Ezekiel 18:29
in Ezekiel 18Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are My ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
KJV
Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
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This verse in Ezekiel 18
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal.
on Ezekiel 18:25-29
The exiles complain that God's way is unequal, and the answer, repeated twice, turns the charge back on the objectors, are not your ways unequal? Fairbairn reads the doubled exchange as evidence the complaint was a live grievance among the exiles, worth answering fully rather than dismissing in one line.
This site's exposition
Are My ways unjust
Barnes gives the Hebrew word behind just as weighed out or balanced. Israel charged the LORD with a false balance. The question sets their own ways on the scale instead.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Yet saith the house of Israel, the way of the Lord is not equal,....
But, behold, a miracle of mercy; the day of grace and divine patience is yet lengthened out; and therefore, though God will at last judge every one according to his ways, yet he waits to be gracious, and closes all with a call to repentance and a promise of pardon upon repentance. Here are four necessary duties that we are called to, all amounting to the same:-- 1.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָֽמְרוּ֙ | veameru | and they say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִתָּכֵ֖ן | yitakhen | it is correct | H8505 → | 18 times |
| דֶּ֣רֶךְ | derekh | [the] way of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֑י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| הַדְּרָכַ֞י | haderakhai | ¿ ways my | H1870 → | 707 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִתָּֽכְנּוּ֙ | yitakhenu | are they correct | H8505 → | 18 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | O house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הֲלֹ֥א | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| דַרְכֵיכֶ֖ם | darkheikhem | ways your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִתָּכֵֽן׃ | yitakhen | is it correct | H8505 → | 18 times |
וְאָֽמְרוּ֙and they say
veameruH559 →5305 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִתָּכֵ֖ןit is correct
yitakhenH8505 →18 times
דֶּ֣רֶךְ[the] way of
derekhH1870 →707 times
אֲדֹנָ֑י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
הַדְּרָכַ֞י¿ ways my
haderakhaiH1870 →707 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִתָּֽכְנּוּ֙are they correct
yitakhenuH8505 →18 times
בֵּ֣יתO house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הֲלֹ֥א¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
דַרְכֵיכֶ֖םways your
darkheikhemH1870 →707 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִתָּכֵֽן׃is it correct
yitakhenH8505 →18 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
Ezekiel 18:2“What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge’?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:29–30
“In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’
- Lamentations 5:7
Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.
- Ezekiel 37:19
you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with…
- Ezekiel 37:11
Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
- Ezekiel 37:25
They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their…
- Jeremiah 31:29–30
Through
Proverbs 19:3A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
it leads to
- Revelation 16:9–11
And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.
- Psalms 37:7
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.
- Revelation 16:9–11
Through
Ezekiel 18:25Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 33:17
Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just.
- Ezekiel 33:17
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.