done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יִֽחְיֶֽה׃ | yichyeh | he will live | H2421 → | 282 times |
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
פְּשָׁעָיו֙transgressions his
peshaavH6588 →93 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָשָׂ֔הhe has done
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִזָּכְר֖וּthey will be remembered
yizakheruH2142 →230 times
ל֑וֹto him
lo
בְּצִדְקָת֥וֹfor righteousness his
betzidkatoH6666 →157 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
עָשָׂ֖הhe has done
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
יִֽחְיֶֽה׃he will live
yichyehH2421 →282 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Isaiah 43:25I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:34
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 8:12
For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
- Micah 7:18–19
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Hebrews 10:17
Then He adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
- Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Jeremiah 31:34
Through
Micah 7:19He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 38:17
Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
- Isaiah 43:25
Through
Ezekiel 18:24But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 33:18
If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it.
- Ezekiel 33:18
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.