What Does Ezekiel 14:18 Mean in the King James?
Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.
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 same Hebrew root marks a hard boundary: they cannot cause another to escape, while they themselves are rescued.
THE MEANING
Even these men cannot carry their sons or daughters through judgment. Their own deliverance does not become a shield they can pass on; each person stands in their own relation to God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A parent’s righteousness or spiritual standing guarantees a child’s deliverance.
THE ROOT
יַצִּילוּ
yaṣṣîlū
GROWS FROM
נצל
To snatch away, rescue, or remove from danger.
“deliver / delivered” in this verse is yaṣṣîlū. Hebrew uses the same root in two different forms: first the men cannot cause another to escape, then they themselves are rescued. The verse distinguishes deliverance given to another from deliverance received; family ties do not make one person’s rescue transferable.
ALSO GROWS
yaṣṣîlū: They cause to escape; they rescue.
יַצִּילוּ
This active form describes what the men cannot do for their sons and daughters.
yinnāṣēlū: They are rescued; they escape.
יִנָּצֵלוּ
This form describes the men receiving deliverance themselves.
THE PATTERN
Another person’s standing cannot be transferred in place of one’s own before God.
But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.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.So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.THE THREAD
Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.The same root נצל (n-ṣ-l), meaning to rescue or extract from danger, appears in both verses. Here the three men are named, and their own righteousness is tied to their deliverance; even their standing does not extend to their children.
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