Deuteronomy 24:16

(13) TRANSGRESSORS TO BEAR OWN GUILT (Deuteronomy 24:16)

16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 24:16

414.

Is the case of Achan a violation of this law?

425.

What about Korah and his company or the wholesale slaughter of the Canaanite tribes?

426.

Read 2 Kings 14:1-6; Jeremiah 31:27-30 for a fulfillment of this law.

427.

How does Deuteronomy 5:8-10 relate?

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 24:16

16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; only for his own sin shall anyone be put to death.

COMMENT 24:16

God's law laid the punishment of death only upon the person or persons who had committed crimes worthy of death. The fathers, judges, or congregation had no right to punish any member of the family but the guilty party.

The case of Achan and his family (see especially Joshua 7:20-25)[42] is sometimes cited as a violation of this law by God himselfas is also the punishment of Korah, his comany, and their families (Numbers 16:31-35) and the wholesale slaughter of the Canaanite tribes (Deuteronomy 7:1-5; Deuteronomy 20:16).

[42] But were the other members of his family accomplices in the crimes? His loot was hidden in the family tentit was not concealed from the eyes of wife and children!

But our present passage is not primarily a law regulating the dealings of God, Further, the cases cited above do not deal with God's final or eternal judgment (as administered by the Son, John 5:22). Here, we have the judgments Israel was to make as a congregationparticularly through the priests and judges (Deuteronomy 13:6-11, Deuteronomy 17:2-7, etc.) God did sometimes punish groups with death, whether directly or through human instrumentality. His reasons (as in the case of the Canaanites, above) are discussed elsewhere in this volume.

When Israel was a happy, prosperous, and obedient nation, this law was observed. Note 2 Kings 14:1-6, Jeremiah 31:27-30. Jeremiah 31:31-34 have special reference to the situation under the New Covenant of Christ, Hebrews 8:6-13.

But the principle of the passage before us also shall characterize God's final dealings with man, and the dealings of the righteous with their fellow-man. Note Ezekiel 18 carefully. As in Jeremiah 31:29-30, the proverb then in vogue about children suffering because of the parent's sin is not upheld by the prophet of God. Rather, the soul that sinneth, it shall die, and the righteous shall surely live. the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. A careful study of Ezekiel 18 and Jeremiah 31 will cause one to see the present passage in a larger context.

Israel knew the justice of this verse. That is why, under the yoke of Babylonian captivity, the cry is heard.

Our fathers sinned, and we are not;
And we have borne their iniquities

Lamentations 5:7

Note also Deuteronomy 5:8-10. The children would suffer punishment as a result of their parent's sin. But their personal guilt and destination is reckoned only from their own lives.

In the final day of reckoning, we have been assured of impartial and individual judgment, Matthew 16:27, Romans 15:10-12, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Ephesians 5:7-8, Colossians 3:22 to Colossians 4:1, 1 Peter 1:17.