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  • From: "Thomas L. Thompson" <tlt AT teol.ku.dk>
  • To: <tladatsi AT charter.net>, "Jim West" <jwest AT highland.net>, <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: SV: [b-hebrew] children bear punishment for sins of parents - Ez 18:20& 2Sam 21
  • Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 09:31:41 +0200

The passage in Ezekiel 18 that Jim refers to is an important part of the
intertextual discourse. Perhaps it might be interesting to reflect that the
narrative of Jacob's struggles with man and God, which leave him an unclean
crippled (rather than "straight") Israel, also send his children into Egypt
for 4 generations (the 400 years prophesied to Abraham).
Thomas

Thomas L. Thompson
University of Copenhagen
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org på vegne af tladatsi AT charter.net
Sendt: on 20-04-2005 02:13
Til: Jim West; b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Cc:
Emne: [b-hebrew] children bear punishment for sins of parents - Ez 18:20&
2Sam 21



Jim et al.,

The original querry was were there any examples of children
being punished for the sins of the fathers. I cited
several examples where the OT gives commands that the
children and grand-children of sinners should be punished
(and two where the punishment extended for 10 generations
and beyond). That Ez 18:20 contradicts these commands at a
later date does not change the fact that the commands were
given at an earlier date.

The US constitution originally allowed slavery, indeed it
was built around slavery. Later it was ammended to outlaw
slavery. The 13th & 14th ammendments do not prove that the
US constitution never allowed slavery, it merely proves
that slavery was legal before their passage.

Having said that, the citations I gave were conditional
commands, IF a man committed certain sins, THEN his
children and grandchildren would be punished. They are not
actual examples. Other correspondents cite Jos 7. I think
the clearest example is 2 Sam 21 1-14. Here two of Saul's
sons and five of his grandchildren are all killed for
Saul's crimes against the Gibeonites. It is as unambiguous
an example of the 2nd & 3rd generation being punished for
the sins of the father, as it is an unpleasent story.
Likewise in 1 Sam 15 the Amalekites are exterminated
because, accroding to the text, of something their
ancestors had done perhaps a few hundreds years eariler.
(this depends on how one reads the chronology from Moses to
Saul).

That Ezikiel would later denouce this practice does not
mean it did not occur or that it was not commanded to
occur.


> From: Jim West <jwest AT highland.net>
> Date: 2005/04/19 Tue PM 06:25:52 GMT
> To: tladatsi AT charter.net, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] children bear punishment for sins
of parents - Examples
>
>
> curiously however, look at Ezekiel 18:20 where this is,
for all intents
> and purposes- revoked.
>
>
> --
> Jim West
>
> Biblical Studies Resources - http://web.infoave.net/
~jwest
> Biblical Theology Weblog - http://biblical-
studies.blogspot.com
>
>

Jack Tladatsi

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