Commentary - Ezekiel 18:5-9

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Ezekiel, the Lord is dismantling a favorite and self-pitying proverb that was making the rounds among the exiles in Babylon: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." This was their way of blaming the previous generation for their current predicament, which, while not entirely untrue, had become a smokescreen for their own unrighteousness. God counters this by establishing the principle of individual accountability. The soul who sins shall die, and the soul who is righteous shall live. Our text here, verses 5 through 9, provides a detailed, practical, and very concrete sketch of what this righteous man looks like. This is not a man who is righteous in some abstract, ethereal sense. No, this is a man whose righteousness has hands and feet. It is a righteousness that manifests itself vertically in his relationship with God and horizontally in his dealings with his fellow man. This passage is a beautiful illustration of how true faith is never disembodied; it always works itself out in love, justice, and mercy.

The list of behaviors here is a wonderful summary of covenant faithfulness. It covers worship, sexual purity, economic justice, and social compassion. This is what it looks like to love God and love your neighbor. And the punchline, delivered with divine authority, is that such a man "is righteous and will surely live." This life is not something he earns through his checklist of good deeds, but rather his good deeds are the evidence, the fruit, of a life that has been granted to him by God's grace. This is the heartbeat of the Old Testament, and it finds its ultimate fulfillment in the truly Righteous Man, Jesus Christ, who did all these things perfectly, and through whom we are counted as righteous and given true life.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

Ezekiel is prophesying to a people in exile. Their nation has been shattered, their temple destroyed, and they are living as captives in a foreign land. It is a time of deep discouragement and theological confusion. The central question on everyone's mind is "Why?" And the popular answer was to point fingers at their ancestors. Chapter 18 is God's direct refutation of this blame-shifting. He is calling His people to stop looking backward in excuse and to start looking inward in repentance and forward in faith. This passage, with its detailed description of righteousness, is not given as an impossible standard to crush them, but rather as a diagnostic tool and a pattern for life. It shows them what covenant faithfulness looks like on the ground, in the nitty-gritty of everyday life. It is a call to personal repentance and holiness, reminding them that even in exile, their individual choices matter profoundly to God.

Key Issues

Beginning: Righteousness That Lives

The central theme here is the nature of true, living righteousness. Our modern sensibilities often bifurcate righteousness into two separate camps: personal piety and social justice. We think of one man as righteous because he prays and reads his Bible, and another as righteous because he advocates for the poor. But the Bible, and this text in particular, will have none of that. Biblical righteousness is a seamless garment. The man described here is righteous because he does both. His hands are clean and his heart is pure. He worships the true God and he treats his neighbor with integrity. He does not "lift up his eyes to the idols" and he does not "mistreat anyone." His devotion to God fuels his love for his neighbor, and his love for his neighbor proves the reality of his devotion to God. This is not righteousness by works; it is a righteousness that works. It is the tangible evidence of a heart that has been captured by the grace of God. This is the kind of righteousness that "will surely live," because it is the fruit of a life that has already been given by the Giver of life.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 5 “But if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness,

The prophet begins with a hypothetical, "if a man..." This immediately puts the focus on the individual, which is the whole point of the chapter. The description that follows is not a description of a nation, or a generation, but of a single man. And what is his defining characteristic? He "is righteous." But this is not a static state of being. It is immediately defined by action: he "does justice and righteousness." The Hebrew words here are mishpat and tzedaqah. They are a classic pairing in the Old Testament, a bit like law and order, or faith and works. Tzedaqah (righteousness) often refers to a right standing, an ethical standard, while mishpat (justice) refers to the application of that standard in concrete actions and judgments. You cannot have one without the other. A man who claims to be righteous but does not act justly is a liar. And a man who does seemingly just things without a foundation of righteousness is just a moralist, building his house on the sand. True righteousness is active. It does.

v. 6a and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,

Righteousness begins with right worship. Before we get to how this man treats his neighbor, we are told how he relates to God. First, negatively. He refrains from idolatry. The "mountain shrines" or "high places" were centers of syncretistic, pagan worship that had plagued Israel for centuries. Eating at these shrines was an act of communion with false gods, a profound act of spiritual adultery. He also does not "lift up his eyes to the idols." This is a beautiful Hebrew idiom for desire, longing, and trust. Where do you look for help? Where do you look for deliverance? The righteous man does not look to the "idols of the house of Israel," which is a stinging rebuke. The worst idols are not the foreign ones, but the ones we make for ourselves, the ones we baptize with a thin veneer of religiosity. This man's worship is exclusive. His eyes are fixed on Yahweh alone. He is a monotheist in practice, not just in theory.

v. 6b or defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period,

From right worship, we move immediately to sexual purity. This is not accidental. Idolatry and sexual immorality are spiritual cousins; they are both forms of covenant unfaithfulness. The righteous man respects the covenant of marriage. He does not "defile his neighbor's wife." This is a direct echo of the Ten Commandments. Adultery is not just a personal sin; it is a violent act of injustice against a neighbor, stealing from him what is most precious. The second prohibition, approaching a woman during her menstrual period, refers to the ceremonial purity laws of Leviticus. While the ceremonial aspects have been fulfilled in Christ, the underlying principle remains. God cares about order, reverence, and holiness in the most intimate areas of our lives. The righteous man's sexuality is not a chaotic, self-serving force; it is disciplined and ordered according to God's Word. He honors women and the sacredness of the sexual union as God designed it.

v. 7 if a man does not mistreat anyone, but returns to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,

Here we see the righteous man's character expressed in a flurry of social and economic actions. It begins with a broad principle: he "does not mistreat anyone." He is not an oppressor. The following clauses then give specific examples of this. He "returns to the debtor his pledge." Under the Mosaic Law, if a poor man gave his cloak as a pledge for a loan, it had to be returned to him by nightfall, because it was likely his only covering to keep warm (Ex. 22:26-27). This man is not a loan shark who exploits the vulnerable. He is merciful. He "does not commit robbery," which is straightforward enough. He respects the property of others. But his righteousness is not merely about what he avoids doing. It is also about what he proactively does. He "gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing." This is active, tangible compassion. He sees a need and he meets it. He understands that his possessions are not his own, but are a stewardship from God, to be used for the glory of God and the good of his neighbor. This is the heart of biblical charity.

v. 8 if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he turns his hand from injustice and does true justice between man and man,

The economic justice theme continues. He does not lend on "interest" or take "increase." In the context of the Old Testament economy, these prohibitions were specifically about making profit from the hardship of a fellow Israelite. It was forbidden to charge interest on a subsistence loan to a poor brother. This was to prevent a cycle of debt and poverty. This man's financial dealings are not driven by greed, but by a desire to help and uphold his community. Then the focus broadens again. He "turns his hand from injustice." He is actively anti-injustice. When he sees wrong, he withdraws from it and opposes it. And positively, he "does true justice between man and man." He is an impartial arbiter. When called upon to judge a dispute, he does not favor the rich or the poor, but judges according to the truth of the matter. He is a pillar of integrity in his community.

v. 9 if he walks in My statutes and My judgments and is careful to do the truth, he is righteous and will surely live,” declares Lord Yahweh.

This verse serves as the summary and the conclusion. All the specific examples given before are now gathered under this heading: he "walks in My statutes and My judgments." This is not a man who has a few commendable habits. This is a man whose entire life is a walk of obedience. His life has a trajectory, a direction, and that direction is set by the Word of God. And this is not a grudging or haphazard obedience. He is "careful to do the truth." The Hebrew word for truth here is 'emeth, which carries the idea of faithfulness, firmness, and reliability. He is a man of his word because he follows the God of the Word. Because of all this, the divine verdict is rendered: "he is righteous." His life demonstrates his heart. And the promise is given: he "will surely live." This is not just about physical life, but about true, covenantal life, fellowship with God. And this entire declaration is sealed with the authority of God Himself: "declares Lord Yahweh." This is not the prophet's opinion. This is the unshakeable word of the sovereign God.

Application

So what do we do with a passage like this? The first thing we must not do is turn it into a legalistic checklist for self-justification. If you read this list and think, "Okay, I've got this. I'm a pretty good guy," then you have missed the entire point of the gospel. This portrait of the righteous man should drive us to our knees, because not one of us has lived this way perfectly. We have all eaten at the mountain shrines of our own idols. We have all failed to love our neighbor with this kind of practical, self-sacrificial love. This passage, like all of God's law, is a mirror that shows us our sin and our desperate need for a Savior.

And that is the second thing we must do: we must see Jesus Christ in this passage. He is the only man who has ever been truly righteous, who has ever done justice and righteousness perfectly. He is the one who never lifted His eyes to an idol, whose every dealing was marked by perfect justice and mercy. He is the one who walked in all of God's statutes without fault. And because He is righteous, He "surely lived," even after dying for our unrighteousness. When we are united to Him by faith, His perfect righteousness is counted as ours. This is the glorious news of the gospel.

Finally, having been declared righteous in Christ, we are then called to grow up into that righteousness. This passage becomes for us not a ladder to climb up to God, but a road to walk on with God. By the power of the Spirit, we are now free and enabled to begin to live this way. We are to be people of exclusive worship, sexual purity, economic integrity, and radical generosity. This is not to earn our salvation, but to express it. This is what it looks like when the life of Christ begins to be formed in us, for the good of our neighbor and for the glory of God.