If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,
Parallel translations
- WEB “If he fathers a son who is a robber who sheds blood, and who does any one of these things,
- BSB Now suppose that man has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these things,
- NKJV “If he begets a son who is a robber Or a shedder of blood, Who does any of these things
- NASB “However, he may father a violent son who sheds blood, and does any one of these things to a brother
- NLT “But suppose that man has a son who grows up to be a robber or murderer and refuses to do what is right.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Now God describes a violent son of the righteous man, a robber who sheds blood. A godly father's faith is not automatically inherited.
Overview
The second case is a wicked son who commits violence and bloodshed, unlike his righteous father. This directly counters the proverb of inherited guilt by reversing it. Each generation stands or falls on its own response to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Exod 21:12He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.
- Lev 19:13Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
- John 18:40Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
- Gen 9:5–6And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
- Num 35:31Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.
- Mal 3:8–9Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
- 1 Jn 3:12Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
- Exod 22:2If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 18:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.