What Does Ezekiel 14:10 Mean in the King James?
And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse repeats עָוֹן (ʿāwōn, crookedness or guilt) where the KJV says both “iniquity” and “punishment,” binding prophet and seeker to the same crookedness and its consequence.
THE MEANING
When you seek a voice to guide you, your seeking does not leave you untouched by its direction. The same עָוֹן (ʿāwōn, crookedness or guilt) names what both the prophet and the seeker bear, joining them in responsibility and consequence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that following a prophet leaves the seeker innocent falls away here: the verse gives the seeker the same burden and consequence as the prophet.
THE ROOT
הַדֹּרֵשׁ
haddōrēsh
GROWS FROM
דרש
Seek, inquire, consult, or require.
“seeketh” in this verse is haddōrēsh. דֹּרֵשׁ (dōrēsh, one who seeks or consults) names an active search for the prophet’s word. The verse places that seeking within the same responsibility as the prophet’s speaking.
ALSO GROWS
derishah: Inquiry or request.
דְּרִישָׁה
It retains the root’s consonants and shows seeking as an intentional act of asking or consulting.
midrash: Interpretive inquiry or exposition.
מִדְרָשׁ
Its shared דרש root carries the sense of searching into a matter, illuminating the seeker’s active pursuit of guidance.
וְנָשְׂאוּ
wə-nāśəʾû
GROWS FROM
נשא
Lift, carry, or bear.
The verse’s opening verb makes responsibility something carried. Its later parallel between prophet and seeker shows that both bear the same עָוֹן (ʿāwōn, crookedness or guilt).
ALSO GROWS
nōśēʾ: One who carries; a bearer.
נֹשֵׂא
This participle shares the root consonants and makes the carrying in the verse a continuing role.
nāśîʾ: Leader or prince; one raised up.
נָשִׂיא
This word shares the root consonants and connects carrying with being raised to a position of leadership.
THE PATTERN
When a guide and a follower participate in the same path, they share responsibility for where it leads.
And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.THE THREAD
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.Here too the Hebrew uses נָשָׂא (nāśāʾ, carry or bear): no one carries another person’s עָוֹן (ʿāwōn, crookedness or guilt). That sharpens this verse’s pairing, the prophet and seeker share consequence because each bears their own responsibility, not because guilt transfers between them.
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