Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 18:1

"The word of Jehovah came unto me again, saying," — Ezekiel 18:1 (ASV)

The last verse of Ezekiel 17 gives occasion for a declaration of the principle upon which God’s providential dispensations proceed (Ezekiel 17:24), namely, that every individual will be equitably dealt with—a principle that precludes children from either presuming on the father’s merits or despairing on account of the father’s guilt. This chapter is an enlargement of Jeremiah 31:29, and sets forth fully the doctrine of individual responsibility.