Verse 4
4. All souls are mine Jehovah has absolute ownership of all, therefore no unfairness is possible from him and no criticism is justifiable from others.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die This is the key to this chapter (Ezekiel 18:20) and to Ezekiel’s ethical teaching. No ancestral trait can buy salvation. Birth, race, and national religion all is vanity without individual repentance and “justice.” (See Ezekiel 18:9.) No ancestral crimes can bring guilt and divine punishment. This only comes from personal transgression. The common oriental law gave the father full control over the life and property of his son; but his soul is here declared to be free and independent. While the terms “live” and “die” no doubt referred to the physical nature yet there can be no doubt that Ezekiel interjects into them a moral and spiritual significance. (See Ezekiel 18:31 and chap. 37.)
Sinneth The prophet is not speaking of one isolated act of transgression, but of a persistent habit of life.
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