“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you have not given him warning, he will die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but I will require his blood at your hand.
Parallel Translations
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“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you have not given him warning, he will die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but I will require his blood at your hand.
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Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
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Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.
Cross-references (39)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 3:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 18:24 “But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, should he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done will be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.
- Ezekiel 18:26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done he shall die.
- Ezekiel 33:12-13 “You, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him in the day of his disobedience. And as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither will he who is righteous be able to live by it in the day that he sins. When I tell the righteous that he will surely live; if he trusts in his righteousness, and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but he will die in his iniquity that he has committed.
- Ezekiel 3:18 When I tell the wicked, ‘You will surely die;’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; that wicked man will die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand.
- Romans 2:7-8 to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation,
- Hebrews 10:38 But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- Psalms 125:5 But as for those who turn away to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.
- 2 Peter 2:18-22 For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him. For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”
- Psalms 119:165 Those who love your law have great peace. Nothing causes them to stumble.
- Isaiah 8:14 He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall. For the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare.
- Isaiah 64:6 For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
- 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
- Deuteronomy 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Jeremiah 6:21 Therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together will stumble against them. The neighbor and his friend will perish.”
- Ezekiel 7:19 They will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath. They won’t satisfy their souls or fill their bellies; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.
- Ezekiel 14:7-9 “ ‘ “For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Yahweh will answer him by myself. I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. “ ‘ “If the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from among my people Israel.
- Ezekiel 33:18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he will even die therein.
- Romans 9:32-33 Why? Because they didn’t seek it by faith, but as it were by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone; even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who believes in him will be disappointed.”
- Romans 11:9 David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them.
- 1 Peter 2:8 and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
- 2 Chronicles 24:2 Joash did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
- 2 Chronicles 24:17-22 Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came, and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them. They abandoned the house of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and the idols, so wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again to Yahweh, and they testified against them; but they would not listen. The Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, “God says, ‘Why do you disobey Yahweh’s commandments, so that you can’t prosper? Because you have forsaken Yahweh, he has also forsaken you.’ ” They conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of Yahweh’s house. Thus Joash the king didn’t remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, “May Yahweh look at it, and repay it.”
- Psalms 36:3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
- Proverbs 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.
- Ezekiel 14:3 “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be inquired of at all by them?
- Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes, and takes any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’
- Zephaniah 1:6 those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.
- Matthew 13:20-21 What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
- Leviticus 19:17 “ ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
- 2 Samuel 12:7-13 Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’ “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ ” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die.
- 2 Chronicles 19:2-4 Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate Yahweh? Because of this, wrath is on you from before Yahweh. Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have put away the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.” Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to Yahweh, the God of their fathers.
- 2 Chronicles 25:15 Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of your hand?”
- Daniel 9:18 My God, turn your ear, and hear. Open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake.
- Matthew 12:43-45 When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn’t find it. Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came out,’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”
- Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.
- Luke 8:15 Those in the good ground, these are those who with an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produce fruit with perseverance.
- 1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,
- Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here God adds another part of duty which is…
Here God adds another part of duty which is incumbent on all Prophets. For they are first sent to bring back into the way those who had been alienated from God, then to retain those who are already within the flock, and to lead those onward to the goal who have already entered upon the course. We see, therefore, that Prophets ought to be occupied with both duties, so that they may not only recall to their obedience to God those who wander after their own lusts, but also confirm those who are, of their own accord, teachable already, and encourage them to persevere, and prevent them from failing away. Hence, after God has spoken concerning the correction of sinners who had strayed, he now adds another member. If, says he, the righteous man be turned aside from his righteousness, and thou hast not admonished him, he shall ate, and I will require his blood at thy hand Where in effect God signifies, that Prophets are guilty, not only if they do not exhort those who have withdrawn from the right way to retrace their steps, but also if they do not retain within their duty those who have already entered upon the right course. We must then have two objects in view, to recall those who have fallen into various errors, and to take care that those within the fold should not fall away, but be strengthened in perseverance. Hence it is now added, If the righteous shall turn aside, he indeed shall die, but his blood will I require
Here it may be asked, how can the just turn aside, since there is no righteousness without the spirit of regeneration But the seed of the Spirit is incorruptible, (1 Peter 1:23,) nor can it ever happen that his grace is utterly extinguished; for the Spirit, is the earnest and seal of our adoption, for God’s adoption is without repentance, as Paul says. (Romans 11:29.) Hence it may seem absurd to say, that the just recedes and turns aside from the right way. That passage of John is well known — if they had been of us, they had remained with us, (1 John 2:19,) but because they have departed, that falling away proves sufficiently that they were never ours. But we must here mark, that righteousness is here called so:, which has only the outward appearance and not the root: for when once the spirit of regeneration begins to flourish, as I have said, it remains perpetually. And we shall sometimes see men borne along with a wonderful ardor of zeal for the worship of God, and to be urged to promote his glory beyond even the very best men; indeed we shall see this, but, says Paul, God knows those who are his own. (2 Timothy 2:19.) Hence it is not wonderful that God under the name of righteousness here commends virtues which deserve praise before men, even if they do not spring from a pure fountain. Thus we see it. often happens that the righteous are alienated, and turn aside from the right way. This passage, then, ought to stir us up to seek from God continually a spirit of perseverance, because such is our propensity to sin, that we immediately flow in different directions like water, unless God strengthen us. When therefore we see the righteous themselves depart from the way, let us lead and become sure of the constancy of our own faith, only let our confidence be founded on the help of the Holy Spirit and not in ourselves. In the meantime, we see that Christ did not pronounce this passage in vain: Happy are those who persevere unto the end, (Matthew 24:13,) because many fall away in the midst of their course, or reversing their steps, turn their backs upon God.
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Now we must carefully remark what follows, his righteousness shall not be remembered, because some desire to bargain with God, so that if for a time they enter upon the pursuit of piety, that may be taken into account and avail in their favor. But we hear what God pronounces, all their righteousness shall not be remembered in the case of backsliders There is no encouragement to flatter ourselves into sloth and security, when God shows that unless we continue to the end, even the goal of our career, whatever else we attain unto, it is useless. He says, as clearly as words will express it, if he shall fall away, or recede, or turn aside from his righteousness and shall commit iniquity We must mark this diligently, because we know that the very best men often fall away; but here a falling away is intended, where any one casts himself headlong on impiety: hence to commit iniquity is to give oneself up entirely to impiety; as when John says, that those who are born again of the Spirit of God do not commit sin, (1 John 3:9,) he means, are not addicted to sin, even if as yet they dwell among many infirmities and failings: as also Paul says, that sin dwells in us, but does not reign. (Romans 6:12.) Hence to commit sin is to give oneself up to sin. But God says, I will place, or for placing, or if I shall have placed, a stumblingblock before his face Punishment is here called a stumblingblock, when God demonstrates his vengeance against apostates. Although a stumblingblock may also be called actual admonition, as the phrase is; but because that is too far-fetched, I receive it simply, if the righteous shall have turned aside: but I shall have rendered the reward which he deserved, he shall die, because thou hast not admonished him: in his unrighteousness shall he die: thus I point it off, for interpreters seem to me improperly to have mingled together — he shall die, and — he shall die in his iniquity. Now that threat which we have seen is repeated, namely, that all prophets who have deserted their office are guilty before God, because their sloth differs little from perfidy: for God considered them worthy of the greatest honor, since he committed souls to them, which, as we have said, he esteems so dear and precious. But if they reject this trust committed to them, we see that they not only act injuriously to man, but are also ungrateful to God; and their sluggishness is not only united with perfidy, but also with sacrilege, because they permit Satan to snatch from God what was his own. Just as if any watchman should desert his post and betray it to the enemy; because when they see some wander and others desert, it is clear that this does not arise from ignorance, as we have said, but to the snares of Satan and lust are those exposed whom Christ has redeemed with his blood: hence as we have said, this their treachery is without excuse.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain I will give him up to a reprobate mind,…
I will give him up to a reprobate mind, Rom. 1:28.
If he that hath been instructed in the right way turn back.
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Which seemed to have been done in faith, and were not.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 3:20 Again, When a righteous [man] doth turn…
Eze 3:20 Again, When a righteous [man] doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Ver. 20. Again, When a righteous man.] So esteemed by others, and haply also by himself; a self-deceiver.
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Doth turn from his righteousness.] As he may soon do, where it is but a semblance. Falling stars were never but meteors.
And commit iniquity.] This a righteous man, rightly so called, doth not. {Joh 8:34 1Jn 3:8} {See Trapp on "1Jn 3:8"}
And I lay a stumblingblock before him,] i.e., I cause him to prosper in his sin, saith Vatablus, which is a heavy judgment. Fatted ware is but fitted for the shambles.
Because thou hast not given him warning.] Hast not uncased and unkennelled the hypocrite, driving him out of his starting-holes. {a}
And his righteousness.] His works that were materially good, but not formally and eventually. Bonum non sit nisi ex integra causa.
Shall not be remembered,] i.e., Reckoned to him he shall not thereby set off with God, or make amends by his good deeds for his bad; nay, his dissembled sanctity shall pass for double iniquity, and he shall be held therefore the worse, because he pretended to be better.
{a} A hole in which a hunted animal takes refuge; transf. a place in which a criminal or a hunted enemy finds refuge.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain What must be done to sinners is said, now…
What must be done to sinners is said, now for those that have been righteous take thy directions.
A righteous man; either one that hath for some continuance of time professed the way of righteousness, but is now overcome of vices; or who is righteous only in appearance, as Pro 18:17; Eze 18:24,26; 33:13; Mat 9:13.
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Doth turn from his righteousness; gives just cause to fear he not only hath committed some particular sin, but that he hath changed the course of life, the thoughts and purposes from good to evil, hath forsaken the way of righteousness.
Commit iniquity; gives himself up to a sinful life, wallows in sin.
I lay a stumbling-block; dispose affairs so by a just and punishing providence that what did restrain is taken away, or what will be occasion of greater sinning is not removed, or any other way I give such a one up to his own heart’s lust, so that he continue in sin.
He shall die; shall perish in his sin.
His righteousness; either external, and seeming; or his partial and temporary righteousness, which he himself or others ascribed to him, and thought to be in him; shall not be profitable to him: he that apostatizeth is the worst of men, because he falls from known ways of goodness and holiness. Yet such must be warned, else their blood will be required at the hand of those who were to warn them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his…
Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness,.... This is to be understood not of one that is truly righteous, or is justified by the righteousness of Christ; for such can never turn from that righteousness, or be in an unjustified state; seeing that is the righteousness of God, and an everlasting one; but of one that is denominated righteous, from "his" own righteousness, from a righteousness "which he hath done", as is afterwards expressed; one that is outwardly righteous before men, that is outwardly reformed, that has a righteousness of his own, consisting of a little negative holiness, and a few moral performances; from such righteousness a man may apostatize, and go into a vicious course of life:
and commit iniquity; live in sin, make a trade of it; lead a life, the whole series and course of which is nothing else but sin; in this sense, one that is born of God, and has the righteousness of Christ revealed from faith to faith unto him, and lives by faith upon it, cannot commit sin, Jo1 3:9;
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and I lay a stumbling block before him; the Targum renders it, "the stumbling block of sins"; which designs either an occasion of sinning, which God permits, leaving him to his own lusts, and suffering him to fall thereby; and by this means he is discovered to be what he is, not a truly righteous man, but only one in appearance; that looked like a righteous person, but secretly a sinner, and now the Lord by such means exposes him openly; so Jarchi and other Jewish Rabbins; but Kimchi's father interprets the stumbling block of prosperity in this world (u): or rather the punishment of sin is meant, as Kimchi himself observes; and the Septuagint renders it "torment"; since this follows up on his turning from righteousness, and committing sin; and seems to be explained by the next clause:
he shall die; the second death:
because thou hast not given him warning: of the dreadful evil of apostasy, and the sad estate of apostates, and the danger they are in, their last estate being worse than the first:
he shall die in his sin; of apostasy, and for it, being never to be recovered and brought to repentance:
and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; according to the "Keri" or marginal reading it is, "his righteousnesses"; all his works of righteousness which he hath done; and which reading is followed by the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and the eastern versions; these shall not be remembered, neither in this world nor in that to come; no account shall be taken of them, nor shall they be reckoned as a righteousness unto him:
but his blood will I require at thine hand; See Gill on Eze 3:18.
(u) Vid. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 86. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I Lay - Permit it to be laid before…
I Lay - Permit it to be laid before him. He shall - Perish in his sin. Remembered - Shall not be profitable to him; "he that apostatizes is the worst of men, because he falls from known ways of goodness and holiness."
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. When a righteous man doth turn from…
Verse 20. When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness] Which these words plainly state he may do, and commit iniquity, and die in his sin; and consequently die eternally, which is also here granted; if he have not been warned, though he die in his sin, the blood-the life and salvation, of this person also will God require at the watchman's hand. Pastor hunc occidit, quia eum tacendo morti tradidit. "This man the pastor kills; for in being silent, he delivers him over to death." - GREGORY. From these passages we see that a righteous man may fall from grace, and perish everlastingly. Should it be said that it means the self-righteous, I reply, this is absurd; for self-righteousness is a fall itself, and the sooner a man falls from it the better for himself. Real, genuine righteousness of heart and life is that which is meant. Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall.
And I lay a stumbling-block before him] That is, I permit him to be tried, and he fall in the trial. God is repeatedly represented as doing things which he only permits to be done. He lays a stumbling-block, i.e., he permits one to be laid.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 3:20-21. Again, When a righteous man — One…
Eze 3:20-21. Again, When a righteous man — One truly righteous, and devoted to the love and service of God in heart and life; one whose person is justified, whose nature is renewed, and whose practice is conformed to God’s holy will; doth turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity — Which the Scriptures show to be very possible, and experience and observation demonstrate to be a case not uncommon. And I lay a stumbling-block before him — Such a temptation to sin as he might have resisted, but to which, nevertheless, he yielded, and by which he was overcome. The word מכשׁול, here rendered stumbling-block, sometimes signifies ruin, as Eze 18:30. Therefore some render this clause, And I cause iniquity to become his ruin; he shall die — Shall perish in his sin; and his righteousness shall not be remembered — Shall be of no advantage to him; shall stand him in no stead for the preventing of punishment. But his blood will I require at thy hand — See on Eze 3:18. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man — That he may not be drawn aside by bad examples, or any other temptation, to forsake the ways of piety and virtue. And he doth not sin — But continues conscientiously to walk in God’s ordinances and commandments blameless. He shall surely live — In the favour of God here, and in his kingdom hereafter. Also thou hast delivered thy soul — Both the warner and the warned escape destruction.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Iniquity, for want of thy instruction; (Haydock) or, if…
Iniquity, for want of thy instruction; (Haydock) or, if thou neglect to reclaim him, (Calmet) and he perish, or owe his conversion to another, when duty requires thee to take care of him, thou shalt answer for the possible bad consequences. Thy sin is great, whatever become of him. But if he be damned, though he must blame himself chiefly, yet the blood of his soul shall cry for vengeance more than Abel’s. (Haydock) --- Before him, taking away my grace in punishment of his revolt. (Worthington) --- If thou neglect to attempt reclaiming him, thou shalt perish with him; (St. Gregory) or if he be exposed to trial, and thou abandon him, (Vatable) of if thou neglect to husband well the precious moments, when I open his eyes, and fill him with apprehensions of his dangerous state, I will require, &c. (Origin; St. Jerome) --- Remembered. Ingratitude caused the fruits of virtue to decay, and former crimes to revive, in some sense. (St. Thomas, [Summa Theologiae] iii. p. q. 88. a. 1.) (Matthew v. 26.) (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain righteous . . . turn from . . .…
righteous . . . turn from . . . righteousness--not one "righteous" as to the root and spirit of regeneration (Psa 89:33; Psa 138:8; Isa 26:12; Isa 27:3; Joh 10:28; Phi 1:6), but as to its outward appearance and performances. So the "righteous" (Pro 18:17; Mat 9:13). As in Eze 3:19 the minister is required to lead the wicked to good, so in Eze 3:20 he is to confirm the well-disposed in their duty.
commit iniquity--that is, give himself up wholly to it (Jo1 3:8-9), for even the best often fall, but not wilfully and habitually.
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I lay a stumbling-block--not that God tempts to sin (Jam 1:13-14), but God gives men over to judicial blindness, and to their own corruptions (Psa 9:16-17; Psa 94:23) when they "like not to retain God in their knowledge" (Rom 1:24, Rom 1:26); just as, on the contrary, God makes "the way of the righteous plain" (Pro 4:11-12; Pro 15:19), so that they do "not stumble." CALVIN refers "stumbling-block" not to the guilt, but to its punishment; "I bring ruin on him." The former is best. Ahab, after a kind of righteousness (Kg1 21:27-29), relapsed and consulted lying spirits in false prophets; so God permitted one of these to be his "stumbling-block," both to sin and its corresponding punishment (Kg1 22:21-23).
his blood will I require-- (Heb 13:17).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. I lay a stumbling-block — For an explanation…
20. I lay a stumbling-block — For an explanation of God’s agency in temptation see chap. xviii and Plumptre, Pulpit Commentary, p. 49. Every man in the last hour of his life trips over a stumbling-block — which God sees, and permits to remain — and falls into the grave. The point here is that if the prophet fails to warn a man who once was righteous but is now wicked, and he dies without repentance, he will be lost, and his blood will be upon the head of the silent watchman.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. I lay a stumbling-block] i.e. something over which…
20. I lay a stumbling-block] i.e. something over which he shall fall and perish; Lev_19:14, “Nor put a stumbling-block before the blind.” When God prepares such a stumbling-block for the righteous who has sinned, unless he is warned he will fall and be broken, and his blood will be on the prophet.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) When a righteous man doth turn from his…
(20) When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness.—Quite independently of any theological question, it is undeniable that the Scripture here, as often elsewhere, represents the upright man as exposed to temptation, and in danger of falling into sin. The duty of the prophet, therefore, is not only to seek to turn the wicked from his evil way, but also to warn the righteous against falling into the same path. Both terms must necessarily be taken as comparative; but they show that there was even now a considerable difference in character among the captives.
I lay a stumblingblock before him.—A “stumbling-block” is anything at which people actually stumble, whether intended for that purpose or, on the contrary, designed for their highest good. Thus Christ is foretold as a stumbling-block to both the houses of Israel (Isa_8:14), and is several times spoken of as such by the apostles (1Co_1:23; Rom_9:32-33; 1Pe_2:8). The word is used oftener by Ezekiel than by all the other Old Testament writers together; in Eze_7:19 the riches of the people are spoken of as their stumbling-block, and in Eze_44:12 (marg.) the sinful Levites are described as a stumbling-block. The meaning here is plainly, “when a man perverts any of God’s gifts or providences into an occasion of sin.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain From his righteousness. The Hebrew gives the plural, "his…
From his righteousness. The Hebrew gives the plural, "his righteousnesses all his single righteous acts that lie behind. I lay a stumbling block, etc. The word is again characteristic. (Eze_7:19 Eze_14:3, Eze_14:4) It occurs in Jer_6:21, and Ezekiel may have learnt the use of the word from him. It is found also in Lev_19:14 and Isa_57:14; but the date of these, according to the so called higher criticism, may be later than Ezekiel. in Isa_8:14: the word is different. The English word sufficiently expresses the sense. One of the acts of Eastern malignity was to put a stone in a man"s way, that he might fall and hurt himself Here the putting the stone is described as the act of Jehovah, and is applied to anything that tempts a man to evil, and so to his own destruction. (Jer_6:21) The thought is startling to us, and seems at variance with true conceptions of the Divine will. (Jam_1:13) The explanation is to be found in the fact that the prophet"s mind did not draw the distinction which we draw between evil permitted and the same evil decreed. All, from this point of view, is as God wills, and even those who thwart that will are indeed fulfilling it. Glimpses are given of the purpose which leads to the permission or decree. In the case now before us the man has turned from his righteousness before the stumbling block is laid in his way. The temptation is permitted that the man may become conscious of his evil. (so Rom_7:13) If the prophet preacher does his duty, the man may conquer the temptation, and the stumbling block may become a "stepping stone to higher things." If, through the prophet"s negligence, he comes unwarned, and stumbles and falls, he, as in the case of the wicked, bears the penalty of his guilt, but the prophet has here also the guilt of blood upon his soul. The "righteousnesses" of the man (here, as before, we have the plural), his individual acts of righteousness, shall not be remembered, because he was tried, and found wanting in the essential element of all righteousness. The highest development of the thought is found in the fact that Christ himself is represented as a "stumbling stone". (Isa_8:14; Rom_9:32, Rom_9:33; 1Co_1:23) St. Paul"s solution of the problem is found in the question, "Have they stumbled that they should fall?". (Rom_11:11) Was that the end contemplated in the Divine purpose Will it really be the end?
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 set a stumbling block before him
set a stumbling block before him
Possible meanings are 1) "make something bad happen to him" or 2) "cause him to sin openly." (See: Metaphor)
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he will die in his sin
"he will die as a sinner" or "he will die as a guilty person because he has disobeyed me"
I will require his blood from your hand
This is an idiom for holding someone responsible or guilty of murder. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 3:18. AT: "I will treat you as if you had murdered him" (See: Idiom)
since he was warned
This can be translated in active form. AT: "since you warned him" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
righteous
just
stumbling block
sin
hand
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:20-21 The prophet spoke to two classes of people,…
3:20-21 The prophet spoke to two classes of people, the righteous and the wicked. Ezekiel was to express his message indiscriminately, for both the righteous and the wicked would be judged on the basis of their response to his words (cp. Matt 13:3-9, 18-23). Those who heeded him would receive life; those who rejected his message would receive death, even if they had previously been righteous. Faith in the Lord’s word through his prophet was the sole criterion that divided those who would live from those who would die.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.