Ezekiel 18:24 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 18:24
But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
to turn back (hence · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
righteousness
מִצִּדְקָתוֹ֙mi.tzid.ka.To
H6666
rightness (abstractly) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
committeth
וְעָ֣שָׂהve.'A.sah
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
iniquity
עָ֔וֶל'A.vel
H5766
(moral) evil · noun, common masculine singular absolute
doeth
עָשָׂ֧ה'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 33:18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
Proverbs 21:16 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
Ezekiel 33:12-13 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his…
2 Chronicles 24:17-22 Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.
Galatians 3:4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Ezekiel 18:26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done sha…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 18:21-29
We have here another rule of judgment which God will go by in dealing with us, by which is further demonstrated the equity of his government. The former showed that God will reward or punish according to the change made in the family or succession, for the better or for the worse; here he shows that he will reward or punish according to the change made in the person himself, whether for the better or the worse. While we are in this world we are in a state of probation; the time of trial lasts as long as the time of life, and according as we are found at last it will be with us to eternity. Now see here,
I. The case fairly stated, much as it had been before (Eze 3:18, etc.), and here it is la…
righteous--one apparently such; as in Mat 9:13, "I came not to call the righteous," &c., that is, those who fancy themselves righteous. Those alone are true saints who by the grace of God persevere (Mat 24:13; Co1 10:12; Joh 10:28-29).
turneth away from . . . righteousness--an utter apostasy; not like the exceptional offenses of the godly through infirmity or heedlessness, which they afterwards mourn over and repent of.
not be mentioned--not be taken into account so as to save them.
his trespass--utter apostasy.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 18:24
When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness - Here is the second case. Can a man who was once holy and pure fall away so as to perish everlastingly? Yes. For God says, "If he turn away from his righteousness;" not his self-righteousness, the gloss of theologians: for God never speaks of turning away from that, for, in his eyes, that is a nonentity. There is no righteousness or holiness but what himself infuses into the soul of man, and as to self-righteousness, i.e., a man's supposing himself to be righteous when he has not the life of God in his soul, it is the delusion of a dark and hardened heart; therefore it is the real righteous principle and righteous practice that God spea…
Remark all the sins which God threatens, thou wilt at once see that they are present sins. But if his past righteousness shall not profit the righteous in the time of his iniquity, neither shall his wickedness which he hath forsaken hurt the wicked man in the time of his righteousness; for it is written, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he shall obtain mercy.
(Verse 24) But if the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity according to all the abominations that the wicked person usually does, will he live? None of the righteous deeds that he had done will be remembered. In the transgression that he has committed, and in the sin that he has sinned, he shall die. Just as the previous sins do not burden a righteous person who has sinned, so the previous righteousness does not benefit a sinner who was previously righteous. For each person will be judged according to what is found in them.
O such strictness toward the righteous! O such abundant forgiveness toward the sinner! He finds so many different means, without himself changing, to keep the righteous in check and forgive the sinner, by usefully dividing his rich goodness. And listen how. If he frightens the sinner who persists in sins, he brings him to desperation and to the exhaustion of hope. If he blesses the righteous, he weakens the intensity of his virtue and makes him neglect his zeal, since he considers himself already blessed. For this reason he is merciful to the sinner and frightens the righteous.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Apostasy · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Backsliders · 8:22; — 8:22;
Judgment · THE GENERAL — THE GENERAL
Responsibility · ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE — ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
abominations
הַתּוֹעֵב֜וֹתha.to.'e.Vot
H8441
properly · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
live
חָיַיchâyay
H2425
to live
righteousness
צִדְקֹתָ֤יוtzid.ka.tov
H6666
rightness (abstractly) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
done
עָשָׂה֙'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mentioned
תִזָּכַ֔רְנָהti.za.Khar.nah
H2142
properly · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
trespass
מָעַ֛לma.'Al
H4603
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
trespassed
בְּמַעֲל֧וֹbe.ma.'a.Lo
H4604
treachery · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
sin
וּבְחַטָּאת֥וֹu.ve.cha.ta.To
H2403
an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
sinned
חָטָ֖אcha.Ta'
H2398
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
die
יָמֽוּתya.Mut
H4191
to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
John Gill on Ezekiel 18:24
But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness,.... This is to be understood, not of a truly righteous man; for no man can be so denominated from his own righteousness; but from the righteousness and obedience of Christ; and such a man cannot turn from his righteousness; for that is the righteousness of God, and can never be lost; and is an everlasting one, and will always endure; and with which eternal life is inseparably connected: but this is to be interpreted of one that is reckoned so from his own righteousness, what he himself has done, and not from another, from the righteousness of Christ, which he has wrought out; he is one that is righteous in his own esteem, and in the…
Ezekiel 18:24
24. But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
24. Et si aversus fuerit justus, a justitia sua, et fecerit iniquitatem, secundum omnes abominationes quas facit impius fecerit, an vivet? Omnes justitia, ejus quas fecit non venient in recordationem: [226] in transgressione qua transgressus est, et in scelere, quo scelerate egit, in ipsis morietur.
As in the last lecture the Prophet offered…
Turning to good leads to life; turning to evil is followed by death. - Eze 18:21. But if the wicked man turneth from all his sins which he hath committed, and keepeth all my statutes, and doeth right and righteousness, he shall live, and not die. Eze 18:22. All his transgressions which he hath committed, shall not be remembered to him: for the sake of the righteousness which he hath done he will live. Eze 18:23. Have I then pleasure in the death of the wicked? is the saying of Jehovah: and not rather that he turn from his ways, and live? Eze 18:24. But if the righteous man turn from his righteousness, and doeth wickedness, and acteth according to all the abominations which the ungodly man ha…
God does not like to see wicked people die, so he appointed Ezekiel as a watchman, whose role was to turn the wicked toward godly life while warning the righteous against falling away (3:16-19; 33:1-9).
Rashi on Ezekiel 18:24
All his righteous deeds, etc., shall not be remembered Our Sages qualified this as referring to one who regrets them.
