John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 18:10-13

"If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth any one of these things, and that doeth not any of those [duties], but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbor`s wife, hath wronged the poor and needy, hath taken by robbery, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, hath given forth upon interest, and hath taken increase; shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him." — Ezekiel 18:10-13 (ASV)

He has oppressed the poor and needy: he had simply said, "He has oppressed a man"; but now, to make the greatness of the crime appear, he speaks of the poor and needy, for cruelty in oppressing them is all the more blameworthy. Regardless of the condition of the person we treat unjustly, our wickedness is in itself sufficiently worthy of condemnation; but when we afflict the wretched, whose condition should arouse our pity, such inhumanity is, as I have said, far more atrocious.

Therefore, this circumstance magnifies what Ezekiel had previously simply expressed. In the phrase for seizing booty, the word for booty is in the plural. In the next phrase, he omits the word for debtor because it is sufficiently understood. In the next, he does not add “of the house of Israel” to the word “idols”; and in the last clause, the word “abomination” seems to refer to only one kind of flagrant offense. But if anyone wishes to extend its meaning further, I do not object; however, since he recently used the word in the plural, I am more inclined to understand this word in its restricted sense.

I pass so rapidly over this second example, as I shall over the third, because Ezekiel preserves the same sentiments and repeats almost the same words that he had just used.

Until now, he has taught that life is laid up for all the righteous as the reward for their righteousness; but he now sets before us a degenerate son, born to a righteous father, rushing headlong into all kinds of wickedness.

He says, then, if a man who desires to obey the law fathers a son of a perverse disposition, who rejects the discipline of his father and at the same time violates the whole law of God, shall he surely live? No, he says, he shall die; his blood shall be upon him; that is, he cannot escape God’s judgment, because his crimes cry out and are heard. Therefore, none who turn aside from the right way shall remain unpunished.

This is the simple meaning of the Prophet. Let us now come to the third point.