The Watchman's Duty and Personal Responsibility
Ezekiel 33:1-20
Eze.33.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
Parallels
- Jeremiah 1:4 (verbal): Uses the identical prophetic formula 'ויהי דבר־יהוה אלי לאמר' to introduce the word of the LORD to Jeremiah (the same introductory wording).
- Ezekiel 20:1 (verbal): Another occurrence within Ezekiel of the same introductory phrase, showing the recurrent structural formula by which God’s messages are delivered to the prophet.
- Ezekiel 2:1 (structural): Part of Ezekiel’s call/commission material in which God speaks directly to the prophet (different wording but the same structural role of divine address and commissioning).
- 1 Samuel 3:11 (thematic): The LORD’s direct speech to a prophet announcing judgment/calling (plurality of divine speech to prophets); thematically parallels Ezekiel 33:1 as the opening of a prophetic oracle.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Eze.33.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
- ואמרת: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- אביא: VERB,hiphil,impf,1,_,sg
- עליה: PREP,3,f,sg
- חרב: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ולקחו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- עם: PREP
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחד: NUM,card,m,sg
- מקציהם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+3mp
- ונתנו: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- לצפה: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
Parallels
- Ezekiel 3:17-21 (verbal): Same ‘son of man’ commission to be a watchman for Israel; lays out the identical obligation to warn the wicked and the consequences if the watchman fails.
- Ezekiel 33:7-9 (structural): Immediate parallel within the same chapter elaborating the watchman motif begun in v.2—defines responsibility for warning and the moral accounting for both watchman and warned.
- Isaiah 62:6 (thematic): God appoints watchmen on Jerusalem’s walls to give attention and intercession—similar imagery of appointed watchers responsible for the safety and hearing of the community.
- Jeremiah 6:17 (verbal): God says He set watchmen over the people and commanded them to heed the trumpet—closely parallels the motif of appointed sentinels called to warn the nation.
- 2 Samuel 18:24-27 (thematic): Narrative example of a man set as a lookout/reporting watchman to observe and report events; reflects the concrete social practice underlying the prophetic image in Ezekiel 33:2.
Alternative generated candidates
- Son of man, speak to the people of your people and say to them: ‘As for the land—I am about to bring a sword upon it. The inhabitants of the land take one of their men from among them and appoint him as a watchman for them.'
Eze.33.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וראה: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- החרב: NOUN,f,sg,def
- באה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- על: PREP
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ותקע: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- בשופר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והזהיר: VERB,hifil,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Ezekiel 33:6 (structural): Continues the same watchman theme: if the watchman sees the sword and does not warn, he is held responsible—direct consequence of failing to sound the alarm.
- Ezekiel 3:17-21 (verbal): Earlier call to Ezekiel as a 'watchman' charged to warn the house of Israel; uses same language of seeing danger and warning to avert guilt.
- Jeremiah 6:17 (verbal): God says He has 'set watchmen' who are to 'hear the sound of the trumpet'—similar imagery of appointed sentinels and trumpet warning the people.
- Isaiah 62:6 (thematic): God appoints watchmen on Jerusalem's walls who must not keep silent day or night—thematic parallel emphasizing vigilance and constant warning duty.
Alternative generated candidates
- When he sees the sword coming upon the land, he shall blow the trumpet and warn the people.
Eze.33.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ושמע: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- השמע: VERB,qal,ptcp,ms,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- קול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השופר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ולא: CONJ
- נזהר: VERB,nip,perf,3,m,sg
- ותבוא: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- חרב: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ותקחהו: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg+obj:3,m,sg
- דמו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss3ms
- בראשו: PREP,3,m,sg
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 33:6 (verbal): Closely parallel clause reversing roles: if the watchman sees the sword and does not blow the trumpet, the sword takes the person and 'his blood will be on the watchman's head'—whereas 33:4 says the hearer who does not heed has his blood on his own head.
- Ezekiel 33:5 (structural): Immediate context: describes the situation when the watchman fails to warn and the people are not warned, linking the trumpet/warning motif and responsibility for bloodshed.
- Ezekiel 3:18-19 (verbal): Earlier use of the watchman/warning vocabulary: if one is warned of death and does not warn the wicked, 'the blood of the wicked will be required at your hand'—same language of warning, death, and accountability.
- Jeremiah 6:17 (thematic): Uses the image of appointed watchmen and the command 'Hearken to the sound of the trumpet!' with people refusing to heed—parallels the motif of trumpet-as-warning and refusal to take warning.
Alternative generated candidates
- If the hearer hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him, his blood shall be upon his own head.
Eze.33.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- את: PRT,acc
- קול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השופר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- שמע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- נזהר: VERB,nip,perf,3,m,sg
- דמו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss3ms
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- והוא: CONJ+PRON,3,m,sg
- נזהר: VERB,nip,perf,3,m,sg
- נפשו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- מלט: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 3:17-21 (verbal): An earlier, near‑verbatim formulation of the watchman’s duty and the same consequences if he fails to warn the wicked—same legal/moral language.
- Ezekiel 33:6 (structural): Immediate continuation of the same scenario; restates the principle and consequence when the watchman does not sound the alarm.
- Jeremiah 6:17 (verbal): God says He has 'set watchmen' and exhorts heed to 'the sound of the trumpet'—parallel imagery and language about appointed warners and ignored alarms.
- Amos 3:6 (verbal): Uses trumpet/warning imagery to argue that a public alarm must produce response—parallels the expectation that a warned people should heed.
- Isaiah 62:6 (thematic): God appoints watchmen on Jerusalem’s walls who must keep watch and warn continually—echoes the theme of appointed responsibility to warn and protect the community.
Alternative generated candidates
- He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning—his blood shall be on him; if he takes warning, he will save his life.
Eze.33.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והצפה: VERB,qal,part,3,m,sg,def
- כי: CONJ
- יראה: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- החרב: NOUN,f,sg,def
- באה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- תקע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בשופר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והעם: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,def
- לא: PART_NEG
- נזהר: VERB,nip,perf,3,m,sg
- ותבוא: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- חרב: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ותקח: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- מהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- נפש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- בעונו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- נלקח: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- ודמו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- מיד: PREP
- הצפה: VERB,qal,part,3,m,sg,def
- אדרש: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 3:18-21 (verbal): Earlier 'watchman' warning passage in Ezekiel: identical teaching that a watchman who fails to warn the wicked is held accountable for their blood.
- Ezekiel 33:8-9 (structural): Immediate continuation/parallel in the same chapter repeating the principle that the watchman's warning determines responsibility for life or death.
- Jeremiah 6:17 (quotation): God appoints watchmen and commands them to sound the trumpet to warn the people — an explicit prophetic precedent for the watchman motif.
- Leviticus 19:16 (thematic): Legal/ethical injunction not to 'stand idly by' when a neighbor's life is at stake; parallels the duty to warn/rescue and the moral responsibility for others' safety.
- Proverbs 24:11-12 (thematic): Urges rescuing those being led to death and warns against claiming ignorance, echoing Ezekiel's theme of accountability when one fails to warn or save.
Alternative generated candidates
- But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes anyone from among them, that one was taken away in his sin; I will require his blood at the watchman's hand.
Eze.33.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואתה: CONJ+PRON,2,m,sg
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צפה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- נתתיך: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg+PRON,2,m,sg
- לבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,cns
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושמעת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- מפי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והזהרת: VERB,hiph,impf,2,m,sg
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- ממני: PREP,suff,1,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 3:17 (verbal): Almost identical charge earlier in Ezekiel: God appoints the prophet as a watchman for Israel and instructs him to hear God's word and warn the people (near-verbatim repetition).
- Ezekiel 33:8 (structural): Immediate parallel within the same chapter describing the responsibility and consequence: if the watchman fails to warn, the blood is on his hands; if he warns, he saves himself and the people. (Continuation of the watchman motif.)
- Isaiah 21:6 (thematic): Isaiah uses the image of appointing a watchman to proclaim what he sees—similar prophetic role of vigilance and public warning about impending judgment.
- Jeremiah 6:17 (verbal): Jeremiah speaks of God setting watchmen over Jerusalem and commanding them to heed the alarm—parallel language and function of prophetic sentinels sounding warnings to the people.
- Habakkuk 2:1 (thematic): Habakkuk’s declaration 'I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts' echoes the watchman motif—the prophet’s stance of alert observation awaiting God's message to warn or testify.
Alternative generated candidates
- And you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them from me.
Eze.33.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- באמרי: PREP
- לרשע: PREP
- רשע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מות: VERB,qal,infabs
- תמות: VERB,qal,yiqtol,2,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- דברת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- להזהיר: VERB,hiph,inf
- רשע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מדרכו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- רשע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בעונו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- ימות: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- ודמו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- מידך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- אבקש: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 3:18-19 (verbal): Nearly identical wording and theme: the watchman must warn the wicked or else bear responsibility for their blood; failure to warn results in the sinner’s death in his iniquity and culpability for the watchman.
- Ezekiel 33:6 (structural): Same chapter’s watchman principle: if the watchman fails to sound the alarm, the blood of the guilty is required at his hand—parallel legal/ethical structure and consequence language.
- Leviticus 19:17 (thematic): Lawgiver’s injunction to rebuke a neighbor to prevent hatred and harm; establishes the ethical duty to confront wrongdoing so as not to share in resultant guilt.
- Matthew 18:15 (thematic): New Testament instruction to confront a sinning brother so as to restore him; echoes the moral responsibility to warn/correct sinners to seek repentance and avoid added culpability.
Alternative generated candidates
- If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked one, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity—and his blood I will require at your hand.
Eze.33.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואתה: CONJ+PRON,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- הזהרת: VERB,hif,perf,2,m,sg
- רשע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מדרכו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- לשוב: INF,qal
- ממנה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- שב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מדרכו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- בעונו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- ימות: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- ואתה: CONJ+PRON,2,m,sg
- נפשך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,2,m
- הצלת: VERB,hif,perf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 3:18-19 (verbal): Same watchman theme and near-verbatim formulation: warning the wicked, responsibility to warn, and the promise that by warning the watchman saves his own life.
- Ezekiel 33:8 (verbal): Immediate context and parallel clause framing the watchman's duty—failure to warn makes the watchman liable for the wicked's blood.
- Ezekiel 18:20-21 (thematic): Develops the principle that the soul that sins shall die but also that turning from sin leads to life—provides the theological background for the consequence described in 33:9.
- Matthew 18:15 (thematic): Jesus' admonition to confront a sinning brother to bring about repentance and restoration, paralleling the idea that warning a sinner can lead to their turn and thereby 'saving' the relationship or soul.
Alternative generated candidates
- But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die for his sin; but you have delivered your soul.
Eze.33.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואתה: CONJ+PRON,2,m,sg
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כן: ADV
- אמרתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- כי: CONJ
- פשעינו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss,1,pl
- וחטאתינו: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs,poss,1,pl
- עלינו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- ובם: CONJ+PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- אנחנו: PRON,1,pl
- נמקים: VERB,niphal,impf,1,pl
- ואיך: CONJ+ADV
- נחיה: VERB,qal,impf,1,pl
Parallels
- Ezekiel 33:11 (structural): Direct continuation/response in the same context: God answers the despairing claim ('how shall we live?') by declaring his desire that the wicked turn and live, rejecting fatalism.
- Ezekiel 18:2 (allusion): Addresses the same popular fatalistic attitude (the proverb about fathers and children); both passages confront communal excuses that sin inevitably determines fate.
- Ezekiel 18:20-21 (verbal): Closely related theological rebuttal: emphasizes personal responsibility and repentance ('if the wicked turns from his sins... he shall live'), answering the implied hopelessness of 'how shall we live?'.
- Psalm 130:3-4 (thematic): Expresses the tension between the reality of sin and the hope of divine forgiveness—though sins are weighty, the Lord pardons, offering a counterpoint to the utter despair in Ezek. 33:10.
Alternative generated candidates
- And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you say—‘Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?’
Eze.33.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
- חי: ADJ,m,sg
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אם: CONJ
- אחפץ: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- במות: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הרשע: NOUN,m,sg,def
- כי: CONJ
- אם: CONJ
- בשוב: PREP+VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- רשע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מדרכו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- וחיה: VERB,qal,juss,2,m,sg
- שובו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- שובו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- מדרכיכם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl+PRON,2,pl
- הרעים: ADJ,m,pl,def
- ולמה: CONJ
- תמותו: VERB,qal,impf,2,mp
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ezekiel 18:23 (verbal): Nearly identical divine formula: God declares he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, emphasizing desire for the wicked to turn and live—verbal and thematic repetition from chapter 18.
- Ezekiel 18:32 (verbal): Echoes the call to 'turn and live' and the rhetorical question about why Israel should die; reinforces the same exhortation to repentance found in 33:11.
- Jeremiah 18:7-10 (structural): Presents the principle that God will relent from planned disaster if a nation repents (and conversely will punish if it persists)—a structural/thematic parallel concerning repentance altering divine judgment.
- Jonah 3:10 (thematic): God relents from the threatened destruction of Nineveh after their repentance, illustrating the same pattern in which divine judgment is averted when the wicked turn from their ways.
- 2 Peter 3:9 (thematic): States that God is patient, 'not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance,' a New Testament formulation of the same divine will behind Ezekiel 33:11.
Alternative generated candidates
- Say to them, ‘As I live—declares the Lord GOD—I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways; why will you die, O house of Israel?’
Eze.33.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואתה: CONJ+PRON,2,m,sg
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
- צדקת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- הצדיק: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לא: PART_NEG
- תצילנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg+PRON,3,m,sg
- ביום: PREP
- פשעו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ורשעת: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,cons
- הרשע: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לא: PART_NEG
- יכשל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- ביום: PREP
- שובו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- מרשעו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- וצדיק: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- יוכל: VERB,qal,impf,3,ms
- לחיות: PREP+INF,qal
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- ביום: PREP
- חטאתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRSFX,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 18:20-24 (verbal): Very close verbal and thematic parallel: teaches individual responsibility — the righteous' righteousness will not save him in the day he sins, and the wicked who turns shall live.
- Ezekiel 33:13-16 (structural): Immediate context/continuation of the same argument in chapter 33, elaborating that a wicked person who repents will live and a righteous person who sins may die.
- Jeremiah 31:29-30 (thematic): Expresses similar rejection of collective/familial guilt and affirms personal responsibility: people will be judged for their own deeds, not their ancestors'.
- Deuteronomy 24:16 (thematic): Legal principle that individuals are punished for their own sins (fathers not punished for sons, nor sons for fathers), reflecting the same focus on individual accountability.
- Romans 2:6-11 (thematic): New Testament parallel: God will repay each person according to his works; judgment and reward are determined individually, echoing Ezekiel's emphasis on personal responsibility and repentance.
Alternative generated candidates
- And you, son of man, say to the people of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him on the day he transgresses, nor will the wickedness of the wicked cause him to fall on the day he turns from his wickedness; the righteous shall not live by his righteousness on the day he sins.'
Eze.33.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- באמרי: PREP
- לצדיק: PREP
- חיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- יחיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- והוא: CONJ+PRON,3,m,sg
- בטח: ADV
- על: PREP
- צדקתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+SFX3MS
- ועשה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- צדקתיו: NOUN,f,pl,abs+SUFF:3,m
- לא: PART_NEG
- תזכרנה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,pl
- ובעולו: PREP
- אשר: PRON,rel
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ימות: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 18:24 (verbal): Almost identical wording and theme: when a righteous person trusts in his righteousness but commits iniquity, his former righteousness will not be remembered and he shall die — the same moral principle repeated from ch.18.
- Ezekiel 33:14–16 (verbal): Immediate parallel within the same chapter: reiterates that a righteous man who turns to sin will die, while a wicked who repents will live — same lines reformulated to press the warning/hope contrast.
- Ezekiel 18:20 (structural): States the principle ‘the soul who sins shall die,’ underpinning 33:13’s claim that death follows the iniquity one commits despite prior righteousness.
- Romans 6:23 (thematic): New Testament theological parallel: ‘the wages of sin is death’ echoes the linkage in 33:13 between sin/iniquity and resulting death, contrasting moral status and consequence.
Alternative generated candidates
- When I say to the righteous, ‘You shall surely live,’ yet he trusts in his righteousness and commits injustice—none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, and by the sin that he has done he shall die.
Eze.33.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ובאמרי: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לרשע: PREP
- מות: VERB,qal,infabs
- תמות: VERB,qal,yiqtol,2,m,sg
- ושב: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- מחטאתו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+3ms
- ועשה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- משפט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וצדקה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ezekiel 33:12-20 (structural): Immediate context: the chapter repeats the same argument about warning the wicked, their repentance, and the principle that turning from sin to justice brings life rather than death.
- Ezekiel 18:21-24 (verbal): Close verbal and thematic parallel: if the wicked turn from transgression and do what is right and just, they shall live—Ezekiel explicitly contrasts divine verdict and the effect of repentance.
- Jonah 3:10 (thematic): Shows the theme that communal or individual repentance can avert divine judgment: God 'relented' from disaster after Nineveh's turning.
- Jeremiah 18:7-10 (thematic): Articulates the same conditional principle: when a nation repents from evil, God will relent of planned punishment; if it does evil, God will relent of promised good.
- Deuteronomy 30:1-3 (thematic): Promises restoration and life when Israel returns to God and obeys—echoes the covenantal idea that repentance and doing right lead to life rather than death.
Alternative generated candidates
- And when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right,
Eze.33.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- חבל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- ישיב: VERB,hifil,imperfect,3,m,sg
- רשע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גזלה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ישלם: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בחקות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- החיים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- הלך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לבלתי: PART,neg
- עשות: VERB,qal,inf
- עול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חיו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יחיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- ימות: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 18:21-22 (verbal): Near-identical wording and idea: if the wicked repays/returns what he took and walks in the statutes of life, he shall live and not die.
- Ezekiel 18:27-28 (verbal): Closely related wording contrasting the wicked who turns from sin and lives with the righteous who turns to sin and dies—same life/death conditional motif.
- Isaiah 55:7 (thematic): Call for the wicked to return and forsake ways that leads to mercy and pardon—theme of repentance/return resulting in life.
- Proverbs 28:13 (thematic): Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy—parallels repentance/restoration producing life/mercy.
- Exodus 22:1-4 (structural): Laws requiring restitution for theft and damage—background legal motif of returning what was taken that underlies Ezekiel’s demand for repayment as part of turning to life.
Alternative generated candidates
- if the wicked restores the pledge, repays what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes that give life, and does not commit iniquity—he shall surely live; he shall not die.
Eze.33.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כל: DET
- חטאתיו: NOUN,f,pl,abs+3ms
- אשר: PRON,rel
- חטא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תזכרנה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,pl
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- משפט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וצדקה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- חיו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יחיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 18:21-22 (verbal): Near-verbatim parallel in the same prophetic argument: when a sinner turns from sin and 'does what is just and right,' 'none of his transgressions will be remembered against him; he shall surely live.'
- Ezekiel 18:24 (verbal): Reiterates the same formula—turning from sin and doing justice/righteousness leads to life and the sins not being remembered—used elsewhere in Ezekiel's discourse on individual responsibility.
- Ezekiel 18:28 (thematic): Develops the same theological point: when the wicked repents and does what is right, their past evil is no longer counted against them and they live; contrasts recalcitrance and repentance.
- Psalm 32:1-2 (thematic): Davidic parallel on forgiveness: the forgiven person's transgression is no longer counted against them ('blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven'), linking removal of sin's liability to blessed life.
Alternative generated candidates
- None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him; because he has practiced justice and righteousness, he shall live.
Eze.33.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואמרו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
- לא: PART_NEG
- יתכן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- דרך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- והמה: PRON,3,m,pl
- דרכם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,pl
- לא: PART_NEG
- יתכן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 73:2-3,12-13,16-17 (thematic): Asaph complains that the wicked prosper and questions God's justice—similar human accusation that the Lord’s ways are unequal, later resolved by a divine/perspective reply.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (thematic): A direct protest to God about the apparent success of the wicked and the seeming injustice of divine ways, paralleling the people’s claim that the Lord’s way is not even.
- Job 21:7-15 (thematic): Job challenges the assumption that the wicked suffer for their deeds, arguing that their prosperity raises questions about the equality of God’s governance—echoing the complaint in Ezekiel.
- Habakkuk 1:2-4 (thematic): The prophet laments violence and injustice and asks why God tolerates wrongdoing; this questioning of God’s methods mirrors the charge that His way is unequal.
- Genesis 18:25 (structural): Abraham’s rhetorical appeal—'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?'—functions as the inverse assertion, defending divine justice against claims that God’s ways are unequal.
Alternative generated candidates
- Yet your people say, ‘The way of the LORD is not right.’ But it is their way that is not right.
Eze.33.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בשוב: PREP+VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- צדיק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מצדקתו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+SUFF:3,m
- ועשה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומת: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Ezekiel 18:24 (verbal): Nearly identical formulation: when a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, his prior righteousness is not remembered and he dies for his sin—direct verbal parallel and same legal/theological point.
- Ezekiel 18:26-28 (verbal): Continues the motif of turning and recompense: contrasts those who turn from sin (life) with those who turn from righteousness (death), reinforcing the same cause-and-effect statement found in 33:18.
- Ezekiel 18:20 (structural): States the foundational principle behind 33:18—'the soul that sins shall die'—establishing individual responsibility for sin and its deadly consequence.
- Romans 6:23 (thematic): New Testament parallel on the moral logic that sin leads to death ('the wages of sin is death'), echoing Ezekiel's link between personal sin and fatal consequence.
Alternative generated candidates
- If the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, shall he live? He shall die.
Eze.33.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ובשוב: CONJ+PREP+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- רשע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מרשעתו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m
- ועשה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- משפט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וצדקה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- יחיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 18:21-22 (verbal): Nearly identical teaching and phrasing elsewhere in Ezekiel: if the wicked turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, he shall live — a direct verbal parallel.
- Ezekiel 33:14-16 (thematic): Immediate chapter parallel stressing individual responsibility and that turning from evil (or from righteousness to evil) determines life or death — the same moral principle in context.
- Isaiah 55:7 (thematic): Call for the wicked to forsake his way and return to the Lord, with the promise of mercy and pardon — a prophetic promise analogous to 'turn and live.'
- Proverbs 28:13 (thematic): Wisdom-saying that one who confesses and forsakes sins obtains mercy — parallels the idea that turning from wickedness and doing right results in life/forgiveness.
- Jonah 3:10 (thematic): Narrative example where God relents from threatened judgment when Nineveh repents — illustrates the practical outworking of repentance leading to spared life.
Alternative generated candidates
- And if the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by it.
Eze.33.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואמרתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- לא: PART_NEG
- יתכן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- דרך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כדרכיו: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+poss3ms
- אשפוט: VERB,qal,imf,1,sg
- אתכם: PRT+PRON,2,m,pl
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ezekiel 18:25 (verbal): Uses the same complaint phrase, “The way of the Lord is not equal/just,” directly repeating the objection to divine justice found earlier in the book.
- Ezekiel 33:11 (structural): Immediate thematic response within the same chapter where God rejects the complaint and affirms His justice and desire for repentance rather than punishment.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (thematic): The prophet voices a similar protest about divine justice—‘Righteous are you, O LORD... why does the way of the wicked prosper?’—echoing the challenge to God’s ways.
- Psalm 73:3-12 (thematic): Asaph’s lament that the wicked prosper and seem secure parallels the complaint that God’s ways are unequal; the psalm wrestles with apparent injustice and ultimately vindicates God’s justice.
- Job 21:7-13 (thematic): Job articulates the same objection—observing the ease and prosperity of the wicked—and thus represents another ancient confrontation with the problem of apparent divine injustice.
Alternative generated candidates
- When you say, ‘The way of the LORD is not right,’ then will I not judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his ways?
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Son of man, speak to the house of your people and say to them: If I bring a sword upon the land, and the people of the land take one of their men from among them and set him as a watchman,
and when he sees the sword coming upon the land he shall blow the trumpet and give warning to the people,
then if the one who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood is upon him. But he who takes warning will save his life.
If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, that person is taken away in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at the watchman’s hand. And you, son of man, I have set as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear the word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked one, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; you have saved your life. And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus have you said, ‘Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?’
Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways; why will you die, O house of Israel? And you, son of man, say to the people of your people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and the wickedness of the wicked shall not make him fall in the day he turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right.
When I say to the righteous, ‘You shall surely live,’ yet he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; by his iniquity that he has done he shall die. And when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right,
if he restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by violence, walks in the statutes of life and does not commit injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
All his transgressions that he has committed shall not be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live.
Yet your people say, ‘The way of the LORD is not right.’ Are my ways not right? It is their way that is not right.
When the righteous turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. And when the wicked turns away from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. But you say, ‘The way of the LORD is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge you each according to his ways.