Ezekiel 18

Walter Bruggemann ( An Introduction to the Old Testament , p. 206f) offers this intriguing discussion of Ezekiel 18. He notes that this has usually been taken as a universal statement about individual human responsibility, but that interpretation detaches the passage from its context. He suggests a contextually sensitive interpretation:

“When taken locally and pastorally, the text has a very different meaning. The body of the text is organized into three generations:

The first generation of a righteous man (vv. 5-9)
The second generation of a wicked man (vv. 10-13)
The third generation of a righteous man (vv. 14-18)

“In each case, the destiny for and verdict upon each generation depends on adherence to Torah in terms of (a) avoiding idolatry and serving only YHWH, (b) obedient sexuality, and (c) obedient economics. [PJL: Note the similarity to the Pentateuchal lists of sins that lead to expulsion from the land; cf. Klawans, Sin and Impurity in Ancient Israel .] It is likely that three generations are not a theoretical case, but refer in turn to (a) Josiah the good king (2 Kgs 23:25), (b) Jehoiakim the bad king (2 Kgs 23:36-37), and (c) Jehoiachin the third king (2 Kgs 24:8-12). That is, the verdict is still out on the third king who is in exile, the leader of the exilic community, the king upon whom the Ezekiel tradition has based its chronology (Ezek 1:2). Thus it is probably that this text in Ezekiel 18 concerns the destiny of and theological verdict upon the third generation, the generation of exiles led by Jehoiachin.

“The good news announced in this text is that the third generation may indeed repent and be obedient in three key areas of (a) YHWH’s sovereignty, (b) sexuality, and (c) economics. The assurance of the text is that the exilic generation need not be enthralled by the sins of the previous generation of Jehoiakim, but is free to start again in repentance and new obedience . . . .”