Ezekiel 18:19–20

Context

Ezekiel was a prophet who ministered among the people of Judah who had been carried into exile in Babylon. Chapter 18 is God's rebuttal of a proverb then circulating among the people: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge" (Ezekiel 18:2). The exilic generation believed it was being punished for the sins of its ancestors.

The passage first presents an example spanning three generations (vv. 5–18): a righteous father, a wicked son, and a righteous grandson. Verse 19 quotes the people's objection to this example, and verse 20 states the principle. Verses 21–32 then continue with a call to repentance, declaring that even the wicked will live if they turn from their ways.

Interpretation

• As a principle of individual responsibility: Many commentators and preachers read this passage as stating the principle that each person is personally accountable before God for his or her own sin. It is read alongside the judicial principle of Deuteronomy 24:16 and Jeremiah 31:29–30, which addresses the same proverb.
• As an exhortation to the exilic generation: Some interpreters hold that the chapter does not teach modern individualism. On this reading, the text tells a generation trapped in the fatalism of "blaming the ancestors" that their present choices matter. It is therefore read in connection with the call in verse 32, "turn yourselves, and live ye," and the message of hope that accompanies it.
• The meaning of "death": One view holds that, in context, the term refers to the loss of the life enjoyed as members of the covenant people. Others within the Christian tradition extend the reading to include spiritual and eternal death.

Debates and Controversies

• Relationship to Exodus 20:5: Exodus 20:5 speaks of visiting the iniquity of the fathers "unto the third and fourth generation." Two explanations for harmonizing the texts are common. One holds that the words in Exodus apply to "them that hate me," that is, to descendants who continue in their ancestors' sins. The other distinguishes between the effects of sin being passed down and guilt (legal liability) being transferred.
• The doctrine of original sin: Original sin is the doctrine that Adam's sin affects all humanity. How this passage fits with that doctrine has long been debated. The Reformed tradition explains original sin through covenant theology, which regards Adam as the representative (covenant head) of humanity. It therefore holds that Ezekiel 18 addresses ordinary relationships between parents and children and does not conflict with the doctrine of original sin.
• The translation "soul": The word rendered "soul" in the Korean Revised Version (as in the KJV) translates the Hebrew nephesh. Jehovah's Witnesses cite this passage and verse 4 as evidence that the soul dies, and thus as grounds for denying the immortality of the soul. Most denominations reject this argument, contending that nephesh is closer in meaning to "person" or "life," so that the passage addresses accountability for sin rather than the essential nature of human beings.

In the Korean Church

The doctrine of generational curses has been a matter of controversy in the Korean church. This doctrine holds that curses resulting from ancestral sins are passed down within a family, so that prayer is needed to break them. Critics of the doctrine cite this passage as their principal evidence. Supporters point to Exodus 20:5 and other texts to argue that inherited effects are real.

Related Passages

• Ezekiel 18:2–4
• Ezekiel 18:30–32
• Deuteronomy 24:16
• Jeremiah 31:29–30
• Romans 5:18–19